I see so many commercials from car insurance companies that say: “People who switched to this insurance saved $x on average.”  That is, for the most part, a pretty worthless statement.  Why would anyone switch to a different car insurance provider if it cost more money?  They all essentially provide the same product.  Thus, the statement that people who switched to this insurance saved $x on average says this: people with particular characteristics switch to insurance companies whose insurance algorithm favors those characteristics.  In other words, car insurance customers act rationally.

Additionally, if you are a good driver, you should be dissuaded by an insurance company who offers “accident forgiveness.”  An insurance company is going to have to cover their costs one way or another.  If they don’t increase premiums for someone’s first accident, that just means they are using everyone else’s premiums as a whole to subsidize that person.  So if you are a good driver who doesn’t get in any accidents, this is not a good thing.  It’s not like a company who offers accident forgiveness is less profit hungry.

If you’ve ever wanted to learn about economics by listening to rap, then you are in luck. You can now listen to “Demand, Supply” by Rhythm, Rhyme, Results: a very catch rap about a very interesting subject. On an awesomeness scale from one to ten, this is clearly an eleven.

From: Greg Mankiw’s Blog.

Just because something is considered conventional wisdom does not mean it is correct.  Blindly following conventional wisdom can lead to ugly consequences.  It is important to take the time to question conventional wisdom often.

Conventional wisdom exists everywhere.  Conventional wisdom says that children should finish everything on their plate so they can grow up big and strong.  My girlfriend, who is a couple years from becoming a registered dietitian, explained to me recently that forcing a child to finish the food on their plate is a really bad idea if they are not hungry.  The reason is that the brain and stomach train over time to recognize when the stomach is “full” to provide self-regulation to prevent overeating.  However, when someone constantly overeats, the brain loses the ability to self-regulate, because it interprets “full” as more and more with each session of overeating.

Conventional wisdom also says to avoid eating cholesterol, because it increases your body’s cholesterol levels.  However, according to all dietitians and the Harvard School of Public Health:

Please note: This is not an endorsement of Barack Obama.

I’m tired of hearing the argument from Clinton and now McCain that you should not vote for Barack Obama because he lacks “experience.”  The argument is simply not persuasive.

This argument assumes that the more time you spend being a politician, the more fit you are to act as President.  I don’t buy it.  In fact, because of the nature of politics in this country, often politicians become less fit to act as President the longer they are involved in politics.

To be successful in American politics, one must be willing to do what it takes to make and keep powerful friends.  These friends can be interest groups, individual businesses, fellow politicians, political parties, or many other entities.  These friends can provide a politician with a needed vote, verbal support, or, often most importantly, money.  But there is no such thing as a free lunch.  If a politician wants to make and keep these powerful friends, he or she needs to give something in return.  Often it is a vote or a series of votes in return.

The President of my Alma Mater, Gene Nichol, resigned recently after a short two years or so at the helm of William and Mary.  Over his presidency, he was involved in a number of different controversial events, the most notable being the “Wren Cross Controversy.”

I do not intend to discuss whether or not he made good decisions.  I just want to point out the obvious reason he got fired and why small schools should be worried.  Gene Nichol was fired because major donors threatened to withdraw donations from a school that is not very wealthy.  Small schools should be worried because they typically only have a small group of large donors and generally have a greater need for each of these donors to keep contributing, so each of these donors have a huge amount of power over the small schools.

William and Mary would be gravely injured if a multi-million dollar donor stopped donating.  The College had a choice - do what the donors wanted or lose a ton of money.  Whether or not Nichol was the right man for the job is irrelevant.  It’s whether Nichol was someone with whom the donors were willing to put up with.