Bachmann and the global economy, Zimbabwe constitutions, Google's money, and currency standards

Wait... what? Who is this Michele Bachmann person and why don't she understand what 'global economy' means? Politicians confuse me sometimes.

I imagine (best as I can) that things are scary, right now, in a country that needs a new constitution. Zimbabwe has been through a lot, and it's hard to trust those who are making the new document... I doubt they have a significant number of constitutional scholars working on it. Is it a liberal American bias to demand experts be involved in decision making?

I imagine that, upon doing further research, Google discovered that you can't throw money at a problem to fix it. Also, they have less power than they think they do (I'm looking at you, Google China).

While a monetary basket might be a better standard than the dollar, any attempt to make such a basket would be highly political rather than economic in nature. Countries will likely continue making their own decisions in determining currency standards rather than deferring their sovereignty. Though, I suppose, the international lending agencies could make it a requirement of aid.

Google, unemployment, sports, and loans

More data on Google! This from the World Bank.

Here's a chart showing the duration of unemployment, for the unemployed.

Some Houston sports hotshots (not those) talk about how their sports businesses are going.

Angry Bear has an interesting graph of the number of loans given by banks. I'd like to see the graph go back a few (maybe seven) more years.

Water, Google, Christianity, and Energy

A new chip can cleanse water to be suitable for drinking. The eight inches of these (postage stamp sized) chips can produce four gallons of water per hour, while using as much electricity as a light bulb. If these things become mass produced and affordable, that'll rock the developing world! What a news report to hear in the same week as World Water Day.

Google pessimists ask what the point was, while tech-savvy Googlers are unaffected. Can Google incite larger change?

These maps of Christianity make me think about how religious views intersect with political views.

How will traveling wave reactors affect the energy scene? On a side note, TED is pretty neat.

EIA, map of job losses, new wave of research, and Caterpillar

Env-econ re: BCA vs EIA, OK?

This is a very interesting map of job losses and gains around the country since 2004. It'd be nice if it showed percentage loss/gain rather than net, but it's still illuminating, I think.

Will Google Wave change how research is done?

Caterpillar sees "encouraging signs" of economic recovery. The construction industry, many say, is a pretty good leading indicator.

Google,, unemployment and stocks, wages, and an interactive map

Google has more data to easily peruse through! Mmm, data...

Unemployment is up, but apparently the stock markets like it. 9.7%... after two months almost flat. Who knows where this is going? Will it hit 10%? Still, this is better than the 13% projected earlier in the year by some.

Average hourly wages are up again. Mind you that the unemployment rate for people with less education is higher than for people with more education. Also, retail isn't doing well, still. Lower wage people just can't find work, while experienced workers are being held on to.

Here's a neat interactive map showing foreclosure rates, unemployment rates, and household income. Data's good, but it's even better when it's easy to look through.

Education, Google monopoly, racism, and behavioral economics

CalculatedRisk has graphs on unemployment rates and wages for different education levels. That things are tough for everyone isn't a surprise, nor is it a surprise that lower education levels are worse off. The degree is pretty striking, though.

Donald Marron lists three defenses Google can use in anti-trust cases. Not only is being a monopolist legal, but Google has a claim on not being a monopoly (in my opinion, the first and third reasons are the strongest ones).

David Henderson argues that free markets reduce racism by making the discriminators bear the cost of their prejudice. That is, if you refuse to do business with a certain type of person, then you're limiting the scope of your own business. On the other hand, if you're willing to do business with anyone, then you can make more money.

Geoff Riley offers his introduction to behavioral economics.