We all have regrets. But if you find yourself consistently ruing your past decisions, maybe it’s best to rethink your rashness.

Writing in the Financial Times this weekend, Richard McGregor gives some perspective on Americans’ change of heart for wars.

Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel has an interesting Wall Street Journal piece on innovation, firm growth, and market structure, misleadingly titled “Competition Is for Losers.” Thiel’s essay is ostensibly about the defense of “monopoly” -- the large market shares achieved by successful firms — over “competition,” by which he means perfect competition, the neoclassical economist’s fantasy world in which tiny, identical firms exi

Updated: The poll stations in the Swedish general election closed a mere two three hours ago. With about 60% 90% of voting districts already counted, it looks like the voter turnout has increased - and that voters have caused quite a mess in the parliament. No likely constellation of parties will reach a majority of seats in parliament. The parliament’s 349 MPs will be distributed proportionally to represent a total of eight parties.

In a September 11 Bloomberg article, economist Noah Smith claims that Keynes wasn’t a “ ‘socialist’ “or even a “’progressive’.” He did not favor “a command economy.”

Yes he “ was in favor of some amount of wealth redistribution and government intervention into the economy.” But “Keynesian policies are fundamentally . . . about economic stability, . . . about smoothing out the fluctuations in the economy, reducing risk for everyone concerned.”

The Bank of International Settlements has issued a warning that central bank monetary policy has elevated asset prices and reduced market volatility to abnormally low levels.

One of the best things to come out of the Scotland vote is that it has sent the message that regional governments are entitled to vote on secession measures.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29163983

  Back in the 1990s is was assumed that any argument in favor of secession would produce “the balkans”

So, will Scotland and the Rump UK begin shooting each other? That seems unlikely.  

The seceeding entity is too small to be “economically viable.” Well, we all know how Hong Kong, Singapore, Luxembourg and Monaco are all dirt-poor economic baketcases, don’t we?  

This year’s silly Copenhagen Zoo controversy reminded us that, when it comes to animal care, people have difficulty thinking clearly. NPR’s Planet Money ran an interesting piece this morning about animal barter among zoos.

As Sweden is heading for the polls to elect rulers for the next four-year term on  Sunday, it looks like there will be a bunch of winners: the racist party, the feminist party, the green party, and the communist party. The other parties, which are more Sweden-style mainstream, seem to lose, which will leave the parliament in a sort of deadlock with two “blocs” with only minority influence - dependent on at least one of the former parties (likely two - maybe even three).