Economist Magazine on Gold

Hard Money (Economist): All currencies are backed by something. When the world was on the gold standard, that something was the yellow metal: the value of each pound sterling, dollar or French franc was determined by the (fixed) amount of gold that the central bank agreed to deliver against it. Now those currencies are backed by something altogether less tangible: central bankers’ promises that the currencies will maintain their value.

The Poverty of Poverty Statistics

What is the true extent of poverty in the U.S.? We’ll never know. The official measures are problematic to the point of being meaningless. But the larger lesson of the Census Bureau’s difficulties in estimating poverty is that any measure of poverty is bound to be problematic to the point of being meaningless. Don Mathews explains.

Hammurabi

It’s clear why the US put  Hammurabi on its new Dinar for Iraq.This self-proclaimed “exalted prince” (ruled from 1795-1750 BC) who brings “the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers” and rules over “the black-headed people,” and “who conquered the four quarters of the world,” enforced 282 laws t

When Spam Is Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Spam

This TidBITS article discusses a new California statute that is the most aggressive anti-spam legislation yet, “The new California statute definitely pushes the envelope. It bans all unsolicited commercial email unless the recipient has agreed to receive it.”  But the author wonders whether laws will accomplish anything: “...spam laws won’t stop spam, nor will they even stem the tide, if experience so far is any guide.

Parallel Government Finds Support in Iraq

Aljazeera.net on a parallel government forming in opposition to the U.S.-led coalition government (via  Baghdad Burning):  Hundreds of Iraqis have taken to the streets in support of the parallel government that Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has announced for the country.  A day after al-Sadr announced the formation of his “Iraqi government” in defiance of the US-led occupation, a large crowd gathered in the city of Najaf, ple

The Absurdity of Grad-Student Labor Unions

Graduate students at elite universities that have long proclaimed “solidarity” with organized labor are now actively attempting (and sometimes succeeding) in organizing unions of their own. And they are doing it in the face of opposition from labor-supporting faculty members and administrators. But while it might be tempting to pour some more sauce on the gander, there is another side to this story.
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