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EclectEcon
I have "delusions of adequacy."
Interests: economics, policy, theatre, music, hiking, geocaching
Recent Activity
More on the Dramatic Decline in Reported Flu Cases
A friend associated with the local hospital system sent me this, in response to the graphs I posted here. There have been zero reported cases to date of laboratory-confirmed influenza since Aug 30th, 2020 in London [Ontario]. For comparison, last year for the same period there were a total of 105 cases (75 influenza A and 30 influenza B) in... Continue reading
Posted 4 hours ago at EclectEcon
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Reports of Flu Down Significantly
Posted yesterday at EclectEcon
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Amazon Prime Video Bleg Update (Responses)
Many, many thanks to everyone who offered recommendations on the blog, on Facebook, and elsewhere when I asked for them here. Here's a summary of the responses: Mrs. Maisel seems to be a big favourite. Knives Out was another popular recommendation. The Expanse (sci-fi, which isn't my cup of tea, but it received several recommendations) Jack Ryan (also several recommendations)... Continue reading
Posted 3 days ago at EclectEcon
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Amazon Prime Video Bleg
Please read the post before making recommendations! We've had Amazon Prime for years but we never bothered trying to look for Amazon Prime videos on our Smart TV. Several years ago, we tried Netflix for two months and didn't watch anything on it because we never came across anything that looked as if it might appeal to us, so we... Continue reading
Posted 4 days ago at EclectEcon
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More Data on Excess Deaths
Posted Dec 24, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Well, Duh
I finally received my MixcderE9 active noise canceling headphones from Ali Express today. I was so excited! I charged them up a bit, using the standard Samsung USB cord, and turned them on. Then I put them on and started some Vivaldi on my iPhone. Wow!! Automatic connection and they sounded great! A half hour later I realized that the... Continue reading
Posted Dec 22, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas -- check out the original lyrics!
When I was shopping this morning (at Geezer Hour), one of the Christmas songs playing was "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". I liked the somewhat melancholic sense that "from now on our troubles will be out of sight" and "from now on our troubles will be far away." The sentiment seemed to be that yeah, okay, things aren't great... Continue reading
Posted Dec 20, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Trumpet for the Balcony Chorus
Posted Dec 17, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Covid: It's Time to Praise Ontario's Premier, Doug Ford, Not Bury Him
Posted Dec 5, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Use Your Amazon Gift Cards for These Novels -- or Give The Novels as Gifts!
Posted Dec 4, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Shrink-Wrapped Murder
My latest mystery novel, Shrink-Wrapped Murder, has just been published! Several of my friends read pre-publication versions and said it's my best yet! It's available on all the Amazons in both Kindle and paperback formats. To order it from Amazon.com, you can use this link. To order it from Amazon.ca, you can use this link. But better yet, click on... Continue reading
Posted Dec 2, 2020 at EclectEcon
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2020 -- Spiraling
Posted Nov 23, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Please Wear a Mask (at least when you're around me)
Posted Nov 18, 2020 at EclectEcon
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How Bad Has Covid-19 Been in Ontario (in comparison with a few other jurisdictions)?
Posted Nov 13, 2020 at EclectEcon
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The Gubmnt Must Do Something! This is something.
The title of this post came to mind when I read this morning's headline in the Democratic Party Newsletter, aka The Washington Post*: Biden plans to move fast on the pandemic and the economy Quite frankly this whole-hog determination that the federal gubmnt must do something about these two issues bothers me. Pandemic policies should be and have mostly been... Continue reading
Posted Nov 9, 2020 at EclectEcon
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What Questions Are Off-Limits for Academia?
Is it acceptable to ask whether there really was an historical Jesus? Is it acceptable to ask whether cold fusion will ever be a possibility? Is it acceptable to ask whether Ashkenazim Jews are, on average, smarter than Sephardic or Ethiopian Jews? Is it acceptable to ask whether blacks are, on average, better athletes than whites? Is it acceptable to... Continue reading
Posted Nov 7, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Posted Oct 22, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Some Pithy Thoughts
From JR, my favourite drug dealer: "Consensus science" is similar to "precautionary principle": both are terms used by pseudoscientists, regardless of their pedigree, who do not understand that science is simply the denial of the null hypothesis to support an alternative hypothesis to some degree of probability. Of course, denying consensus makes you "deplorable" in every sphere of life, including... Continue reading
Posted Oct 13, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Another Reason for Concern about the FED's Liquidity Vacuum
A few weeks ago I wrote about how the FED is vacuuming up liquidity by making interest payments on US commercial bank excess reserves deposited at the Fed. In that post, I noted that so long as the Fed vacuums up the excess liquidity created when they buy up additional debt (gubmnt and otherwise), I can understand why and how... Continue reading
Posted Oct 11, 2020 at EclectEcon
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The Single-Cup Coffee Maker Battles: Has Keurig Won?
Nearly seven years ago, I described the competition between Keurig and Tassimo here. For a number of very good reasons, I suggested then that if this is a winner-take-all competition, Keurig would be likely to win it. It still looks that way from my perspective as the variety of disks available for Tassimo continues to diminish, as does the shelf... Continue reading
Posted Oct 7, 2020 at EclectEcon
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The Tragedy of the Commons among "Sharing, Caring Elites"
This year and last year I participated in an international convention for The Urban Economy Forum, both as a speaker and as a member of the steering committee. Last year, not knowing what I was getting into, I prepared a 20-30 minute presentation, only to learn a few days in advance that I would have only ten minutes for my... Continue reading
Posted Oct 5, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Clean-out-the-Fridge Crustless Quiche
Posted Oct 3, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Rethinking Hoarding (aka Preparedness) for the Second Wave
Fifteen years ago, amidst the threat of Avian Flu, we developed a list of things we wanted to have in our house in case all the dire predictions actually came true. Fortunately they didn't, and since then we've moved into a condo. Jack suggested I develop a list of things people in apartment or condo buildings should try to keep... Continue reading
Posted Sep 29, 2020 at EclectEcon
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A Fed-Induced Liquidity Trap (or is it a vacuum?)?
The United States gubmnt has massively increased its indebtedness, and apparently the Fed has bought most of this debt. Why hasn't this monetization of the debt led to expectations (in the markets) of increased inflation rates a year or two from now? Here's one possible explanation, but I'm open to others. Since I'm an old-skool monetarist, I'm still thinking in... Continue reading
Posted Sep 27, 2020 at EclectEcon
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Covid Trends: Canada, the US, Ontario, and Quebec
The reported new cases per 100,000 in Ontario, Quebec, and Canada are shown in this graph: The blue line in the above graph is Quebec, the brown line is Canada, and the barely visible grey line is Ontario. There was a bit of a discernible rise in the number of cases/100K two weeks after Canada Day [July 1], but there... Continue reading
Posted Sep 25, 2020 at EclectEcon
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