Tyler Cowen

Tyler Cowen asks today, why not increase the penalties on insurance shirking? To which, I reflexively replied, "agency problems", patting myself on the back for giving the one answer in economics that's almost always true -- readers, you are dealing with a deep thinker here.

But couldn't one eliminate the agency problems in most tort litigation by only handing over damage fees to the victim, and returning punitive penalties to the government, for distribution to society at large -- since presumably the punitive damages represent a tax to be charged to a serial infringer who gets caught infrequently? What's wrong with this idea?

Anthem for Obama

I've kept my politics out of this blog, because, well, it's not something I'm particularly fond of sharing. But how many candidates can generate the kind of excitement during primary season that Obama has?

Will.i.am makes an unsolicited video inspired by and featuring Obama's Yes We Can speach



Shepard Fairey starts his own viral campaign for Obama lending his iconic style to a poster campaign for the candidate and now also a "Obama has a posse!" style paster (sticker) campaign. http://obeygiant.com/post/obama-pasters-update

Make your own choice on Tuesday (or whenever) for whatever party you belong to. But do consider the passion that Barack Obama gives people when making your choice.