After a long summer hiatus, I finally have a column in the magazine again, in the issue of TIME with Sarah Barracuda on the cover. It begins:

Economist Robert Shiller has a new book out. You’ll be thrilled to learn that it doesn’t contain any warnings about a looming market crash. Well, unless you count that bit about the “train of

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Remember last year when Richard Branson tried to take over the failing British bank Northern Rock? That wasn’t a non sequitur. The famously daredevilish head of Virgin Group is really into financial services right now. We had a chance to talk about it while he was in town to announce his latest adventure: attempting to break the record …

Bryan from Houston writes:

How about some elucidation on what both sides believe in terms of energy policy? Are the two sides really that far apart? Sounds like everybody is advocating the kitchen sink method…drill, nuclear, wind, solar, natural gas/hybrid cars….why doesn’t Congress just do it already?

Bryan’s right that both …

Felix Salmon has discovered the Best Academic Paper Ever, “Hazardous journey: Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma related to gravitational challenge: systematic review of randomised controlled trials,” by Gordon C. S. Smith and Jill P. Pell. My favorite passage:

However sinister doctors may be, there are powers at large that

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A brand-building expert down in Austin named John Moore has belatedly discovered my conversation with former college roommates John Mackey of Whole Foods and Kip Tindell of the Container Store and informed readers of his well-trafficked blog that they’re not allowed to go on vacation until they read it.

His timing is a little …

At the Democratic convention last week, James Pethokoukis had some fun asking delegates economic questions:

I asked 24 of them whether the economy was in an expansion, a recession, or in a depression. The results are stunning, I think, given that on the same day I took the informal survey, the Commerce Department reported that the

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This blog is all about promoting the careers and extracurricular activities of its regular commenters. So I’m thrilled to pass on the news that regular commenter Mustache Leader is looking for nominees for the first-ever “Robert Goulet Mustached American of the Year Award.” Which should really be the “Robert Goulet Mustachioed American …

Sure, you could have read it here first, more or less, but my friend Joe Nocera’s wistful critique of Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal is still worth a look:

Mr. Murdoch believes that the country is yearning for a national conservative daily, so that is where he is taking The Wall Street Journal. He is also an old-fashioned news

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I have a general rule of not posting photos of my kid online, and I figure I should observe that for his schoolmates too. So enjoy this lovely shot of a bunch of parents’ heads.

Since writing that last post about how poor a predictor of presidential success political experience seems to be, it has occurred to me that long public service does at least give voters, running mates, etc. the chance to get to know a person. Without that familiarity, of course, you can get some interesting surprises right before (or …

I hesitate to add to the flood of half-informed opinionating about John McCain’s veep pick that is already causing the Internet’s tubes to overflow. But by choosing a woman less than two years into her first term as Alaska governor, who just six years ago was mayor of a town of 6,000 (or so), McCain raises some interesting questions …

It’s just a throwaway line in a comment by Curmudgeon on my Merced real estate saga, but it nonetheless got my hackles up:

This continued because the realtors and builders (and to be fair, the media – yes, Justin – and the economists and a lot of others) said that people were still working and making money, and real estate always goes

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