Happy Birthday to Greg Norton, 53. I suppose for those who don't want to click -- the guy who plays bass, not the first baseman.
1. Steve Kornacki has a fun review of the recent history of fantasy VP picks by candidates who were never going to be nominated.
2. Gasoline prices and elections: Brad Plumer looks at the evidence, and John Sides does a bit of new research. Bottom line: high gas prices are a minor drag on a president's re-election.
3. Newt Gingrich is a snake oil salesman. This seems to upset Steven Taylor.
4. I hadn't heard of this one before -- Pundit Tracker, now sort of in a pre-rollout phase. I have no idea whether it will wind up useful or not, but this post is promising.
5. And Alyssa Rosenberg on Whedon's latest, and on Whedon.
Woah! You like Economics, baseball, AND Husker Du? We should be buddies. You know, get matching tattoos or something.
ReplyDeleteGiven that we've had one election with high gas prices -- Nixon/Ford/Carter was more about rationing and lines than price -- I don't think you can draw any conclusion.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, in 1972 gasoline was a lot more inelastic. You absolutely have a choice on not driving your Ford Super Duty and getting a prius now. You just don't like it...
@charlie: I live in semi-rural New Hampshire, in a small pocket of wealth surrounded by agriculture and poverty. The people in my town had the choice of buying fuel-efficient cars (we even have public buses, too). Residents of the neighboring town, which doesn't pave the roads or shovel the snow? Not so much. All the people nearby who have never owned, have never even considered purchasing, a new car, because they can't afford to make such a large up-front investment, even if it would save them money over five or ten years? Not so much.
DeleteI take your point about the increase in elasticity, but that increase hasn't been uniform.
Other stuff you should read: Jonathan Chait (aptly) comparing our own Professor Bernstein to a character you've often seen in science-fiction movies:
ReplyDeletehttp://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/03/obama-poll-drop-mystery-explained.html