One of the reasons I love economics is it’s complexity. Sure, in theory the principles are simple – their application across a global scale are awe-inspiring, and frame-shattering. Take this passage from former Obama economics advisor Christina Romer on the terribly selfish reason China owns so many Treasury bonds: “For years, China has deliberately accumulated …
Author Archives: Garrick van Buren
First Crack #127. A Guitar, Bass, Electric Trumpet, and Bryan Schumann
Bryan Schumann and I talk about composing music, improvising music, and whether the classical guitar pairs better with an upright bass or an electric trumpet. Bryan Schumann’s links: Beznau Music Shop http://www.beznau.com/bddschumann http://www.myspace.com/bddschumann DeSchuVoemann Listen to A Guitar, Bass, Electric Trumpet, and Bryan Schumann. [27 min]
First Crack #127. A Guitar, Bass, and an Electric Trumpet
Bryan Schumann and I talk about composing music, improvising music, and whether the classical guitar pairs better with an upright bass or an electric trumpet. Listen to a Guitar, Bass, and an Electric Trumpet
This Beer Tastes Like Corn
For the past week all the commercial beer I’ve tasted has this flat, grey, toffee-textured, corn-like taste. Doesn’t matter if I’m drinking at one of many brew pubs in Wisconsin or a sixer of something imported from the 49th state. In all cases, this taste is so strong the beer is undrinkable. Thankfully the first …
“Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.”
There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done. There is no editing stage. Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if …
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GOOG Bonds Now in Beta
“…if the economy improves and interest rates rise, Google will have executed a very profitable trifecta: it could repatriate its cash at a lower tax rate and buy back its bonds at a discount. And even if none of this works out, Google’s cost of borrowing $3 billion will only be about 2.3%, which in …
Towards Freetail
In the past couple weeks, I’ve been stuck in a queue at the supermarket, IKEA, or other big box with lots of self-service checkouts. Stuck. Contemplating whether standing the queue actually took longer than finding the items I wanted. That maybe, just maybe, this entire endeavor could be made more efficient and joyful. Rather than …
The need for a new news system
Earlier this week, a natural gas main ruptured on the other side of the block. Our block and half a dozen other surrounding blocks were evacuated. There were no 30 foot flames shooting into the air. Just the constant sounds of gas leaking into the atmosphere at high pressure. It could have been worse. Much …
Failbox – Knuth/Eco Edition
“Email is a wonderful thing for people whose role in life is to be on top of things. But not for me; my role is to be on the bottom of things. What I do takes long hours of studying and uninterruptible concentration.” – Don Knuth “I don’t even have an E-mail address. I have …
Measuring with an Earthworm
A couple years ago – Pete suggested I look closer at the relationship between the stock market levels, oil prices, and the value of the dollar. My preferred metric of measuring the strength of the US Dollar is it’s value relative to the Euro. As I write this – 1 USD = .70 Euro. While …