Michael Williams discovers why it is only legal to pay someone for sex if you record it.#

Russell Roberts introduces the new field of Archaeological Economics.#

I'm thinking of starting a new field of economics, Archaeological Economics. In this field of economics, you take a news article about some public policy issue and use economics to reconstruct what really happened. There's digging involved and you don't find everything—you have to use your imagination. Here's an example—California has banned hand-weeding on farms. You have to use a machine or a hoe. When I tell people this they either laugh or think it's a humane regulation. But using a little economics, a little digging and a little imagination, you can at least see a skeleton starting to emerge that tells a richer story.

Spider-Man 2 in Legos#

Russell Roberts: "In a society of violence you keep your head down."#

Michael Williams writes on idolatry:#

One who views God as an artificial construct generally reverts to worshipping the only thing he has that he didn't create: himself. In the end, all the other blocks of wood I listed above come down to a love of self. No wonder so many people are so unhappy and frustrated in life... if your god is yourself, you're bound to be constantly disappointed.

Don Boudreaux writes about how costless goods and services are pretty good.#

Jeff Sharlet discusses the role of faith in politics with Elizabeth Edwards.#

If you haven't been reading how Aaron Swartz was released into the wild, I recommend it. Start here.#

A comic.#

I am playing this game now, it rucks.#

Emma, by Jane Austen, is very much what you would expect from Jane Austen. I have no quarrels with the book's form, content, or characters.#

Normally I would not even comment on a fiction book, but the Afterword included in my copy was very entertaining, and I agree with most of it.#

Take this:#

If we are left at the end of this relationship-themed novel with the sense that no relationships actually took place, then that is understandable and yet another example of Austen's sardonic take on the pettiness of small-town lives. The only passionate romance we are told about is that between ----- and ---- -------, and this has been hidden from us until the very end by a deception on both of their parts. Given the opportunity of presenting actual love, Austen chooses to avoid the topic studiously, --------'s love for ---- for instance, though affecting, is more paternalistic than anything else. We sense that his role as guardian angel will remain unchanged as her husband.

As such, we are shown how foolish people tend to be when it comes to the possibilities of love - how easily duped, how fickle and how vain. Where love in novels of high romance is the destroyer and changer of lives, here it is merely a device for getting through the days. It is something put on like seasonal costume (though, ironically, ---- notes that ------- falling in love four times in one year is a bit much.) Austen's honesty on this matter is admirable and it is really quite surprising that she gets away with it in a novel that has proved so enduringly popular.

In the end, then, as the title suggests, this is really just a novel about Emma Woodhouse: a study in imperfection conducted perfectly and a story about sweet nothings. We are doubtless bound to overlook Austen's 'true' purpose, so carefully does she avoid being confused with her narrator. However, here is one suggestion. The novel form tends to give us ideals instead of people. This particular novel sets out to show us how a heroine like one from the fantastic fictions so popular in Austen's day would cope if faced with plain, predictable reality. [p. 588-589]