Telephone From Your Own Planet
Tyler Cowen links to the market for football possessions.#
...[in] the "Field Position Auction" proposal we submitted to the N.F.L. at the end of the 2002-3 season. In it, the loser of the overtime coin flip decides the yard line where the offense starts, and the winner chooses between taking the ball or starting on defense. We would also like to present an alternative method that achieves the same result, but eliminates the coin flip.
At the start of sudden-death overtime, the teams engage in a silent auction to decide possession. Each team writes down the yard line at which it would be willing to start its offense. The numbers are given to the referee in sealed envelopes; the team that picks the lower yard line gets the ball first. The first team to score wins. There is no coin flip. Each team has an equal chance to take possession, and the team willing to give up more field position gets the ball.
Joey deVilla has some funny cartoons about the evil American pseudo-election in Iraq.#
Tyler Cowen on whether people deserve their wages, etc.#
Joey deVilla posts sexy pictures of Miguel de Icaza.#
Michael Williams links an unfortunately fake story.#
The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina, co-written by John Locke, published on March 1, 1669 (Contains some surprising sections)#
Bryan Caplan promotes Ayn Rand's birthday.#
Don Boudreaux: Do corporate managers sacrifice long run gain for short term interest?#
Julie Leung has kind words about my letter, so did Betsy. They're great.#
Alex Tabarrok honors Ayn Rand.#
It used to be commonly said that "Until Robinson Crusoe is joined by Friday there is no need for ethics on a desert island." Rand replied that it was on a desert island that ethics was most needed because on a desert island you cannot free ride on the virtues of others; if you are to survive you must yourself exercise the virtues of rationality, independence, and productiveness. As her reply indicates, Rand was an exponent of virtue ethics, the Greek/Aristotelian idea that ethics is about how one should live. Indeed, although she does not get much credit, Rand is the most prominent and lucid, contemporary exponent of virtue ethics.
The Fifty Worst (and Best) Books of the Century (PDF) - I agree with some, disagree with others; from conservative Christians.#