Dear Tim,
I liked the Kudlow story too, with one small criticism: I thought Pianin erred in buying into the supposed concerns of critics that Kudlow’s speedy rehabilitation might make him unfit to give advice on tax policy. Now, I have as much respect as the next ink-stained wretch for the stretches that must be made, the controversies that must be inflated, to write a story onto page one. But it eludes me how anyone could claim, with a straight face, that past drug or alcohol addiction, however recent, disqualify a guy from opining on the capital gains rate. Even if you think cocaine use is a comment on character more than on chemistry, so what? It still has nothing to do with whether or not someone has the right fiscal formula. In reality, of course, the critics in question are just using Kudlow’s problems as a way to attack the increasing influence of someone whose economics they have always (rightly, in my view) found suspect, and Kudlow appears to come by his exuberantly crackpot tax theories honestly. So it was a little dishonest of Pianin to play the critics’ game–though more than anything this is just a nice textbook example of how the conventions of “objective” journalism can veil as many lies as the fiercest advocacy. (One further note: Kudlow apparently hit bottom when his third wife found out he was siphoning all the money from their retirement account to pay for his habit. Now this could be relevant, if Kudlow joins the privatize-Social-Security bandwagon.)
Glad you liked the “Letter from Lagos,” though I have to say I thought you were too flip about it. It was such a sad comment on a world in which there are so few ways for women to raise their heads above the mire that it’s worthwhile to gain just one-fortieth of a foothold in the life of a prosperous man. (And maybe I thought you were a mite too tickled by the concept of multiple wives. Just remember that I’m your Work Wife now, in addition to your Wife Wife.) Yeah, I know, I probably trapped you into this lecture: Just one of those many stories that I’m allowed to laugh about, but you’re not.
So you can laugh at this one: Did you see today’s Wall Street Journal piece about how breast implants have bounced (as it were) back to their pre-lawsuit numbers? Just a week after Dow Corning agreed to a $3.2 billion settlement of the claims against its now-banned silicone implants, the Journal finds that new implants (almost always made of saline–the FDA ban against the cosmetic use of silicone implants is still in place) jumped 40% last year. Why? The stock market has freed up a lot of fun money (about $8,000 for each operation). Sagging boomers have added their numbers to the 20- and 30-year-old clients. And then there’s the Baywatch factor, which some surgeons apparently credit for creating a more bosomy trend.
Is this a great country or what? This is one of those stories that leads me to think I’m turning into a conservative as I round 40. First the lust for self-improvement leads to this huge, endless lawsuit, in which the fact that the science was inconclusive at best did nothing to forestall a huge settlement. And next thing you know, whatever small cautionary lessons might have been drawn about not messing with Mother Nature have sunk beneath the waves. How did we decide that perfection should be a painless, risk-free pursuit?
Imperfectly,
Marjorie
