Subject:  Reich From Wrong
Re: "Kausfiles: Infighting on the Left—Was the '90s Boom a Bust?"
From: Max B. Sawicky, Economic Policy Institute
Date:  Mon Apr 23 1:25 p.m. PT

[Mickey Kaus] commits the very transgression for which he indicts Mr. Reich—selective data reporting to make a point … Sure, if you find the low point in the 1990's for incomes, 1999 looks pretty good. Until you compare it to 1989 in inflation-adjusted terms. Then you can see that the 10-year change for the bottom 80 percent ranges from 4.8 to 9.1 percent. These translate into annual compounding rates of less than one percent. In other words, if you'll forgive my lapse into technical jargon, they suck! …

[Find this post  here.]

Subject: Reply to Max B. Sawicky

Re: "Kausfiles: Infighting on the Left—Was the '90s Boom a Bust?"

From:  Mickey Kaus

Date: Mon Apr 23  2:14 p.m. PT

What a condescending crock! The argument of the item is exactly that you have to look at the whole business cycle, peak to peak. My point is that Reich deceptively cuts off the data before the next peak is reached—a peak that indeed may not have been reached yet …

[Find this post here. Sawicky counterarguedbut added, "Why describe what is really not so great as a 'boom'? This is a bit misleading, so Reich's skepticism, if a tad overdrawn, is well-taken." Kaus said he'd settle for"overdrawn"and—as he put it—all ended peacefully.]

Subject: Worth the Wait

Re: "Sports Nut: Lies, Damned Lies, and Triple Crown Statistics"

From: Joe

Date: Thu Apr 19 11:55 p.m. PT

The argument that the Crown needs updating because it hasn't been taken since Yaz did it in '67 seems oddly mistimed. It wasn't long ago that baseball got to celebrate the double smashing of a record that looked out of reach for about four decades. And whatever one wants to call what Tiger Woods just accomplished in golf, surely few would have bet (at least until Tiger showed up) that such a feat was just around the corner. So to those longing for a winnable Triple Crown: Be patient. Lightning may strike sooner than you think—and, when it does, the flash will be all the more brilliant for being unexpected.

[Find this post here.]

Subject: Rights and Wrongs of Riots

Re: "History Lesson: Riot Act"

From: Joseph Britt

Date: Fri Apr 20  3:04 p.m. PT