MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'bubbles'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:58:41 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028138&cid=t_128335_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyZZPNvIJeBs%2F By Mark A. CalabriaIt’s probably never wise to inject oneself into the middle of a food fight, but since I think both sides actually have something right and something wrong, its been a worthwhile debate to follow.  That is the ongoing debate between Peter Wallison at the American Enterprise Institute and David Min at the Center for American Progress (at least we can all agree we love America) on the role of Fannie Mae (and Freddie Mae) in the financial crisis.  If you can’t guess, Peter says Fannie/Freddie caused the crisis, David says they didn’t. David makes an interesting point, one I’ve actually argued, in his latest retort.  That is, this wasn’t exclusively a housing crisis/bubble.  Other sectors, like commercial real estate, boomed and then went bus... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028138 Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:40:43 +0100 5028138 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4934335&cid=t_128335_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F06%2F14%2Fwhen-our-intuition-leads-us-to-bad-decisions%2F Six years ago, Malcolm Gladwell released a book entitled Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. In his usual style, Gladwell weaves stories in-between descriptions of scientific research the support his hypothesis that our intuition can be surprisingly accurate and right. One year ago, authors Daniel J. Simons and Christopher F. Chabris, writing in The Chronicle of Higher Education not only had some choice words for Gladwell’s cherry-picking of the research, but also showed how intuition probably only works best in certain situations, where there is no clear science or logical decision-making process to arrive at the “right” answer. For instance, when choosing which ice cream is “best.” Reasoned analysis, however, works best in virtually every other si... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4934335 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:39:28 +0100 4934335 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4313989&cid=t_128335_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPremGoVsvgM%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThe news is going from bad to worse for Ireland. The Irish Independent is reporting that the Swiss Central Bank no longer will accept Irish government bonds as collateral. The story also notes that one of the world’s largest bond firms, PIMCO, is no longer purchasing debt issued by the Irish government. And this is happening even though (or perhaps because?) Ireland received a big bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (and the IMF’s involvement means American taxpayers are picking up part of the tab). I’ve already commented on Ireland’s woes, and opined about similar problems afflicting the rest of Europe, but the continuing deterioration of the Emerald Isle deserves further analysis so that American policy makers h... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4313989 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:47:36 +0100 4313989 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3463760&cid=t_128335_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.discovermagazine.com%2Fgnxp%2F2010%2F04%2Fpeter-thiel-thinks-were-in-irrational-exuberance-crazy-edition%2F Below I referenced a talk that Peter Thiel gave at the Singularity Summit 2009. In the Q & A I recall that Thiel was skeptical that we’d head into another irrational bubble craze after having gone through two speculative boom & bust cycles in less than 10 years. My friend Michael Vassar points me to an article in Wired from January where Thiel asserts that we are in a bubble. Either I don’t recall correctly, or he’s changed his mind. Here’s the relevant part: Wired: You’ve had a rough year. The stock market rallied strongly, and Clarium Capital bet the wrong way. Thiel: I think we’re back to a zone of irrational exuberance. Wired: Like before the Internet bubble burst? Thiel: I think it’s maybe even more irrational because there’s no story about th... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3463760 Tue, 13 Apr 2010 01:56:55 +0100 3463760 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2667396&cid=t_128335_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPUck3N3aEeI%2F Steve Chapman points out in the Chicago Tribune: The crisis in state budgets is not an accident, and it wasn’t unforeseeable. For years, most states have spent like there’s no tomorrow, and now tomorrow is here. They bring to mind the lament of Mickey Mantle, who said, “If I knew I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.” If they had known the revenue flood wasn’t a permanent fact of life, governors and legislators might have prepared for drought. Instead, like overstretched homeowners, they took on obligations they could meet only in the best-case scenario — which is not what has come to pass. Over the last decade, state budgets have expanded rapidly. We have had good times and bad times, including a recession in 2001, b... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2667396 Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:27:28 +0100 2667396 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405419&cid=t_128335_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F05%2F11%2Fvideo-learning-to-blow-bubbles%2F Sticks and stones may break my bones, but bubbles can never hurt me. So I put all the meannies — or at least their words — in bubbles, where they can’t bother me. Of course, I’m so sensitive that I went out and got myself a gazillion bubbles. You’ll see. Click through to view the video… (Source: World of Psychology) World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405419 Mon, 11 May 2009 23:00:46 +0100 2405419