Quote of the day

I look at this crisis as a mountain of regulatory arbitrage. The brightest financial minds focused on ways to pile risks onto banks without regulators being able to see it.--Arnold Kling

Killjoy economists no doubt will prattle about capitalism. Some nabob will point out that nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is the federal government granted the authority to bail out private companies. Ignore them. We must remain true to our nation's founding principles: no company may be allowed to fail.--Declan McCullagh

This is the same Paul Samuelson who argued, as late as 1989, that the performance of the Soviet economy was a refutation of Hayek's critique of central planning.--Tyler Cowen

Do SATs predict graduation rates more accurately than high school grade-point averages? The short answer is: yes.--Peter D. Salins

Because apparently when primitive societies ruled by authoritarian patriarchies or whatever chop down all their trees and go bye-bye, it’s just the same as when declining sunspot activity changes the weather.--Stephen Green

Now, in 2008, his fourteenth year in the league, the 35-year-old [Kerry Collins] is having his best season ever. This isn't a comeback. We've heard that story before. This is fascinating -- a comeback after a comeback.--Peter Schrager