Blog Archives

Are you safer on a plane, or driving to the airport?

2/21/2025

I’m flying overseas this weekend. Should I be worried about landing upside down or colliding with another aircraft — or should I be more worried about the drive from my house to Salt Lake International?
Psychologist Daniel Kahneman describes what he calls the availability heuristic. We learn through what is most readily available, and right now that is the seemingly endless reels of air crash videos, discussions and memes on social media, bolstered by the more reasoned, but still alarming, reports on television.

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Who's to blame for the bad inflation news?

2/13/2025

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“Starting on day one of my new administration, we will end inflation and we will make America affordable again because the prices are too high.” Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Juneau, Wisconsin, Oct. 6, 2024.

"BIDEN INFLATION UP!" — President Trump’s post on Truth Social, Feb. 12, 2025, reacting to a report showing inflation jumped in January.

Donald Trump is certainly not the first president to learn the difficulty of taking ownership of something he mercilessly blamed his predecessor for during campaign rallies.
Nor is he the first to come face-to-face with the reality that presidents can do little to immediately affect the economy, at least not in a good way.

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DOGE isn't tackling the nation's real spending problems

2/8/2025

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Elon Musk wants the U.S. to stop minting pennies.
The idea does make practical sense. But would it make a dent in the nation’s yearly budget deficit?
As of fiscal 2024, the U.S. pays 2.72 cents to make each penny, according to the Mint. The counter argument used to be that a single penny would circulate many times through the economy, generating far more than its cost in purchasing power. But today, it’s likely most of them end up in a jar somewhere, waiting for a rainy day.

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Is legal gambling ruining American sports?

2/8/2025

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One thought ought to dominate the minds of everyone associated with major sports in this country: If the public loses confidence in the fair play and integrity of the games, it may take generations to recover.
Why, then, do they keep playing with fire?
The NBA now has a new scandal to worry about. In a story first reported this week by the Wall Street Journal, federal investigators are examining whether Terry Rozier of the Miami Heat, who has a $100 million contract, intentionally altered his performance in an illegal sports betting scheme.

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Do runoff elections give us the 'will of the people?'

2/8/2025

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In 2020, future Gov. Spencer Cox won a four-way Republican primary for that office with just 38.15% of the vote. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. wasn’t far behind with 34.95%.
If the race had been held in seven of the nine states that require runoff elections for primaries that end in pluralities, voters would have chosen between those two in another election a few weeks later.

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Are you safer on a plane, or driving to the airport?

Who's to blame for the bad inflation news?

DOGE isn't tackling the nation's real spending problems

Is legal gambling ruining American sports?

Do runoff elections give us the 'will of the people?'

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