Doe Report on Demand Response

Lynne Kiesling Sometimes the juxtaposition of two items highlights important themes. Today the Wall Street Journal published an article (sub. req.) describing some state efforts to curb retail electricity rate increases. Typically, these efforts take the form of lobbying for political and legislative action to “control” rates; no mention is made in the article of … More Doe Report on Demand ResponseMore Doe Report on Demand Response

Does the Ethicist Understand Market Processes?

Lynne Kiesling Interesting little conversation going on Truth on the Market … Geoff Manne posts an excerpt from a question to NYT ethicist Randy Cohen from a boy who, seeing a perpetual line for pizza at a recurring school event, goes out and buys a pizza and offers slices to kids at the back of … More Does the Ethicist Understand Market Processes?More Does the Ethicist Understand Market Processes?

A Little Monday Frivolity

Lynne Kiesling Thanks to the Manolo for the link to the Shoe Sense, “a feminist shoe blog for the stylish yet sensible woman.” In one post she asks is 45 pairs of shoes too many?. With sport-specific shoes, snow boots, etc., I estimate that I have about 55 pair of footwear, which I do not … More A Little Monday FrivolityMore A Little Monday Frivolity

Malcolm Gladwell’s Got A Blog

Lynne Kiesling Am I really the first person in my online reading network to notice that Malcolm Gladwell’s got a blog? Yee hah! There are a few people whose trenchant observations make me more productive, and he’s high on the list. … More Malcolm Gladwell’s Got A Blog

Does More Technology Make Us Less Productive?

Lynne Kiesling I think it depends on how you measure productivity (yeah, I know that’s a bit of a copout). In a recent Wired article: Sixty percent of workers say they always or frequently feel rushed, but those who feel extremely or very productive dropped to 51 percent from 83 percent in 1994, the research … More Does More Technology Make Us Less Productive?More Does More Technology Make Us Less Productive?

Liveblogging Arts Blogging on Npr

Lynne Kiesling I am listening live to Hello Beautiful!, the Sunday morning arts show on WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR station. It’s sometimes frustrating (to a relatively dispassionate economist), but almost always interesting conversation about local art, music, architecture, galleries, etc. The host, Edward Lifson, is currently interviewing Terry Teachout and Laura Dimanski at About Last Night … More Liveblogging Arts Blogging on NprMore Liveblogging Arts Blogging on Npr

FERC Jettisons Legitimate Business Purposes

Michael Giberson An example of federal bureaucracy run amok? No, it is only FERC revamping their anti-market manipulation rules to accomodate changes brought about by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The old market behavior rules sought to prohibit, among other things, “actions that are without a legitimate business purpose and that are intended to … More FERC Jettisons Legitimate Business PurposesMore FERC Jettisons Legitimate Business Purposes

Why So Quiet?

Lynne Kiesling Yeah, things have been quiet here at KP. I have some cool work stuff to discuss, which I’ll start developing. But otherwise my cool work stuff has been insider pool (for example, learning a computer program that I may use to program experimental environments) that is of little general interest and requires little … More Why So Quiet?More Why So Quiet?

London in Four Dimensions

Lynne Kiesling Courtesy of Londonist, check out the fascinating Digitally Distributed Environments. It’s the blog of Andy Hudson-Smith, from University College London’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. He can take historic information about a city, in this case London, and import it into Google Earth to see how London would look if it still retained … More London in Four DimensionsMore London in Four Dimensions

Voluntary Corporate Environmentalism

Lynne Kiesling Reason has a good article on corporate environmentalism from Katherine Mangu-Ward. She highlights lots of very interesting voluntary environmental programs at companies in various types of industries, including fast food and oil. A good read. … More Voluntary Corporate Environmentalism