One day I take a ride in a NYC yellow cab. The cab driver charges me $10, and I give him a healthy 20% tip.

Here's the trick: I use a credit card. The cabby owes 5% of the $12 (60 cents) to my credit card company, which passes the same amount back to me ("cash back"). Now, I've only paid a net $11.40 to the cabby - for an effective 14% tip. Ha!

It's time to phase out our accredited investor laws.

I propose we eliminate the dividend tax on domestically held shares of domestic companies.

In exchange we tax all other dividends at the same rate as earned income.


[A few possible positive consequences: lower dividends, higher wages & other business spending due to the lower dividends, similar tax revenue, increased domestic investment, increased incentive to start firms in the US, decreased use of offshore accounts for tax purposes, increased detection of money laundering. A few possible negative consequences: for one, further absurdification of the term "earned income". I'll leave the reset for other people to think about.]

Could there be such thing as an aerosol vaccination? You know, like one of those things asthma people use, except with a dead Flu virus inside?

Because if so then I would probably get one. Not to mention, it would be easy to imagine a contagious vaccine.

A thought keeps popping into my head: that Gingrich as Republican nominee might be a good thing for both parties.

Democrats analyze voter turnout in the same way that conservative economists analyze everything else.

For example:


-When people are poor, they must not want to work. How can we motivate them?

-When students in certain demographics arrive to school late, they must not want education. How can we make them less lazy?

I often see high end salt advertised as "Sea Salt."

Salt that isn't advertised this way, what is it? Is it mined from salt mines?

WOW. It is nice to get out of bed when it is not pitch black. I think I will contribute a little bit extra to GDP today...

A poet by any other name would be as sweet :)