Posner on Keynes: Consumption, Consumption, Consumption

A great article in The New Republic on macroeconomic theory and John Maynard Keynes' "The General Theory" by Richard Posner, an appeals court judge for the seventh circuit and professor at University of Chicago. Keynes eloquently argued that economic growth is driven by consumption, that psychology and expectations play an important role in economic activity (consumer's tendency to hoard and the "animal spirits" that propel entrepreneurs to take risks), and that uncertainty is a fact of economic life that affects growth.

Clearly, Keynes work is still relevant- increasingly so during this deep recession.

Los Angeles: Initial Impressions

Cars. My first impression after leaving the luggage check at LAX is amazement at the number and composition of vehicles. A preponderance of luxury vehicles: convertibles with roofs raised, multiple Mercedes, a lexus with a rear window sticker that reads (in hebrew) "ohavim otach, eretz yisrael."A white hummer limousine- at the airport! An LAPD officer glides by harley-esque motorcycle. After being picked up by my cousin, we drive out into the expanse of the city, borne upon massives highways that lift us up into the hills of Sherman oaks. This is car country.