Stuff I Wrote Elsewhere
NM Coal Production: Up
Archive of entries posted by jfleck
Elephant Diaries: The Great Paradox
Surowiecki in the New Yorker: The peculiar fact about the current crisis is that even as big papers have become less profitable they’ve arguably become more popular. The blogosphere, much of which piggybacks on traditional journalism’s content, has magnified the reach of newspapers, and although papers now face far more scrutiny, this is a kind …
The Flip Side of Declining Food Prices
Yes, as I have noted many times, food is getting a lot cheaper. But the other downsides to the current economic mess are likely to overwhelm any short term benefits for the hungry in the world’s poor parts, according to an analysis by Joachim von Braun of the International Food Policy Research Institute, published in …
Trading One Crane for Another
Coco notes Sandhill cranes in a field destined to become a subdivision, and fights back bile: Sandhill cranes on a field that will soon be chopped up for sale because: you can’t do agriculture on land worth that much. I note the economic disincentives standing in the cranes’ way (the externality of a public good …
Macroeconomic Indicators: NM Copper
Commodities like copper are one of the best global macroeconomic indicators, and we’ve got copper in New Mexico. My colleague Rene Romo has a nice story in this morning’s paper (watch an ad to read it) translating the general into the specific: “In past times, if you’d get laid off, you’d go somewhere else and …
The Intolerable Shortage of Pixie Dust
In the Guardian, David Appell begs us to accept the grim reality: Not one of us – you, me, Obama or the greenest activist anywhere in the world – is willing to live without the comforts fossil fuels provide us – heat, light, instant hot food, convenient transportation, modern agriculture and airplane travel.
Big Toe’s Christmas Visit
Big Toe’s Christmas Visit Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. Our old friend Big Toe stopped by on a trek through the Southwest, and was on hand today to help us decorate the family Christmas tree. (That’s him hanging one of our rubber chicken ornaments.) It was great to see him. Big Toe used to be Inkstain’s …
Elephant Diaries: Science Journalism Edition
Chris Mooney had a nice piece this week on Science Progress about the decline in science specialist journalists at major mainstream media publications. I think Chris nails the problem squarely, but I’d like to elaborate on the implication, because it applies much more broadly. Here’s Chris’s key point: Science journalism, at its best, should also …
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New Mexico’s Unemployment Rate
Hoping Malcolm will like this one better. It’s New Mexico’s unemployment rate over the last 10 years, as compared to the national rate. (Red line NM, blue line national. Data courtesy of St. Louis Fed.) The data speak for themselves (the data speaks for itself?), but since this is a blog, I have to say …