Think I’m exaggerating? Feast your eyes. [All page references are to the November 5th, 2017 explanation of the bill posted by the Joint Committee on Taxation, JCX-50-17 ] [All comparisons are against values declared for 2018 by the IRS, accessed here. Bye bye, exclusion of gain on a personal residence For…
In an earlier post, I introduced the carb-sharp ratio, defined as [(carbohydrate grams – fiber grams) / fiber grams]. I pitched this ratio as a tool for selecting foods to help in weight loss, and I aimed it squarely at people like me, who have no medical issues around food,…
The paper describing the data collection for the new database can be downloaded at SSRN, Working Paper # 3011486. This post serves mostly to provide a link to the spreadsheet that contains the data (link at bottom of post). The new database is intended for scholarly use. I don’t know…
This post is a mash-up of finance and nutrition. The finance piece: an adaptation of the Sharpe ratio to food selection and meal construction. The nutrition piece: the importance of limiting “free carbs” in your diet. Essential background reading is Dr. Fung’s book, The Obesity Code. Quick takeaway from Dr.…
Ensconced here in my coastal elitist, affluent liberal bubble, upon occasion I try to expose myself to alternative points of view. It seems important to escape the silo. To that end, sometimes I browse the Washington Examiner on health care (!). Sometimes even (vapors!), I browse to Fox News—although I…
Forgive the metaphor; it was the most trenchant I could find. Tell me, after the Georgia election, how else can Democrats overcome? If nothing bad happens to Trump supporters, why should they change their vote? There’s the nub: Trumpcare will be very, very bad for Trump voters in rural, red…
The first frog story is one everyone knows. Put a frog in a ten quartz sauce pan with slippery sides. Pour in about two quarts of water. The sides of the pan are too tall and steep for the frog to jump out, unless it’s absolutely desperate and panic-stricken; and…
Dear Mr. Rosenstein: I had never heard of you before your nomination to be Deputy Attorney General. That’s probably a good sign for your reputation, going in: when it comes to politics, I only know what I read in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and kindred…
Democrats have spent a long time as the party advocating tax increases, a position that used to be derided as “root canal Republican.” It’s not much of an election platform (ask Walter Mondale). The instinctive Democratic reaction to Trump’s ridiculous tax plan is to decry it as a “giveaway to…
The marginal voter for Trump—the people who took him over the top in the Electoral College—is understood to be a rural, older, white, male voter in a depressed Rust Belt state. Furthermore, I take the core Trump voter, the one most committed, to be an economically marginalized voter in a…