Tidbits
Political Quotations
To Accompany the December 12, 2019 edition of Tidbits
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbits/2019/Tidbits121219.htm
Bob Jensen at
Trinity University
My Latest Web Document
Over 400 Examples of Critical Thinking and Illustrations of How to Mislead With
Statistics ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/MisleadWithStatistics.htm
Animated Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth
Over 200 Years (1790 – 2010) ---
A Visualization of the United States’ Exploding Population Growth Over 200 Years
(1790 – 2010)
USA Debt Clock --- http://www.usdebtclock.org/
The published national debt is a lie
Here's the real federal debt ---
https://www.truthinaccounting.org/about/our_national_debt
In September 2017 the USA National Debt exceeded $22 trillion for the first time
---
http://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/national-debt-surpasses-20-trillion-for-the-first-time-in-us-history
Human Population Over Time on Earth ---
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUwmA3Q0_OE
Thomas Piketty +++ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Piketty
Billionaires (and millionaires) hurt economic growth and should be taxed
out of existence, says bestselling French economist ---
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/12/billionaires-should-be-taxed-out-of-existence-says-thomas-piketty.html
Here's a humorous TED talk that seriously argues why the world needs billionaires
https://www.ted.com/talks/harald_eia_where_in_the_world_is_it_easiest_to_get_rich
Why did Cuba abandon its socialist/communist dream of equality for everybody?
The Guardian: This was the egalitarian dream of Cuba in the 1960s: For years in
Cuba, jobs as varied as farm workers and doctors only had a difference in their
wages of the equivalent of a few US dollars a month.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jun/12/cuba
Here's a somber and serious Guardian article on why the Cuban
model of income equality for all is a disaster ---
Fidel Castro says his economic system is failing ---
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/sep/09/fidel-castro-cuba-economic-model
While a
move is underway to destroy the American Dream of rags to riches (by taxing away
the riches) the Chinese dream is on the rise.
The Chinese Dream
How a Chinese billionaire went from making $16 a month in a factory to being one
of the world's richest self-made women with an $8.3 billion real-estate empire
---
https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-richest-self-made-woman-wu-yajun-net-worth-2019-2
Top 50 Billionaires in China ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_by_net_worth
Jensen
Comment
The question for students to debate is why a supposed
communist country allows so many billionaires to rise up from poverty.
That's supposed to happen in the USA where a child growing up in deep
poverty (think Oprah Winfrey or Howard Shultz) became a multi-billionaires.
But is it also supposed to happen under communism? If
so, why?
One reason is that many billionaires can afford to pour lots of money into high risk ventures. When's the last time you heard about a high risk (think Silicon Valley) venture in Europe?
Wikiquote from Wikipedia --- https://www.wikiquote.org/
Excellent, Cross-Disciplinary Overview of Scientific
Reproducibility in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ---
https://replicationnetwork.com/2018/12/15/excellent-cross-disciplinary-overview-of-scientific-reproducibility-in-the-stanford-encyclopedia-of-philosophy/
[Researchers] are rewarded for being
productive rather than being right, for building ever upward instead of checking
the foundations.---
Decades of early research on the genetics of depression were built on
nonexistent foundations. How did that happen?
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/05/waste-1000-studies/589684/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=atlantic-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20191022&silverid-ref=NTk4MzY1OTg0MzY5S0
Bob Jensen: My take on research validation or lack
thereof is at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
Tom Lehrer on Mathematical Models and Statistics ---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfZWyUXn3So
You must watch this to the ending to appreciate it.
And nevertheless conclude that the optimum
amount of restriction of immigration is zero point zero, zero, zero? Amazing.
Economics are generally skeptical models that yield corner solutions ---
https://www.econlib.org/do-you-talk-about-it-in-open-borders-yes/
Jensen Comment
To the list of questions I would add "Do your talk about the Tragedy of the
Commons?"
The problem with open borders is somewhat related to the economic problem of
"The Sharing of the Commons" where giving everybody the right to use a free
resource leads to everybody losing that resource. At what point will allowing
billions of people share in the free medical care, free college, and other
scarce resources ruin it for everybody ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
Open immigration can’t exist with a strong
social safety net; if you’re going to assure healthcare and a decent income to
everyone, you can’t make that offer global ---
Paul Krugman
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/724654-open-immigration-can-t-exist-with-a-strong-social-safety-net
History will prove former President Donald
Trump was correct about Mexico one day funding an impenetrable wall --- to keep
out over 2 billion starving green immigrants seeking to enter Mexico from the
north.
Bob Jensen
Some Fatherly Words of Wisdom from Jack Bogle, Founder
of Vanguard Investments, to My Sons ---
https://jborden.com/2019/06/16/some-fatherly-words-of-wisdom-from-jack-bogle-founder-of-vanguard-investments-to-my-sons/
Milton Friedman: The Lesson of the
Spoons ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/08/spoons-are-in-aisle-9.html
Chopsticks would be even better
The Young
Left’s Anti-Capitalist Manifesto: Its goal is to remake our economic system —
and the Democratic Party ---
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-young-lefts-anti-capitalist-manifesto/
I have a complaint about America today, and it
is simple: we don’t love business enough ---
Tyler Cowen
https://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2019/Klingbigbusiness.html
The Amazon Rain Forest Is Nearly Gone ---
https://time.com/amazon-rainforest-disappearing/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20190914&xid=newsletter-brief
Amazon rainforest fires: Everything we know and how you can help
---
https://www.cnet.com/how-to/amazon-rainforest-fire-whats-happening-now-and-how-you-can-help-update-indigenous-tribes/
There Are More Fires Burning in Africa Than Anywhere on Earth ----
https://time.com/5665794/africa-forest-fires-amazon/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20190901&xid=newsletter-brief
If forests go up in smoke, so can carbon offsets ---
https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/13/20859156/forests-fires-carbon-offsets-amazon-california
"In
Praise of Cheap Labor," by Paul Krugman,
Slate, March 21, 1997 ---
https://slate.com/business/1997/03/in-praise-of-cheap-labor.html
Corruption in general has a deleterious effect
on the readiness of economic agents to invest. In the long run, it leads to a
paralysis of economic life. But very often it is not that economic agents
themselves have had the bad experience of being cheated and ruined, they just
know that in this country, or in this part of the economy, or this building
scene, there is a high likelihood that you will get cheated and that free riders
can get away with it. Here again, reputation is absolutely essential, which is
why transparency is so important. Trust can only be engendered by transparency.
It's no coincidence that the name of the most influential non-governmental
organization dealing with corruption is Transparency International.
A Conversation with Karl Sigmund: When Rule of Law is
Not Working
https://www.edge.org/conversation/karl_sigmund-when-the-rule-of-law-is-not-working
Mortgage Backed Securities are like boxes
of chocolates. Criminals on Wall Street and one particular U.S. Congressional
Committee stole a few chocolates from the boxes and replaced them with turds.
Their criminal buddies at Standard & Poors rated these boxes AAA Investment Grade
chocolates. These boxes were then sold all over the world to investors.
Eventually somebody bites into a turd and discovers the crime. Suddenly nobody
trusts American chocolates anymore worldwide. Hank Paulson now wants the
American taxpayers to buy up and hold all these boxes of turd-infested
chocolates for $700 billion dollars until the market for turds returns to
normal. Meanwhile, Hank's buddies, the Wall Street criminals who stole all the
good chocolates are not being investigated, arrested, or indicted. Momma always
said: '"Sniff the chocolates first Forrest." Things generally don't pass the
smell test if they came from Wall Street or from Washington DC.
Forrest Gump as quoted at
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Rec/rec.sport.tennis/2008-10/msg02206.html
It is not that machines are going to replace
chemists. It’s that the chemists who use machines will replace those that don’t
---
Derek Lowe
Gallup: Americans Say No. 1 Problem is
'Government,' No. 2 is 'Immigration' ---
https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/michael-w-chapman/survey-americas-no-1-problem-government-no-2-problem-immigration
"If you open the borders, my God, there's a
lot of poverty in this world, and you're going to have people from all over the
world. And I don't think that's something that we can do at this point."
Bernie Sanders
https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-says-he-does-not-support-open-borders-2019-4
Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em, And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so on ad infinitum ---
Augustus De Morgan
Prior to 1980 what was unique about the year of his birth in 1871?
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/De_Morgan.html
Also see
Hermann Weyl born in Hamburg, Germany. He wrote,
"One may say that mathematics talks about the things which are of no concern to
men. Mathematics has the inhuman quality of starlight---brilliant, sharp, but
cold ... thus we are clearest where knowledge matters least: in mathematics,
especially number theory." ---
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Biographies/Weyl.html
Also see Mathematical Analytics in Plato's Cave
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm#Analytics
Georges Simenon wrote nearly 200 novels.
Hitchcock telephoned one day and was told, "Sorry, he’s just started a novel."
"I’ll wait,’ came the reply
https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/08/if-only-georges-simenon-had-been-a-bit-more-like-maigret/
12 inspiring quotes from Martin Luther King
Jr.---
https://www.businessinsider.com/inspiring-martin-luther-king-jr-quotes-2017-1
21 outstanding Warren Buffet quotations ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-21-best-quotes-2019-2
Also see
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/the-25-best-warren-buffett-quotes-in-one-infographic/
The Atlantic: The Swiftly Closing
Borders of Europe ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/12/europe-france-italy-immigration-border/578179/
Italian Minister tells NGO Italy doesn’t want migrants: “Our ports are closed!”
---
https://voiceofeurope.com/2018/12/italian-minister-tells-ngo-italy-doesnt-want-migrants-our-ports-are-closed/#.XB6WCZMs_Xo.twitter
The
enemy is fear
We think it's hate
But, it's fear
Gandhi
13 of the (alleged) most famous last words in
history ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/famous-last-words-in-history-2017-10
21 of Michelle Obama's most inspiring quotes
on work, success, and relationships ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/michelle-obama-most-inspiring-quotes-advice-becoming-2019-1
19 unforgettable quotes from legendary Marine
Gen. Jim 'Mad Dog' Mattis, who quit as Trump's defense secretary ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/general-mattiss-best-quotes-2016-11
Here are the Ten Best Pieces of Advice from
2018 Commencement Speakers ---
Click Here
Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side because it's been fertilized
with more bullshit.
Anonomous
The Lucretius Problem is a mental defect where
we assume the worst case event that has happened is the worst case event that
can happen ---
https://www.fs.blog/2015/04/lucretius-problem/
The worst form of inequality is to try to make
unequal things equal.
Aristotle
The Economic Ignorance of Bernie Sanders ---
http://reason.com/archives/2018/08/09/the-economic-ignorance-of-bernie-sanders
Walter E. Williams ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Williams
Walter E. Williams: Fraud in Higher
Education ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2019/12/04/fraud-in-higher-education-n2557348?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=12/04/2019&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167
A left-wing journalist just added to the staff
of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., once celebrated Hugo Chavez's leadership in
Venezuela, claiming that "his brand of socialism achieved real economic gains."
. . . In 2013, Sirota wrote a lengthy defense for Slate on Chavez's reign in
Venezuela shortly after the dictator's death, which he called an "economic
miracle."
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/bernies-new-speechwriter-applauded-chavezs-economic-miracle
Also see
https://www.salon.com/2013/03/06/hugo_chavezs_economic_miracle/
In Defense Of American Excellence ---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2019/11/in-defense-of-american-excellence.html
Oklahoma police officer gets a Starbucks cup
labeled ‘Pig’ ---
https://nypost.com/2019/11/29/oklahoma-police-officer-gets-a-starbucks-cup-labeled-pig/
ABC Broadcasts Anti-Religious Pop Music From
Hell ---
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3797201/posts
Current jobs numbers indicate the black
unemployment is the lowest it's ever been since the government began tracking
the figure in the early 1970s ---
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2019/11/29/bet-founder-says-2020-election-is-trumps-to-lose-says-dems-should-change-strate-n2557235?utm_source=thdailypm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl_pm&newsletterad=&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167
Jensen Comment
That does not mean the employment rate for blacks is low enough in the highest
paying professions.
China is Still Building an Insane Number of
New Coal Plants
https://www.wired.com/story/china-is-still-building-an-insane-number-of-new-coal-plants/
---
The developing world has hit the brakes on
clean energy ---
https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614750/the-developing-world-has-hit-the-brakes-on-clean-energy/
China Isn't Doing Much as the World's Largest
Climate Changer ---
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-27/amid-rising-climate-alarms-china-keeps-calm-and-carries-on?cmpid=BBD112919_WKND&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=191129&utm_campaign=weekendreading
'They're Trying to Wipe Us Off the Map.' Small
American Farmers Are Nearing Extinction ---
https://time.com/5736789/small-american-farmers-debt-crisis-extinction/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief-farmers-debt&utm_content=20191130
Captive tigers in the U.S. outnumber those in
the wild. It’s a problem ---
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/11/tigers-in-the-united-states-outnumber-those-in-the-wild-feature/
China Isn't Doing Much as the World's Largest
Climate Changer ---
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-27/amid-rising-climate-alarms-china-keeps-calm-and-carries-on?cmpid=BBD112919_WKND&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=191129&utm_campaign=weekendreading
The New York Times and Other Fake News Media
---
https://mises.org/wire/woke-media-apologists-state?utm_source=Mises+Institute+Subscriptions&utm_campaign=8c0e8c27dd-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_9_21_2018_9_59_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8b52b2e1c0-8c0e8c27dd-228708937
Media Faces New Level of Repression in Africa
---
https://www.ozy.com/around-the-world/africa-faces-a-new-level-of-repression-of-free-press/246767/?utm_term=OZY&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DD_2019_12_01&utm_content=A
Walmart’s revenue is still twice that of
Amazon, though Amazon’s total value on the stock market is the fourth largest
among American companies, more than double Walmart’s.) And while Amazon may sell
nearly half of cloud-computing services, it points out that the cloud makes up a
small fraction of information technology spending. ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/30/business/amazon-baltimore.html
Milton Friedman: The Lesson of the
Spoons ---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/08/spoons-are-in-aisle-9.html
Measuring the Impact of 20 Years of
Socialism ---
https://finance.townhall.com/columnists/danieljmitchell/2019/12/02/measuring-the-impact-of-20-years-of-socialism-n2557326?bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&utm_campaign=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_source=thdaily
Carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. have
fallen to the lowest levels in a generation—natural gas is a big reason why
---
https://qz.com/1757157/carbon-dioxide-emissions-in-the-u-s-have-fallen-to-the-lowest-levels-in-a-generation-natural-gas-is-a-big-reason-why/
Jensen Comment
Alternative energy is not necessarily less polluting than natural gas. For
example, biomass plants emit carbon and other pollutants out of smoke stacks.
Solar energy is not necessarily less polluting if it relies on batteries that
are very polluting when they're manufactured. California still relies on coal
plants when purchasing back up power on the grid.
Illinois among least financially-transparent
states in U.S., report finds ---
https://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/illinois-among-least-financially-transparent-states-in-us-report-finds
NYT: 90,000 Packages Disappear Daily in
N.Y.C. Is Help on the Way? ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/nyregion/online-shopping-package-theft.html
Stanford University study finds that almost
half of California's 2012 income tax increase was eroded by people who moved
away or lowered their taxable income ---
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/has-california-hit-limit-tax-rates?utm_source=Stanford+Business&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Stanford-Business-Issue-176-12-1-2019&utm_content=alumni
One Version of The American Dream: 30
companies worth at least $1 billion that didn't exist 10 years ago (not all are
based in the USA) ---
https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-unicorns-worth-1-billion-didnt-exist-10-years-ago-2019-11
New York state is facing the largest budget
gap in several years due largely to higher costs for Medicaid ---
https://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/to-close-states-budget-deficit-raise-taxes-or-cut-spending
The pension system is going to fail in
Kentucky ---
https://www.statedatalab.org/news/detail/bevin-the-pension-system-is-going-to-fail-in-kentucky
Gigafactory Plan: US automaker GM and South
Korean battery manufacturer LG Chem announced a $2.3 billion joint venture (JV)
to create an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant near Lordstown, Ohio.---
https://www.businessinsider.com/gm-lg-chem-partner-for-us-electric-vehicle-battery-foundry-2019-12
The Daily Beast Claims Tom Steyer Is
Running a Donor Scam ---
https://www.blabber.buzz/conservative-news/720451-daily-beast-tom-steyer-is-running-a-donor-scam-special?utm_source=c-alrt&utm_medium=c-alrt-email&utm_term=c-alrt-GI&utm_content=5iEzoSRA3OwmMZouDYnIqL3RgHsaffHcB6hB5DcjF-f0.A
How he's doing it is interesting.
I don't know of any billionaire who has gone to such extremes to buy the USA
presidency with television advertisements and gifts for votes
Joe Biden Proposes $1 Trillion in New Corporate
Taxes ---
https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-proposes-1-trillion-in-new-corporate-taxes-11575492332?mod=djemCFO
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden proposed nearly $1 trillion in new corporate taxes on Wednesday as he sought to generate more revenue to pay for his policy plans on health care, climate, infrastructure and education.
One of his new taxes would go after companies such as Amazon.com Inc. that have years when they report profits to investors but show little or no U.S. tax costs. A second would double the minimum tax rate on overseas income of U.S.-based multinationals.
Until now, Mr. Biden has largely confined his ideas to rolling back parts of the 2017 Republican tax cut and pursuing policies that the Democratic Obama administration, in which he served as vice president, couldn’t get through Congress.
The new proposals come atop Mr. Biden’s previous calls for tax increases, which would push the corporate tax rate to 28% from 21%, tax unrealized capital gains at death and push the top rate on individuals to 39.6% from 37%.
Mr. Biden’s proposed tax increases now total $3.2 trillion over a decade, though his campaign confirmed on Wednesday that he also supports repealing the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction, a tax cut that would disproportionately benefit some of the high-income households who would be hit by his tax increases.
Still, Mr. Biden’s tax plans are more modest than those of his main rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) have proposed wealth taxes on the super-rich. Both of them, along with Mayor Pete Buttigieg, have called for returning the corporate tax rate to 35%.
Jensen Comment
Continued in article
Joe Biden Vows to Give Taxpayer-Funded Obamacare to All
Illegal Immigrants in U.S. ---
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwGCGtjlPQwKppkFwvsWhGNlMXs
Jensen Comment
Bernie Sanders finally convinced Joe Biden as well as Elizabeth Warren that
voters are too stupid to understand how $1 trillion (or much more in the case of
Sanders and Warren) in new taxes is really a tax increase on the lower income
and middle income taxpayers. Biden at last believes that voters are too dumb to
understand that business firms don't pay taxes. Biden,
Sanders, and Warren think voters are just
too uneducated to understand that business firms don't pay taxes.
Instead business firms collect taxes from their customers. Nearly all companies
contributing to Biden's $1 trillion in new corporate taxes will raise prices to
(gasp) customers of Amazon, Walmart, etc. who mostly are lower and middle income
customers.
And tariffs will have to be increased on imported goods (think sugar, TV sets, mobile phones and computers) to make it possible for USA corporations to raise prices enough to collect the added trillion (or trillions) in new business taxes.
In their zeal to attract ignorant voters, I don't think Biden, Sanders, and Warren want to let on that taxing trillions from business firms and investors will kill the stock markets. These politicians hope voters are too stupid to realize how much their own futures depend on viable stock markets and other capital markets. The vast pension funds of workers will get wiped out if those capital markets get wiped out.
Biden,.Sanders, and Warren think voters are too stupid to realize
the mammoth size of the number $1 trillion or more in taxes. The CBO's estimated
total Federal revenue from all sources for 2019 is
$3.490 trillion ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget
What's another trillion or more in new taxes?
As the saying goes: "The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions."
Exhibit A is Venezuela.
F
inancial Transparency Scores of the 50 State Governments ---01 Idaho (Most Transparent Accounting)
02 North Dakota
03 Nevada
04 Utah
05 Virginia
06 West Virginia
07 Wyoming
08 Indiana
09 Maine
10 South Carolina. . .
41California
42 Illinois
43 New Jersey
44 Missouri
45 Alaska
46 New Mexico
47 Nebraska
48 Vermont
49 North Carolina
50 Connecticut (Least Transparent Accounting)
Jensen Comment
This is pretty much a red (conservative) versus blue (liberal) outcome in the
top 10 versus bottom 10 outcomes, although the red versus blue dichotomy does
not hold as well for the rankings of the other 30 states in the middle. Virginia
became more of a bluish state in 2019.
Not all states with the heaviest taxpayer burdens are in the
bottom 10 (least transparent) accounting rankings. The states with the heaviest
taxpayer burdens are shown in red at
https://www.statedatalab.org/
Walter E. Williams ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_E._Williams
Walter E. Williams: Fraud in Higher Education ---
https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2019/12/04/fraud-in-higher-education-n2557348?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=12/04/2019&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167
. . .
It's clear that high schools confer diplomas that attest that a student can read, write and do math at a 12th-grade level when, in fact, most cannot. That means most high school diplomas represent fraudulent documents. But when high school graduates enter college, what happens? To get a hint, we can turn to an article by Craig E. Klafter, "Good Grieve! America's Grade Inflation Culture," published in the Fall 2019 edition of Academic Questions. In 1940, only 15% of all grades awarded were A's. By 2018, the average grade point average at some of the nation's leading colleges was A-minus. For example, look at the average GPA at Brown University (3.75), Stanford (3.68), Harvard College (3.63), Yale University (3.63), Columbia University (3.6), and the University of California, Berkeley (3.59).
The falling standards witnessed at our primary and secondary levels are becoming increasingly the case at tertiary levels. "Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses" is a study conducted by Professors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa. They found that 45% of 2,300 students at 24 colleges showed no significant improvement in "critical thinking, complex reasoning and writing by the end of their sophomore years."
An article in News Forum for Lawyers titled "Study Finds College Students Remarkably Incompetent" cites a study done by the American Institutes for Research that revealed that over 75% of two-year college students and 50% of four-year college students were incapable of completing everyday tasks. About 20% of four-year college students demonstrated only basic mathematical ability, while a steeper 30% of two-year college students could not progress past elementary arithmetic. NBC News reported that Fortune 500 companies spend about $3 billion annually to train employees in "basic English."
Continued in article
How to Mislead With Statistics
The best students in the world, charted ---
https://qz.com/1759506/pisa-2018-results-the-best-and-worst-students-in-the-world/
Once again, Asian countries came out on top. In the latest test, China and Singapore ranked first and second, respectively, in math, science, and reading. Elsewhere, Estonia is noteworthy for its performance, ranking highly in all three subjects.
In the world’s biggest education test, one small country has raced past
all the others ---
https://qz.com/853656/massachusetts-ranks-nears-singapore-the-education-powerhouse-in-global-assessment-of-15-year-olds-who-are-the-best-students-in-the-world-according-to-pisa-2015/
The United States fared poorly, as usual: with a math score of 470, it performed well below the OECD average, and it is among the lowest-performing countries in the subject. Results in science declined from 2012, coming in at 496, slightly above the OECD average. In reading, it also performed slightly better than the OECD average (493) at 497.
How to Mislead Without Statistics
While the USA West Coast Beats Math Down as
Racist
Seattle Schools Propose To Teach That Math Education Is
Racist—Will California Be Far Behind? ---
Asia Expands its Math Curriculum Down to the
Second Grade
Vietnam to Introduce Statistics, Probability in 2nd Grade in New Syllabus ---
SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS K-12 Math Ethnic Studies Framework (20.08.2019)
https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/socialstudies/pubdocs/Math SDS
ES Framework.pdf
Thank you Zafar Khan for the heads up
Power and oppression, as defined by ethnic studies, are the ways in which individuals and groups define mathematical knowledge so as to see “Western” mathematics as the only legitimate expression of mathematical identity and intelligence. This definition of legitimacy is then used to disenfranchise people and communities of color. This erases the historical contributions of people and communities of color.
Jensen Comment
I find it interesting that Seattle public schools asserts "Western" mathematics
disenfranchises communities of color as if "Eastern" communities of color don't
count. Throughout history "Eastern" mathematics (think India and China) is
probably more rigorous in terms of mathematics than Seattle's so-called
oppressive "Western" mathematics.
My link to how Vietnam is including statistics and probability in the second grade merely reflects the emphasis "Eastern" communities place upon mathematics and statistics.
Why do "Ethnic Studies" always blame the West for the disenfranchisement of "communities of color." This same disenfranchisement of some communities of color is far greater in "Eastern" communities of color.
The problem with the above Math Ethnic Studies Framework is that the changing of math studies from how it is taught in the Western hemisphere and Asia serves to further disenfranchise some communities of color for being competitive in colleges and careers. All communities of whites and color should get credit for mathematical contributions in history. But we should avoid current "Ethnic Studies" form of mathematics that disenfranchises some color groups from the rigors of mathematics as taught in both the West and the East.
How to Mislead With Statistics
The best students in the world, charted ---
https://qz.com/1759506/pisa-2018-results-the-best-and-worst-students-in-the-world/
Once again, Asian countries came out on top. In the latest test, China and Singapore ranked first and second, respectively, in math, science, and reading. Elsewhere, Estonia is noteworthy for its performance, ranking highly in all three subjects.
In the world’s biggest education test, one small country has raced past
all the others ---
https://qz.com/853656/massachusetts-ranks-nears-singapore-the-education-powerhouse-in-global-assessment-of-15-year-olds-who-are-the-best-students-in-the-world-according-to-pisa-2015/
The United States fared poorly, as usual: with a math score of 470, it performed well below the OECD average, and it is among the lowest-performing countries in the subject. Results in science declined from 2012, coming in at 496, slightly above the OECD average. In reading, it also performed slightly better than the OECD average (493) at 497.
Disadvantaged Schools Don't Need Smaller Classes --- They Need Better
Teachers ---
https://qz.com/1759506/pisa-2018-results-the-best-and-worst-students-in-the-world/
Jensen Comment
Who can argue against wanting and needing better teachers? But I've long contended that two-parent homes (like you find in Finland, China, Estonia, and other top-ranking nations) are the single most important factor in education. It isn't just the helping of kids do homework. What's more important are the externalities of two-parent homes in terms of discipline, teamwork, role modeling, motivation, and (gasp) happy homes.The problem is that you can't just legislate two-parent homes like you can legislated increased school budgets.
Jensen Comment
I'm bound to be lambasted for a closing observation on this topic of "best
students." I begin by noting that these are averages, and averages are distorted
by outliers and skewed distributions. Now the controversial observation:
The highest ranking nations in terms of education are really not very diverse
and generally are highly restrictive regarding immigration.
But before we conclude that diversity may draw testing performance down, we
need to observe that there are many confounding factors
when it comes to measuring what we really want from education in terms of
economic performance, innovation, etc. For example, the USA is overwhelmingly
successful in terms of development of new medications and technologies in spite
of the relatively poor performance of the USA relative to top performing OECD
nations on the PISA tests ---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programme_for_International_Student_Assessment
The above articles contain some legitimate complaints about PISA testing as a
measure of education performance.
I'm a strong believer is diversity and rather generous limits on diverse legal immigration. But open borders can destroy the USA or any other advanced economy irreparably.
Statistically Controlling for Confounding Constructs is Harder than You
Think—Jacob Westfall and Tal Yarkoni ---
https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2019/10/17/jacob-westfall-and-tal-yarkoni-statistically-controlling-for-confounding-constructs-is-harder-than-you-think
Bob Jensen's Threads on P-Values and What Went Wrong ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong
NY Times: Democratic Presidential (Candidate)Tax Plans Would Hit Blue States The
Hardest ---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2019/11/ny-times-democratic-presidential-tax-plans-would-hit-blue-states-the-hardest.html
New York Times, How Democrats Would Tax High-Income Professionals (Not Just the Mega-Rich):
Moody’s data shows that higher taxes would be paid disproportionately in Democratic-leaning states.
Much of the Democratic primary race has focused on taxes aimed at the billionaire class — policies devised to reduce inequality and fund progressive goals on health care and education.
But there’s also a less discussed tax increase in leading Democratic policy proposals that would affect not just a tiny sliver of the ultra-wealthy, but also millions of high-income workers. For these people, many of them affluent professionals in Democratic strongholds, it would be the biggest tax increase in recent memory.
This year, American workers and their employers owe a combined 12.4 percent on Social Security payroll taxes for income up to $132,900 (rising to $137,700 in 2020). They owe nothing on earnings above that level.
Some Democrats in the thick of the presidential race and on Capitol Hill now seek to change or eliminate that cap — potentially placing a new double-digit tax on high earners, with several plans focusing on earnings above $250,000. ...
Moody’s data also shows that the higher taxes would be paid disproportionately in Democratic-leaning states. The 12 states with the highest share of earners who would owe higher taxes all voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, led by New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Jensen Comment
The most liberal candidates spending plans for green initiatives, medicare-for-all,
free college, guaranteed income, reparations, and open borders will also destroy
stock markets, real estate markets, and pension savings.\
How to Mislead With Cherry Picking
Time Magazine: Slavery Still Exists All Around the World.
Here's How Some Countries Are Trying to Change That
---
https://time.com/5741714/end-modern-slavery-initiatives/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-brief&utm_content=20191202&xid=newsletter-brief
Jensen Comment
Notice how the above article fails to mention the most notorious modern-day
slave trading nation in the world --- Libya. That's probably because Time
Magazine became an extremely biased leftist magazine, and it's not
politically correct to point out that Arab nations like Libya remain a
slave-trading nations.
Libya still has open slave markets. It's just something the
leftist media does not like to mention (except CNN did mention it at least once)
---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_Libya
Time Magazine cherry picked away any mention of the
current Arab slave markets.
How to Mislead With Psychology
A Theory for Why Trump’s Base Won’t Budge ---
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/12/how-narcissists-wear-out-their-welcome/602446/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=politics-daily-newsletter&utm_content=20191202&silverid-ref=NTk4MzY1OTg0MzY5S0
But Trump is stranger than any diagnostic category can convey. Narcissism is a psychological construct with profound implications for an individual’s well-being and interpersonal relationships. Personality and social psychologists have done hundreds of studies examining narcissistic tendencies, revealing certain patterns of behavior and outcome. In some ways, Trump fits those patterns perfectly. But in at least one crucial respect, he deviates.
Continued in article
Jensen Comment
First let me state that I did not vote for Trump and will never vote for Trump unless the only alternative wants to spend $20+ trillion per year in new social programs that will destroy the stock markets, pension funds, and the USA economy in general.
I don't think that Trump's voting base is glued to his narcissistic tendencies. If anything most of his base hates the ridiculous extremes of his narcissism, paranoia, morality, and general lack of integrity. I think the main reason for his success to date in politics is the fear of voting for what the Democratic Party wants to offer as an alternative --- a spendthrift who will destroy the USA economy.
Having said this, I do think there's a certain amount of psychology gluing
Trump to some of his base. Some in this base are appalled at the unfairness with
which he's been treated in the media and more recently by the House of
Representatives. The attacks on him are relentless and unprofessional to a fault
---
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Reid
Many American voters hate this kind of unfairness and political correctness
taken to extremes.
There's also a certain amount of psychology to the "fixity" of the voting
base for most all past presidents. Note how the approval ratings of virtually
all recent presidents hovered at or near 40% going into their final year in the
White House ---
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo
Their approval ratings stayed near 40% until the end except in the case of Jimmy
Carter (after the Iran Hostage Crisis) and Bill Clinton (after Monica).
Trump's voting base sticks with Trump because these voters like the campaign promises he made and his obsession to fight for these promises. And his base includes a surprising proportion of minorities.
I do think Donald Trump can be beaten in 2020. However, it will take a better alternative than the Democratic Party is currently putting forth for public evaluation. Most of the spendthrift Democratic Party candidates frighten even former President Obama (who most definitely does not support Donald Trump in any way). Cory Booker gave up an opportunity to be a winner by becoming more like Bernie Sanders and less like Barack Obama. By the way, Barack Obama deported over a million undocumented refugees.
How to Mislead With Cherry Picking
Chronicle of Higher Education: Some 250 People
(mostly from India) Arrested in ICE’s ‘U. of Farmington’ Sting Operation ---
https://www.chronicle.com/article/Some-250-People-Arrested-in/247635?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&cid=at&source=ams&sourceId=296279
Jensen
Comment
Notice that the above article fails to mention that this was a fake university
for ICE that was commenced by President Obama's administration. It would not be
politically correct for the left-leaning Chronicle to mention this in the above
article. The Chronicle also has a new policy of not allowing comments due to
fear that they might be conservative.
NPR is more informative on President Obama's role in this sting operation.
NPR: An Elaborate ICE Sting Set Up A Fake College To Lure
Student Visa Fraud ---
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/29/783681028/an-elaborate-ice-sting-set-up-a-fake-college-to-lure-student-visa-fraud
. . .
INSKEEP:
OK. First, I should note, you said 2015 or '16, so this goes back to the Obama administration. President Trump has his own immigration policies, but this is not necessarily part of that. It came from before, right?
WARIKOO:
Exactly. They started this when President Obama was in office, correct.
Continued in article
I suspect that mentioning this was just not politically correct for the Chronicle's readership base.
Library Systems Technology: What Are the Larger
Implications of Ex Libris Buying Innovative?
https://sr.ithaka.org/blog/what-are-the-larger-implications-of-ex-libris-buying-innovative/
Jensen Comment
One of the chronic worries of capitalism is the tendency to reduce competition
in the frequent rise of oligopolies and monopolies. When competition is in
jeopardy price gouging should be controlled either by forced breakups (as in the
case of AT&T) or by government regulation (as in the case of electric utility
companies). Sadly government controls are subject to political corruption.
Socialism, however, is not the answer since that is a monopoly subject to
even more political corruption. Exhibit A is Venezuela.
The biggest weapon we have to fight political corruption is freedom of the press where there are countless examples of political corruption being exposed by local newspapers. This is why I really, really hate to see the decline in newspapers across the USA.
For examples of government corruption controls that seem to work we need to look to the capitalist nations of Scandinavia. However, since these nations have such sparse populations there are all sorts of difficulties extrapolating to diverse nations the size of the USA. Scandinavian nations are also less innovative and face many fewer problems arising from price gouging due patents. For example, you don't look toward Scandinavia for new drugs since most of the new drugs are invented in the USA. Drug price gouging in the USA arises because of patent monopolies and political corruption that protects those monopolies.
Germany has no nuclear weapons but can drop nuclear bombs
---
https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/12/germany-fact-of-the-day-9.html
The Luftwaffe can do that thanks to Nato's nuclear-sharing scheme, under which America quietly stations nuclear bombs across five countries in Europe.
Jensen
Comment
Furthermore Germany did not have to invest much of any kind of money to obtain
nuclear and other military defenses. The USA will jump into action if Germany
comes under attack from anybody. Would Germany do the same if the USA comes
under attack (such as from Iran or North Korea)?
The five English-speaking democracies have
heaps in common. All are free-talking, free-enterprise-loving places (though
they often fall short of these ideals). They are attractive places, too. Between
them, they draw in two-thirds of the world’s highly skilled immigrants. By
contrast, of the 750m people who Gallup reports would like to migrate, only 1%
want to move to the People’s Republic. Sydney alone has more foreign-born
residents than mainland China.
https://worldin.economist.com/article/17310/edition2020anglosphere-and-sinosphere-drift-apart
Jensen Comment
You can tell the difference between border walls by looking at which direction
people are headed when they try to get under or over those walls.
The most desperate refugees trying to sneak into China are from North Korea.
China increasingly attracts tourists not intending to stay, but so does Zimbabwe
that offers photographic safaris ---
https://theworldin.economist.com/article/17359/edition2020chinas-new-foreign-travellers
From
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_migration
As of 2019, the top ten immigration
destinations were:
· Germany
· France
· Canada
· Italy
In the same year, the top countries of origin were:
· India
· Mexico
· China
· Pakistan
Levy: Why I Resigned In Protest From Penn Law's
Board When A Conservative Professor Was Punished (for not being politically
correct)---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2019/12/levy-why-i-resigned-in-protest-from-penn-laws-board-when-a-conservative-professor-was-punished.html
TED Talk: Why it Pays to Listen to People You Disagree With ---
https://www.ted.com/talks/zachary_r_wood_why_it_s_worth_listening_to_people_we_disagree_with?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2018-04-21&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email&utm_content=talk_of_the_week_button
Levy: Why I Resigned In Protest From Penn Law's
Board When A Conservative Professor Was Punished (for not being politically
correct)---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2019/12/levy-why-i-resigned-in-protest-from-penn-laws-board-when-a-conservative-professor-was-punished.html
Politically Correct Big Brother Will Not Allow Free Speech in USA Colleges
Williams College plans to revise its policies after a faculty petition to
adopt free speech guidelines enraged student activists ---
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/23/williams-college-rework-free-speech-policies-after-controversies?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=1aea7e93d2-DNU_2019_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-1aea7e93d2-197565045&mc_cid=1aea7e93d2&mc_eid=1e78f7c952
Political Correctness at Georgetown University
Kevin K. McAleenan, acting head of the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, was shouted off the stage by protesters who interrupted his
talk at Georgetown University’s law school ---
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/us/politics/homeland-security-chief-protesters.html?cid=db&source=ams&sourc
Conservative Law Prof Heckled by CUNY Protestors ---
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/04/conservative-law-prof-heckled-by-cuny-protestors.html
Political Correctness in Universities Never Quits
Black Pro-Life Speaker Disinvited From Cornell ---
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/briannaheldt/2019/03/27/black-prolife-speaker-disinvited-from-cornell-n2543853?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl&newsletterad=03/28/2019&bcid=b16c6f948f297f77432f990d4411617f&recip=17935167
Beloit College: The incident (a pro-capitalism speaker)
was the latest in a string of free expression occurrences on college
campuses where students have intentionally drowned out speakers whose
views they find distasteful ---
Click Here
Capitalism is such a dangerous topic that mention of it should be banned
in all colleges and universities
Bob Jensen's threads on political correctness ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies2.htm#PoliticalCorrectnesshttp://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/HigherEdControversies2.htm#PoliticalCorrectness
Updates on Medical Insurance
Joe Biden Vows to Give Taxpayer-Funded Obamacare to All Illegal
Immigrants in U.S. ---
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgxwGCGtjlPQwKppkFwvsWhGNlMXs
Bob Jensen's
Tidbits Archives ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/tidbitsdirectory.htm
Bob
Jensen's Pictures and Stories
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Pictures.htm
Summary of Major Accounting Scandals --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting_scandals
Bob Jensen's threads on such scandals:
Bob Jensen's threads on audit firm litigation and negligence ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001.htm
Current and past editions of my
newsletter called Fraud Updates ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudUpdates.htm
Enron --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudEnron.htm
Rotten to the Core --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudRotten.htm
American History of Fraud --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudAmericanHistory.htm
Bob Jensen's fraud
conclusions ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on
auditor professionalism and independence are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001c.htm
Bob Jensen's threads on
corporate governance are at
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/Fraud001.htm#Governance
Shielding
Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
· With a Rejoinder from the 2010 Senior Editor of The Accounting Review (TAR), Steven J. Kachelmeier
· With Replies in Appendix 4 to Professor Kachemeier by Professors Jagdish Gangolly and Paul Williams
· With Added Conjectures in Appendix 1 as to Why the Profession of Accountancy Ignores TAR
· With Suggestions in Appendix 2 for Incorporating Accounting Research into Undergraduate Accounting Courses
Shielding
Against Validity Challenges in Plato's Cave ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/TheoryTAR.htm
By Bob Jensen
What went
wrong in accounting/accountics research? ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#WhatWentWrong
The Sad State of Accountancy Doctoral Programs That Do Not Appeal to Most
Accountants ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm#DoctoralPrograms
AN ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS BY THE ACCOUNTING REVIEW:
1926-2005 ---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/395wpTAR/Web/TAR395wp.htm#_msocom_1
Bob Jensen's threads on accounting theory
---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/theory01.htm
Systemic problems of accountancy (especially the vegetable nutrition paradox)
that probably will never be solved
---
http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/FraudConclusion.htm#BadNews
Bob Jensen's economic crisis messaging http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/2008Bailout.htm
Bob Jensen's threads --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/threads.htm
Bob Jensen's Home Page --- http://faculty.trinity.edu/rjensen/