Allan Hughes

Amazon's Kindle DX: Hands-On Review

I bought the Kindle 2 about 3 months ago. When they announced the Kindle DX I was a little steamed as the larger version seems like the better value.

All that aside, I read much more with the Kindle 2 than I did before as compared to an assortment of reading on my laptop, books and real newspapers.

The conveniance of small size and wireless, automatic downloading of subscriptions makes it effortless to use. Battery life could be better and the screen just a tad larger, but other than that the device is perfect for keeping by the bedside and reading for about an hour each night before I go to bed.

Google Opens Its Book Archive to Sony eReader, Should Amazon Worry?

As a cheapskate and a recent Kindle buyer I think the Whispernet (always online) feature of the Kindle is a huge advantage over the Sony eReader. While the Sony eReader is in theory the cheaper alternative; as a practical matter the eReader is dramatically more expensive because it is more difficult to use.

Why Economists Have Downgraded Obama to Bush-Plus

I can't seem to find either the participants in the survey or results for past surveys or even the questions. Without any of this information its impossible to determine if the participants have any qualifications to assess Obama's policy decisions.

The fact that the survey participants have misjudged the current recession doesn't exactly inspire any trust.

My hunch, and only a hunch, is that the survey was of conservative friendly economists.

Debt Loads of G20 Nations: Japan, U.S. Deep in the Hole

Great article; it tells much when US Government Debt exceeds all of the EU countries, especially France and Germany which some in the US seem to laugh at when it comes to economic mismanagement.

One question. Do the numbers include all debt or just the debt held by the public? In the case of the US, because of the "trick" accounting we use for funds borrowed from the Social Security trust fund, these numbers many underestimate our debt.

The Economic Meltdown: Dismantling, Yes; Doom, No

Great website and great discussion. I will add my thoughts to this wide ranging discussion:

I was a solid "mainstreet" republican until Reagan; I voted for him enthusiastically in 1980 and reluctantly in 1984; ironically enough he was a former Democrat that became a Republican in 1962 (interestingly enough about the same time as Strom Thurmond). Unfortunately for us the modern Republican party combined the worst elements of the pre 1972 Republican Party and the pre 1960 Democratic Party.

The current fiasco will be the 4th great challenge that has confronted the US (I include the fight for indpendcence from Great Britain, the Civil War, the Great Depression/WW II and now finally the financial collapse/the Iraq War. There may be some fans here of the claim of the singularity of American national greatness and/or America as the chosen land. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that either are true and we will only surmount this challenge by a combination of grit, hard work and providence.Some of the intials signs are however disquieting.

We arrived at this point through a combination of wishful thinking, suspension of common sense and a refusal to face reality. The modern Republican party has been promising that we could have economic growth, low taxes, loads of debt and a happy ending; or merely an updated version of a fairy tale. While the hardcore idealogues will attempt to argue this is all the the fault of George Bush, or the CRA, or the Republicans or Reagan or Democrats or flouridation my own analysis for the blame is as follows: the American electorate-60%, the modern Republican Party 25%, the modern Democratic Party 10% and a deep, abiding sense that we are Americans and deserve a free lunch-5%.

The modern Republican Party has largely been in control of the levers of finance for at least the last 20 or 30 years and have used this power to cut taxes, weaken regulatory systems and in general just screw up almost everything they touched. George Bush has provided the last bit of comical relief to the Republican's reign of power: the man could find a way (as my grandfather would say) to f***-up an an anvil.

Two last thoughts: 1) I have to laugh when die-hard Republicans's go searching for culprits and arrive at the CRA and/or Jimmy Carter; it just looks pathetic that you are unable to critically view events and examine ideology and sometimes find it lacking; and 2) Democrats and the American people went along with these ideas, sometimes enthusiastically.