Interesting blog bits

1. On the AMI bail out:
• Matt Nolan here and here
• Eric Crampton here
• Not PC here
2. Paolo Manasse on The trouble with the European Stability Mechanism
   

   The meeting of the European Council on 24-25 March focused on shoring up the battered Eurozone infrastructure through the European Stability Mechanism. This column argues that the mechanism is seriously flawed. It says it is unlikely to withstand the shock of a severe financial crisis and may even spread the damage to high-debt countries, while leaving the Eurozone in the grip of paralysing vetoes.

3. Tim Worstall on why Fatties and smokers save the NHS money.

   We're told, endlessly, that smoking must be even more highly taxed because smokers cost the NHS oodles of money. Further, that salt, fats, junk food, should all be taxed because fatties cost the NHS lots of money.
   
   This is nonsense, nonsense on stilts.

4. Chidem Kurdas on the Japan Nuclear Crisis vs. the Titanic

   The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear threat and the sinking of the Titanic are both disasters caused by acts of nature – earthquake and tsunami in one case, an iceberg in the other – interacting with technology. Yet they have radically different implications. The Japanese incident has made nuclear power less acceptable, whereas the sinking of a ship, no matter how immense the casualties and spectacular the failure, did not stop shipping.

5. Bryan Caplan on 40 Things I Learned in My First 40 Years.

   Caplan has decided to write a list of important lessons he has learned during his first four decades.

6. Arnold Kling on If Economists Designed Health Policy.

   They would come up with something like this.

7. Ed Dolan asks Is Financial Reform Working or Will It Make Things Worse?

   The 2008 financial crash gave rise to a world-wide call for a review of regulations. In the United States, the EU, and international forums like the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision, the conclusion was reached that regulators had allowed banks and other financial institutions to take risks well in excess of those justified by the public interest. Legislatures were brought into the act where needed to change the regulatory framework. Everyone vowed to fix things.

8. Gavin Kennedy on A Tale of Two Prophets