Dan Kervick, whose fine blog seems to be dormant, often leaves comments on many of the same blogs I read. This comment about US carrots to offer Iran, posted at Democracy Arsenal, is worth preserving: We've heard a lot about the sticks recently, but the carrots available to the US are impressive indeed. One of Iran's top concerns is the $10 B - $12 B in assets that were frozen in 1979 following the hostage crisis. The US also maintains stringent economic sanctions against Iran. Surely the prospect of having those assets unfrozen and sanctions lifted, opening up a market of hundreds of...

Peter Howard writes an interesting composite post on the nexus of energy politics, China's rise, and US policy objectives.The core of the issue: when we move out, China moves in. Scratch the negative diplomatic externalities for regimes intent on brutalizing their populations.Solutions? Liberal hegemony types would argue China needs to be better socialized into the international system. Realists say "Good luck" and "I told you so." Such developments, from my perspective, demonstrate how "exit options" for small states enhance their leverage against particular great--and even militarily...

All but one of my published journal articles have question marks in their titles. How'd that happen? And what do I do with my current "revise and resubmit"?Should I change the title to something without a question mark to stop the trend? Or would that be just begging for some sort of cosmic retribution in the form of a rejection? Or would elimating the question mark in the title increase its chances of eventual publication by balancing out my interrogative-declarative karma?Filed as: ?

In a strange bit of synergy, Tim Harford writes a column on George Akerlof's famous paper on used cars:In 1966 an assistant economics professor, George Akerlof, tried to explain why this is so in a working paper called "The Market for 'Lemons.' " His basic insight was simple: If somebody who has plenty of experience driving a particular car is keen to sell it to you, why should you be so keen to buy it?Akerlof showed that insight could have dramatic consequences. Buyers' perfectly sensible fears of being ripped off could, in principle, wipe out the entire used-car market: There would be no...

Bolivia's government just seized the country's natual gas industry.The measure is expected to affect about 20 foreign oil companies, including Spain's Repsol, Petrobras of Brazil, Britain's BP and British Gas, US-based ExxonMobil and French group Total.Although the move was expected to have little impact on global energy supplies, financial markets reacted by pushing prices higher."It's part of a trend of governments taking strident action to protect either national resources or to nationalize formerly privately owned oil resources amid the environment of very high oil prices," said Bill...

Happy May Day! Or should that be "mayday"? You know it's the end of term (grading, grading, grading) when friendly academic bloggers mostly just point readers to other good links on the web.Let me add one that I found particularly entertaining. Check out "I'm the Decider (Koo-Koo-Ka-Choo)." It's worth a listen. I've not been reading many other blogs, so I don't know if this has already been widely linked. Filed as: The Decider

All hail fake news--the last bastion of true journalism.Bill Kristol, a prominent member of the Project for a New American Century, stopped by the Colbert Report last night and, well, let's just say he wasn't coddled.A little taste:Colbert: Speaking of thinking alike, you were a member, or are a member of the New Project for the American Century, correct?Kristol: I am.Colbert: Were or am, am?Kristol: Were and am.Colbert: How's that project coming?Kristol: well. it's..(stammering)Colbert: How's the New American Century, looks good to me?Kristol: Ahh--I think...hehe yea--I'm...

...it brings out the wackos. Via Yglesias:Andy McCarthy correctly observes that if we start a war with Iran, Iran will fight back. Then he mentions offhandedly that "The retaliation we most have to worry about is a nuclear attack against our homeland." A nuclear attack with what? The nuclear bombs they don't have? Even more remarkably, McCarthy favors taking action against Iran. I certainly don't, but I certainly wouldn't if I thought Iran could retaliate against our airstrikes with a nuclear bomb. That's crazy. Color me deterred. Is the idea here that the media should just be flooded with...