I think of these “Stray Links” as an admission of defeat. Too many other things to blog about. So as I type these, I am weeping (metaphorically):

(1) Tyler Cowen draws our attention to a depressing paper in the Journal of Economic Perspectives that, in Tyler’s view, strengthens the case for Michael Mandel’s pessimistic take on the U.S. productivity growth record over the past decade. The paper, by Susan Houseman, Christopher Kurz, Paul Lengermann and Benjamin Mandel, argues that price declines associated with increased reliance on low-cost foreign suppliers has led to a systematic understatement of imported inputs:

We estimate that average annual multifactor productivity growth in manufacturing was overstated by 0.1 to 0.2 percentage points and real value added growth by 0.2 to 0.5 percentage points from 1997 to 2007. Moreover, this bias may have accounted for a fifth to a half of the growth in real value added in manufacturing output excluding the computer and electronics industry.

On one level, “Hey, we were still consuming a lot!” On another level, “Man, that sucks.” I haven’t thought about this very deeply yet.

(2) Steven Hayward wrote a wonderful short summary of freight railroad efficiency trends.

(3) Yonah Freemark makes a good point on BRT vs. rail.

(4) Matt Rognile floats the idea of government-sponsored oil price insurance. It’s not nearly as crazy as it sounds.

(5) Matthew Mitchell explains why institutional change is essential to reaching sustainable state spending levels.

(6) Square Register is a really big deal — just ask E.B. Boyd or Sam Gustin.

(7) I’m generally pretty skeptical about messing with org charts, but Ron Klain makes a strong case for dusting off Nixon’s effort to consolidate the cabinet.

(8) The new Bloomberg View has a very clean, attractive look.

(9) Sen. Tom Coburn is making sense.

(10) Vali Nasr floats the intriguing possibility that Saudi Arabia is forming a Metternichian league of reactionary states devoted to suppressing liberal revolutions:

The expansion would transform the GCC into the Arab world’s club of monarchies. Membership would provide cash-strapped Jordan and Morocco ample financial resources to mollify angry protesters. In return, they would have to abandon reform and be prepared to lend their more serious militaries to put down protests should they erupt again in Gulf states.
Saudi Arabia’s new posture is a serious challenge to U.S. policy. Conceding to Saudi demands will put America on the wrong side of a widely popular historical transformation in the region, and thus will only hurt U.S. interests in the long run. Bahrain’s heavy-handed suppression of protests has already dented American standing in the region.

This is what the post-American world looks like. Having fun yet?

(11) Alon Levy is compiling a list of cost projections for U.S. rail projects and projects in other countries. He finds that U.S. rail projects have much higher cost estimates than in high-cost European countries, which raises all kinds of questions. And let’s not even get into the cost overruns that plague large-scale public infrastructure projects in the U.S. What the heck is going on? I have theories, but I’d like to see a rigorous account.

(12) Anyone interested in the contemporary Middle East needs to read Michael Scott Doran’s piece on “The Heirs of Nasser.” It is brilliant.

(13) Ronald Bailey thinks that gas-fracking will address the most pressing environmental concerns about accessing shale gas deposits.

(14) This is an excellent live rendition of Elvis Costello’s “Watch Your Step.”

(15) Ross Douthat makes a strong case for why Tim Pawlenty’s class background matters.