Hal Varian

A podcast with Google's smartest employee.

North Korea

In 1962 an American soldier deserted to North Korea. Crossing the Line , an amazing BBC documentary tells this story. Nicholas Bonner, the producer, manages - I do not how - to shoot movies there. I would love to use his travel services.
I guess it is illegal, but you may download the movie here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/23337898/BBC4_-_North_Korea_-_Crossing_The_Line.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/23337951/BBC4_-_North_Korea_-_Crossing_The_Line.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/23338030/BBC4_-_North_Korea_-_Crossing_The_Line.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/23338089/BBC4_-_North_Korea_-_Crossing_The_Line.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/23338137/BBC4_-_North_Korea_-_Crossing_The_Line.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/23338195/BBC4_-_North_Korea_-_Crossing_The_Line.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/23338284/BBC4_-_North_Korea_-_Crossing_The_Line.part7.rar

Brazilian Historical Statistics - IPEA

A team from IPEA- lead by Eustáquio Reis- has uploaded a new historical dataset on XIX century prices in Brazil. The same team has been scanning tons of official historical statistics documents and uploading them to Memória Estatística do Brasil/Nemesis website. (Most of the files are in Portuguese, but there are some in French).

How to write a scientific paper

Here:

"The purpose of science is to get paid for doing fun stuff"

Seriously, I strongly recommend McCloskey's book on scientific writing.

Bastille Day!!!

"Want faster European growth? Learn to love creative destruction"

Says Nick Crafts. E mais:

If only ministers could bring themselves to think (better still occasionally to say) “these job losses are good news”

Robert Mugabe, Msc in Economics

"Intelligence in the service of evil is worst than dumbness." Hélio Pellegrino, Brazilian writer.

"All accounts describe him in the same words," writes Blair, "diligent, quiet, studious, introverted." Mugabe shunned smoking and drinking alcohol and "excelled academically" at every institution he attended, including South Africa's University of Fort Hare, the hotbed of African nationalism from which Nelson Mandela had been expelled earlier. During Mugabe's 11 years of imprisonment, from 1963 to 1974, under Zimbabwe's white-ruled predecessor state of Rhodesia, the future president enrolled in University of London correspondence courses and earned four degrees — a master's degree in economics, a bachelor's degree in administration, and two law degrees — to go with the three bachelor's degrees he already possessed, in economics, education, and history and literature.