#94: "you know, like, seriously"

.... as overheard on the Metro. Apparently this sequence of words means something. It does not however make any pretense of grammar or composition. Text-messages now set the norm. No wonder then that Miss Teen South Carolina offered such an insightful and compelling response at her beauty pageant. She may have been distraught that "US Americans" do not have maps in adequate numbers. But in turn she single-handedly put South Carolina on the global cyber-map.

Is it really surprising that reading skills and scores among school-students is stagnant or even declining? That's not just only in US; I got a greeting card from a cousin in India which did not fare any better.

PS: Here's a link to comments about "that answer" in the Miss Teen USA pageant.

#91: the summer that it is

DC is going through its usual spate of muggy days and sapping humidity without rain. And I am going through the paces of teaching two dozen students about the fickle-minded foreign exchange markets. They better pay attention: it will hit them hard soon whether they travel overseas or not.

My adventures in MD/DC this summer so far have been limited to a Nats game at RFK stadium, and to the hoopla (aka mania) around the last potion of Harry Potter magic.

Can someone tell me why cricket gets branded as a slow game when there is baseball? Ahhh, the double standards. If only anyone at the stadium really paid any attention to what was going on! I am sticking to futbol.

Potter mania was as much a celebration of capturing kids' (and adult) imagination in fairy-tale fiction as much as an elaborate corporate merchandising exercise. I won't be surprised if it morphs into a federal holiday soon: more sales, discounts, and shopping! Downtown Silver Spring got renamed Diagon-Alley for an evening. People in all sorts of witchy costumes walked about or waited in long serpentine lines for their copy of Volume 7. I think I'll be the Grinch and give out the end in the final exam in class. They will have to read it since it will be in the exam!! The last laugh is the best!!!

#82: bitter-sweet

'Tis that time of the year: graduation, celebrations, congratulations. I watch my friends revel in their accomplishment. They've all worked so long and so hard for it. In two days from now, they'll don their hoods and gowns and be formally recognised. I'm celebrating in their joy.

But it's also the moment of valediction; soon they'll fly away. Every year there are some who mean a lot. And more so this year. Some that I had grown most fond of, are heading out the farthest. I'll miss them. Will we remain close despite the distance ... I don't know. I certainly hope so; I heard that the world had shrunk!

#72: lured by the price

I have always had trouble citing illustrations of the rare upward sloping demand curve. I'll never have the funds it takes to indulge in prestige goods that consumers aspire because of the price tag and nothing else. But now I can name two.

I came across a pair of jeans lebelled "R&R" and sporting an obscene price tag. It was just a pair of jeans, nothing remarkable, and slightly tattered if you ask me. But it was designed by an obscure Victoria Posh Beckham. The tag added "R&R means edgy progressive design with an emphasis on modern silhouettes .... designs for sexy confident men and women who live the lifestyle and really understand the look". Clearly I don't.

College education in US is the other illustration. The NY Times reported that some institutions raised their fee without changes to their curriculum or facilities. And the schools had more applicants knocking at their doors (many more than can be explained by trend factors). Potential students assumed the higher tuition as a signal that "they must be doing something right" and did not want to be left behind. Higher education is getting edgy too!

#27: geeky economists

I have company, and a rather esteemed one at that. Greg Mankiw, Brad DeLong, Gary Becker, and I share two common interests. One is economics, and the other is that we all blog! Who could have thought of that from a bunch of wind-bags?

The Economist has an article in its recent issue aptly titled: "The invisible hand on the keyboard: Why do economists spend valuable time blogging?"

That's one cheeky way of joining their elite group. There is but a trivial (and annoying) difference. The others in the list are all world renowned academics, have already one Nobel Laureate among them, sell millions of copies of textbooks, and have meaningful musings about the world of economics that push the envelope of our understanding.

I am working towards getting there; it just might take me a lifetime.

#21: ode to mli

I feel the listlessness that follows a sustained adrenalin high. MLI 2006 (aka "policy boot-camp") just concluded. It was an 8-week-long unrelenting pressure-cooker experience. We were perpetually chasing deadlines for everything – memos, lectures, assignments, debates, site visits, and climbing walls/poles. And we were all in it together – fellows, faculty, and staff. Finally it is time to catch a breath, time to wake up to our biological clocks and not the jarring alarm clocks, time to have proper meals, and time to read and see things we want to and not because we have to.

But as we go through the R&R, it is hard not to be afflicted by withdrawal symptoms. The "family" that was MLI has gone its own separate ways. The corridors are eerily silent, the computer labs are ghost towns, and there's no one napping in the lounge!! The quirks, the banter, the goofiness, and the occasional pain-in-the royal-arse (just kidding) .... are now memories. All good things come to an end.

As for me, each year I learn something new. If IM was my big step two years ago, this year I have an account on facebook, I am blogging, and my digital camera is being shipped. Go slow, my man – I keep telling myself. I shouldn't get ahead of myself!

At the closing ceremony I gave my first speech. It was a heady, even if slightly nervous, experience. I'd say I was Clintonesque (ahem) – no, not in content or style, but in a few mannerisms. I could have been a lot more eloquent, but this'll do for my first effort. This is a special group, and I really felt honoured that they chose me for it.

Looking back, I hope I gave them a favourable account of the "dismal science". So many view this field with cynicism or a mortal fear. Hopefully we've dispelled some of those clouds of self-doubt. I hope they realise that this can be fun – really, and that they can excel at it – as they did. It's a matter of taking one-step-at-a-time, and persevering. It may not be very easy, but they can do this, and do it well. They know it; they've climbed "the wall".

I'll miss this lot. I wish them all the very best.

#3: ode to po-mo(s)

Yesterday I was reading a journal article, and it turned painful. The culprit: Po-Mo(s). Each paragraph, if not each sentence, had an "-ism" thrown in – as if they were vulnerable without that crutch for intellectual legitimacy and support.

I was never a student of philosophy or political science. Are post-modernist (a po-mo in itself) labels truly so integral to those fields of study, or is it just a habit? They don't add much value. But they definitely distract and confuse the uninitiated. Maybe it's just a quirk – just as some indulge in "name-dropping".

It reminds me of a friend. She is delightful company. But as soon as she gets talking remotely academic, the -isms come bubbling forth. I say to myself, "Sistah, You've lost me". She's not from UMD, else a session with one "Doctor" Robert Hunt Sprinkle would have cured her!!!

Did you ever have to read legal briefs? It's an exclusive club; only lawyers can read, write, and comprehend (decode) their own language. Just count the number of "hitherto notwhithstanding"(s) in a page. Who says these things? It's all a licensing strategy to limit competition. God forbid if lesser mortals could interpret legal arguments.