Author Archives: Nic

A while back Bhaskar Sunkara posted a rather incoherent rant against Ezra Klein in particular and left-leaning (as if there are other kinds) wonk bloggers in general. I say incoherent mostly because Sunkara drifts from explaining why a policy focus … Continue reading →

Eric McGhee of the Public Policy Institute of California pushes back on the gerrymandering explanation over at The Monkey Cage. Basically, he estimates what would have happened this year had the 2008 districts remained in force, and concludes: Democrats do … Continue reading →

Redistricting is one of my pet peeves. I’m a fan of proportional representation in the first place, which would remove the problem of redistricting completely, but if we’re going to do it this way let’s do it right. But we’re … Continue reading →

Tim Wu’s The Master Switch‘s greatest flaw is by no means unique. “Practically every” book about social or political ills,” David Greenberg tells us, “finishes with an obligatory prescription that is utopian, banal, unhelpful or out of tune with the … Continue reading →

I’m really excited to see stuff like this: The Rap Genius guys are still sleeping on mattresses, but are also the recipients of a $15 million vote of confidence from one of Silicon Valley’s best-known venture capital firms. On Wednesday, … Continue reading →

I’m coming up rather rapidly on my 30th birthday. Oh, for the age of eight, when the rise and fall of the Roman Empire could be comfortable sandwiched in that last week before one’s birthday. A much younger friend of … Continue reading →

One of my friends wrote me the other day complaining about the tendency this cycle for both sides in the presidential race to take their opponents statements blatantly, almost obscenely, out of context. Obama’s recent “You didn’t build that” gaffe … Continue reading →

A few weeks back, NPR’s Planet Money podcast talked about recent changes to the way the organ transplant system for lungs and livers function. As is their wont, they looked at the system as a market, albeit an unusual one … Continue reading →

Hi, my name is Nic and I’ll be your cruise director on the maiden voyage of the S.S. Failed Political Scientist. So what’s this all about then? Long story short: after getting a B.A. in political science from a “New … Continue reading →