links for 2009-03-19

"Exactly what bad consequences would follow if laws were passed by the relevant countries rendering credit default swap contracts void henceforth? (That is, canceling all the outstanding wagers because the bookies went bust.) "

A little more detail on why the Freakonomics post discussed below is silly.

"The Red Line is not a poverty line, or the border where pride ends and panhandling begins. The Red Line is not a red flag, some kind of reminder that wealth should be redistributed. That already happens with the ugly and abominable practice of guarantee games. It's simply the demarcation between those who are given everything that they need to win, and those who have to earn and take every single thing they get. It's not the line between Richie Rich and Oliver Twist, but you know which side each would be on. "

"Just three years after George Mason showed what the possibilities could be for all mid-major schools by advancing to the Final Four, the selection committee all but eliminated at-large bids to mid-majors, awarding just four of them, down from 12 at-large bids for mid-majors in 2004 and 10 in 2003. In essence, the committee has announced that Mason's Cinderella run to the national semifinal in 2006, while it might have pleased the basketball public to no end, isn't what the NCAA wants at all."