Game theory

Nate Silver finds that news reports may be over-stating the unpopularity of the "bailout."

There is a very weird sort of prisoner's dilemna here. Namely, anyone who tries to frame the plan -- although framing the plan properly would probably make it more popular -- risks taking ownership of the plan, a plan which even if framed properly, probably remains unpopular enough to constitute a political liability. So no parties have an incentive to "spin" the plan as a positive, and as such, it continues to become more unpopular as the default narrative ("Wall Street bailout") is left unchallenged. The bailout, whether it ultimately passes or not, will likely be studied by game theorists for years to come, as there are conflicting and somewhat self-contradictory incentives (everyone wants the package to pass but nobody wants to vote for it) between no fewer than a half-dozen different parties.

And who knew so many Republican House members celebrated the Jewish holidays?

For as good as the Bush/Cheney regime was in selling the war in the Fall of 2002, if the $trillion price tag had been as honestly discussed as the $700 billion has been these past couple of weeks, I doubt more than 4,000 servicemen and countless Iraqis would be dead today.