Apparently this "swine flu" thing has gotten to be a pretty big deal. I've been reading some facebook status of people studying abroad here. An Australian girl said her home university sent her an email telling her she can't travel to certain countries because of swine flu outbreaks. The only country on the list is Mexico. I don't think she'll have a problem. I also read that students from Hong Kong were sent an email which said, "Come home NOW." I don't know if this is true or not, but it's a little scary.
So thank you Miami, for not sending me one of those stupid emails.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Milan
Sam and I arrived in Milan pretty early. Probably around 10 am. The bus from the airport (I nearly wrote plane station) took about an hour and I slept most of the way. Sam had a list of things to do before we had to leave in the afternoon and so we got on that. He wanted to see La Scala (one of the most famous Opera houses in the world) and the Pinacoteca di Brera, an art museum.
We went to the Duomo first. It's odd. In German and Italian, the word for Cathedral is Dom or Duomo. In Spanish, it's Catedral. I assume that Dom and Duomo are physical descriptions of the buildings, while Cathedral and Catedral are descriptions of the buildings purpose. They mean "church of a bishop." Anyway, it's built in the late gothic style (according to Wikipedia, but I know enough to know it's built in some sort of gothic) and is around a century old. It's basically in the center of Milan. The church is really big and unlike other churches (Stephansdom in Wien) it has no large tower. Sam and I wanted to climb it, anyways, and you could for about €5 so up we went. We were both expecting the normal small observation room but that's not what we got. Instead we got to climb around the entire roof. There was so much room up there. And there was a spire, but we weren't allowed up. It was nicely decorated, though. It was one of the coolest things about Milan, that roof.
After we climbed the church, we went for some food. We found this little restaurant and had lunch in the street. I had some coffee (espresso), as well, and it was some of the best coffee I've ever tasted. Then we went for a walk. We found La Scala and went in (after the Brera, but I'll talk about it now). We went through the museum and saw instruments and a poster advertising Rigoletto - the story of Crazy Joe Devola (maybe not the Joe Devola part). The best part was that we were allowed to go into the actual theater and see the inside. It was so beautiful. Much more so than the Staatsoper. The Staatsoper has got a thing to learn about decoration from the Italian Opera houses. We weren't allowed to take pictures, though, which was a bummer.
We went to the Brera before La Scala. The Brera had a lot of old italian painters. The most famous painting they had was Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin, which had a whole bunch of pissed guys breaking sticks. There was some legend that the man who would marry Mary would have a stick that sprouts flowers. Sure enough, in the picture was Joseph with a sprouting twig. It was very strange but we watched a video about it (which was conveniently in the room of the painting) and the video unmasked much of the mystery behind Raphael's work. Seeing this painting also spurred us to see if we could find works by all of the Ninja Turtles. It was a quest that continued throughout our tour of Italy.
We also went to a church that we saw while we were lost looking for the Brera. I don't really know anything about this church except that it was pretty old (go figure, I'm in Europe) and pretty cool. It seemed like after it was finished the first time, the people weren't satisfied and kept adding onto it. The result was a weird hodge podge of building on the outside but a very pretty and cohesive inside. All in all, a very nice church.
And that's what I saw in Milan.
We went to the Duomo first. It's odd. In German and Italian, the word for Cathedral is Dom or Duomo. In Spanish, it's Catedral. I assume that Dom and Duomo are physical descriptions of the buildings, while Cathedral and Catedral are descriptions of the buildings purpose. They mean "church of a bishop." Anyway, it's built in the late gothic style (according to Wikipedia, but I know enough to know it's built in some sort of gothic) and is around a century old. It's basically in the center of Milan. The church is really big and unlike other churches (Stephansdom in Wien) it has no large tower. Sam and I wanted to climb it, anyways, and you could for about €5 so up we went. We were both expecting the normal small observation room but that's not what we got. Instead we got to climb around the entire roof. There was so much room up there. And there was a spire, but we weren't allowed up. It was nicely decorated, though. It was one of the coolest things about Milan, that roof.
After we climbed the church, we went for some food. We found this little restaurant and had lunch in the street. I had some coffee (espresso), as well, and it was some of the best coffee I've ever tasted. Then we went for a walk. We found La Scala and went in (after the Brera, but I'll talk about it now). We went through the museum and saw instruments and a poster advertising Rigoletto - the story of Crazy Joe Devola (maybe not the Joe Devola part). The best part was that we were allowed to go into the actual theater and see the inside. It was so beautiful. Much more so than the Staatsoper. The Staatsoper has got a thing to learn about decoration from the Italian Opera houses. We weren't allowed to take pictures, though, which was a bummer.
We went to the Brera before La Scala. The Brera had a lot of old italian painters. The most famous painting they had was Raphael's Marriage of the Virgin, which had a whole bunch of pissed guys breaking sticks. There was some legend that the man who would marry Mary would have a stick that sprouts flowers. Sure enough, in the picture was Joseph with a sprouting twig. It was very strange but we watched a video about it (which was conveniently in the room of the painting) and the video unmasked much of the mystery behind Raphael's work. Seeing this painting also spurred us to see if we could find works by all of the Ninja Turtles. It was a quest that continued throughout our tour of Italy.
We also went to a church that we saw while we were lost looking for the Brera. I don't really know anything about this church except that it was pretty old (go figure, I'm in Europe) and pretty cool. It seemed like after it was finished the first time, the people weren't satisfied and kept adding onto it. The result was a weird hodge podge of building on the outside but a very pretty and cohesive inside. All in all, a very nice church.
And that's what I saw in Milan.
Rome
Sam and I got into Rome late because of the aforementioned little trip we'd taken to get there. After checking into the hostel and all we decided we were hungry and that we wanted to see the Coloseum at night. Since I'd been to Rome before, I had already seen most of the sights we visited. Such as the Coloseum. I hadn't seen it at night, though, and it was pretty. For some reason, the Coloseum just doesn't interest me that much. For example, it was built around 80 ad. It seems to get a lot of hype about being old and impressive - and it is - but it has never lived up to that hype for me. The interesting things I learned about it when we went there on a Sunday (palm Sunday) was that not only did that have gladitorial matches there but they also used it to slaughter huge numbers of interesting animals like peackocks or hippos. I guess it would be something to see all those creatures taken down, but it seems really dumb to do that. Are those types of displays supposed to demostrate the power of the Emperor? They were normally put on after a victory of some sort to celebrate it. The Flavian ampitheater (the real name of the Coloseum) was used for about 400 years before it fell out of commission. It went unused and uncared for for, well, I don't really know, but it was a long time. The reason half of it's missing is because it's stones were used in constructing other building around it, most notably St. Peter's Cathedral.
Sam and I went to the Vatican on Saturday. There were some pros and cons to this. The pros were that we probably wouldn't have been able to see the Cathedral in the detail that we did, and I don't know if the museum would have been open, either, on Sunday because that Sunday was Palm Sunday. The cons were that we missed seeing the Pope and his Pope mobile. I'm still a little bummed I didn't get to see that, but we went to Tivoli instead and that was pretty nice (but that's a different city). When I say we saw the Cathedral in detail, I mean we saw the inside of it, and that thing is HUGE. I believe it's the largest Cathedral in the world, though I'm not sure. And even if it isn't, that doesn't make it any smaller. I'd been inside it before (I snuck it wearing shorts, too) and didn't really care too much. We then proceeded to climb the dome. From the inside of the dome you can walk around and look down on everyone of the ground floor. It's then you realize how big the Cathedral actually is. Then you climb up the inside of the dome to the observation area. On the way up on the inside of the dome the stairs keep getting more and more slanted because you're climbing between two separate domes. It's pretty interesting, actually. The day Sam and I went, it was supposed to rain. It didn't actually rain on us but when we got to the top we saw a number of different storms and there was lightning occasionally. It was so cool. We saw something similar in Tuscany (in Siena). After you leave the dome, you have to walk accross the roof (second time we did that on a Cathedral but I just realized that I forgot to write about Milan). On the roof of St. Peter's there is a gift shop, a refreshment stand, and a post office. Everytime I see a gift shop in a church (and it seems to be mandatory for the larger ones), I think of the story where Jesus sees the people buying and selling in the temple and gets royally pissed. He starts turning over tables and says, "Is is not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers." (Mark 11.17 NRSV). I'm always amazed at how the Catholic church seems to ignore this story. It's one that made a lasting impression on me, so it must be at least somewhat important, right? And the same thing goes for having to pay to enter a Cathedral. So what if I'm not going there to worship? They should still welcome everyone - for free. Anyways, after the roof, we went to the crypts, which had Pope John Paul II's tomb. By coincidence, we came near the anniversary of his death, which explains why there were a ton of people around his grave, praying. One last thing in the Vatican that's mandatory to see is the Sisteen Chapel. I'd already seen it before, but it's worth seeing as many times as possible. I even got the obligatory illegal photo. We also saw "The School of Athens" (that's what I'm pretty sure it's called) by Raphael. Both very good works.
After that, we walked around historic Rome. We saw the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps (which apparently you aren't allowed to defecate on - who would've thought?), the Pantheon, and that sort of thing. We ate a nice italian dinner - though they make their lasagna different than I'm used to. It'd not bad, just different.
Now the only thing left to talk about is the Roman Forums. I wish I had known about these earlier. We went here on Sunday after the Coloseum just trying to kill time before our train to Tivoli left. The Roman Forums are on Palatine Hill and this is where Rome was founded. This site has the oldest structures in Rome and is a wonderful way to learn how those people really lived back then. Romulus and Remus were said to be nursed by the she wolf in a den on that hill. It's just an incredible place to be because you can learn so much about the structure of the early Roman society.
Now, all that being said, I don't really like Rome as a city. I've never been able to pin point why this is, but it just lacks a certain cohesion that seems necessary for a city to be appealing to me. Florence has it, London has it, Vienna has it, New York has it. Hell, even Cincy has it. Rome does not. I wish I could explain it better but I can't.
Sam and I went to the Vatican on Saturday. There were some pros and cons to this. The pros were that we probably wouldn't have been able to see the Cathedral in the detail that we did, and I don't know if the museum would have been open, either, on Sunday because that Sunday was Palm Sunday. The cons were that we missed seeing the Pope and his Pope mobile. I'm still a little bummed I didn't get to see that, but we went to Tivoli instead and that was pretty nice (but that's a different city). When I say we saw the Cathedral in detail, I mean we saw the inside of it, and that thing is HUGE. I believe it's the largest Cathedral in the world, though I'm not sure. And even if it isn't, that doesn't make it any smaller. I'd been inside it before (I snuck it wearing shorts, too) and didn't really care too much. We then proceeded to climb the dome. From the inside of the dome you can walk around and look down on everyone of the ground floor. It's then you realize how big the Cathedral actually is. Then you climb up the inside of the dome to the observation area. On the way up on the inside of the dome the stairs keep getting more and more slanted because you're climbing between two separate domes. It's pretty interesting, actually. The day Sam and I went, it was supposed to rain. It didn't actually rain on us but when we got to the top we saw a number of different storms and there was lightning occasionally. It was so cool. We saw something similar in Tuscany (in Siena). After you leave the dome, you have to walk accross the roof (second time we did that on a Cathedral but I just realized that I forgot to write about Milan). On the roof of St. Peter's there is a gift shop, a refreshment stand, and a post office. Everytime I see a gift shop in a church (and it seems to be mandatory for the larger ones), I think of the story where Jesus sees the people buying and selling in the temple and gets royally pissed. He starts turning over tables and says, "Is is not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? But you have made it a den of robbers." (Mark 11.17 NRSV). I'm always amazed at how the Catholic church seems to ignore this story. It's one that made a lasting impression on me, so it must be at least somewhat important, right? And the same thing goes for having to pay to enter a Cathedral. So what if I'm not going there to worship? They should still welcome everyone - for free. Anyways, after the roof, we went to the crypts, which had Pope John Paul II's tomb. By coincidence, we came near the anniversary of his death, which explains why there were a ton of people around his grave, praying. One last thing in the Vatican that's mandatory to see is the Sisteen Chapel. I'd already seen it before, but it's worth seeing as many times as possible. I even got the obligatory illegal photo. We also saw "The School of Athens" (that's what I'm pretty sure it's called) by Raphael. Both very good works.
After that, we walked around historic Rome. We saw the Trevi fountain, the Spanish steps (which apparently you aren't allowed to defecate on - who would've thought?), the Pantheon, and that sort of thing. We ate a nice italian dinner - though they make their lasagna different than I'm used to. It'd not bad, just different.
Now the only thing left to talk about is the Roman Forums. I wish I had known about these earlier. We went here on Sunday after the Coloseum just trying to kill time before our train to Tivoli left. The Roman Forums are on Palatine Hill and this is where Rome was founded. This site has the oldest structures in Rome and is a wonderful way to learn how those people really lived back then. Romulus and Remus were said to be nursed by the she wolf in a den on that hill. It's just an incredible place to be because you can learn so much about the structure of the early Roman society.
Now, all that being said, I don't really like Rome as a city. I've never been able to pin point why this is, but it just lacks a certain cohesion that seems necessary for a city to be appealing to me. Florence has it, London has it, Vienna has it, New York has it. Hell, even Cincy has it. Rome does not. I wish I could explain it better but I can't.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Best Place to Leave
According to Mercer, Vienna is the best place to live. Of course, it's completely objective.
Also, I'm going to try to write a post for each city I've went to because going day by day would take too long. So the cities I'm going to try to write about are:
Milan
Rome
Tivoli
Naples
Pompeii and Vesuvius
Florence
Siena
Bologna
Venice
Budapest
Bratislava (AWESOME National Gallery. Best €1.33 I've spent so far)
London
Egham
Oxford (The English one)
So that's a lot to write about (14 cities) and Italy is... slightly overrepresented, but it was fun. I like Italy a lot, but I was missing Vienna by the end of it. I'm hoping to get all of that written up by Sunday, but we'll see how that goes. Meanwhile, I love Vienna. It's an amazing town.
Also, I'm going to try to write a post for each city I've went to because going day by day would take too long. So the cities I'm going to try to write about are:
Milan
Rome
Tivoli
Naples
Pompeii and Vesuvius
Florence
Siena
Bologna
Venice
Budapest
Bratislava (AWESOME National Gallery. Best €1.33 I've spent so far)
London
Egham
Oxford (The English one)
So that's a lot to write about (14 cities) and Italy is... slightly overrepresented, but it was fun. I like Italy a lot, but I was missing Vienna by the end of it. I'm hoping to get all of that written up by Sunday, but we'll see how that goes. Meanwhile, I love Vienna. It's an amazing town.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
This is the first day of the Italy trip. Sam and I started in Vienna and over the course of 21 hours we made our way to Rome.
It all began at 3am. I met Sam near the Opera on the Night bus which we took to Südbahnhof. We caught a train to Bratislava and arrived there probably about 6am. Sam and I needed to get to the airport and we had no idea how to get there. Well, that's not true. Sam knew but we couldn't find the bus we needed. We wound up taking a taxi which cost us €20 but was worth the ride. The architecture is so different from Vienna, thanks to the Commies. The only positive thing to say about the huge apartment buildings is that they're colorful.
We made it to the airport and met this girl from California. She's studying in Budapest and back in the States she studies at Berkley. She's Hungarian and she's learning the language so she can be a leader for the Hungarian troops in CA. She told us that Hungarians are pretty vulgar when they speak. For example, she said an insult that you could use when you're kidding around with your grandma translates to: "A horses dick up your ass." On the plane (flying with Ryanair was a very good experience, they got us to Milan earlier than scheduled), she told us the reason she thinks Americans are fat is because of all the high fructose corn syrup in our food. Europeans ear more bread and pasta than Americans and are thinner than us. She might be onto something, but the corn syrup thing became a running joke between Sam and I.
We had to take a bus to Milan from the airport which took about forty minutes. I fell asleep on it and when we got to Milan it was about 10am. We made our way to the train station and left our luggage there. It a huge station which reminded me of Paris's. Then we spent the morning in Milan.
We got back to the station to catch a train to Roma that departed at 3 or 4. Walking through the station, we ran into Harry and Pat, the guy he's traveling with. They were taking the same train we were, but we sat at opposite ends of the Zug.
We got into Roma around 7 or 8 and found the hostel. Sam and I walked around Roma, found the Colloseum, which is nicely lit up at night. We got dinner and then called it a night - at 11pm. It was one helluva day.
More to come on Rome and Milan.
It all began at 3am. I met Sam near the Opera on the Night bus which we took to Südbahnhof. We caught a train to Bratislava and arrived there probably about 6am. Sam and I needed to get to the airport and we had no idea how to get there. Well, that's not true. Sam knew but we couldn't find the bus we needed. We wound up taking a taxi which cost us €20 but was worth the ride. The architecture is so different from Vienna, thanks to the Commies. The only positive thing to say about the huge apartment buildings is that they're colorful.
We made it to the airport and met this girl from California. She's studying in Budapest and back in the States she studies at Berkley. She's Hungarian and she's learning the language so she can be a leader for the Hungarian troops in CA. She told us that Hungarians are pretty vulgar when they speak. For example, she said an insult that you could use when you're kidding around with your grandma translates to: "A horses dick up your ass." On the plane (flying with Ryanair was a very good experience, they got us to Milan earlier than scheduled), she told us the reason she thinks Americans are fat is because of all the high fructose corn syrup in our food. Europeans ear more bread and pasta than Americans and are thinner than us. She might be onto something, but the corn syrup thing became a running joke between Sam and I.
We had to take a bus to Milan from the airport which took about forty minutes. I fell asleep on it and when we got to Milan it was about 10am. We made our way to the train station and left our luggage there. It a huge station which reminded me of Paris's. Then we spent the morning in Milan.
We got back to the station to catch a train to Roma that departed at 3 or 4. Walking through the station, we ran into Harry and Pat, the guy he's traveling with. They were taking the same train we were, but we sat at opposite ends of the Zug.
We got into Roma around 7 or 8 and found the hostel. Sam and I walked around Roma, found the Colloseum, which is nicely lit up at night. We got dinner and then called it a night - at 11pm. It was one helluva day.
More to come on Rome and Milan.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Oh, and
We didn't make it to Herculaneum. Pompeii was so interesting that we spent too much time there and almost missed the bus to Vesuvius. There's a little story behind that, but all the trouble was worth it. Vesuvius was one of the coolest things I saw on my trip.
Back from Italy
And tomorrow Hungary. I'm going to write up some posts about my trip through Italy, but I don't have the time at the moment. I'll just say that I lived through an earthquake and Venice is the most confusing city. It's a labyrinth. I also took 1056 pictures. I'm not sure how I managed that.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Napoli
I'm there right now. Tomorrow we're going to Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, and Herculaneam (I don't know if that's spelled correctly).
And now, some dinner.
And now, some dinner.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Roman Holiday
I'm off to Italy tomorrow or, more accurately, 9 hours. I'll be in Milan quite soon. I've just got to finish packing...
I met with Manuel, my language tandem partner, and we walked around the erste Bezirk looking for a place to sit in the sun but there were too many tourists. He finally realized that my first name is Zack and my last name is Davis. He'd been calling me Davis the whole time, which I thought was normal in Austria - to use someone's last name. Apparently, it's not normal at all. It's actually viewed as less personal and, judging by the way Manuel acted, a little rude. I thought that was a bit different since it's not really like that in the US.
So now I must pack. Then to Italy. If only Audrey was going to be there...
I met with Manuel, my language tandem partner, and we walked around the erste Bezirk looking for a place to sit in the sun but there were too many tourists. He finally realized that my first name is Zack and my last name is Davis. He'd been calling me Davis the whole time, which I thought was normal in Austria - to use someone's last name. Apparently, it's not normal at all. It's actually viewed as less personal and, judging by the way Manuel acted, a little rude. I thought that was a bit different since it's not really like that in the US.
So now I must pack. Then to Italy. If only Audrey was going to be there...
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
A Tea Party Post
From a link from Instapundit, I found this. I think it's what the movement needs: concrete goals. This guy's idea is that they should be simple and there should be no more than ten. His are:
1. A moratorium on bailouts, whether for Wall Street bankers, General Motors, or the irresponsible guy down the street who "bought" too much house. "Failures must be allowed to fail."
2. Repeal of all "Stimulus" spending for the years 2011 and beyond.
3. Repeal of all "Stimulus" pet projects in 2009-2010 with no stimulative effect.
4. Defeat of the Obama 2010 budget, with a new budget set at 2008 levels plus inflation. We've already spent too much money that we don't have.
5. Defeat of any politician who voted for the February "Stimulus" bill.
6. Complete selloff and shutdown of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and an immediate ban on campaign contributions from both, as well as any other firm in Federal receivership.
All of them are good goals that I could get behind. Personally, I find goals that are more general appealing. I would go with something like these:
1) An amendment that requires congress to decide amount of money they'll spend before they go about allocating it. That'll really tie 'em up.
2) A repeal of the 16th amendment (the income tax).
3) Term limits for congress.
Then the ones from the top.
I hope something more than, "We're pissed, YEAH!" comes out of this. Maybe the Republicans get a little discipline or a legitimate third party that actually supports limited government arises from these Tea Parties. That'd be nice.
1. A moratorium on bailouts, whether for Wall Street bankers, General Motors, or the irresponsible guy down the street who "bought" too much house. "Failures must be allowed to fail."
2. Repeal of all "Stimulus" spending for the years 2011 and beyond.
3. Repeal of all "Stimulus" pet projects in 2009-2010 with no stimulative effect.
4. Defeat of the Obama 2010 budget, with a new budget set at 2008 levels plus inflation. We've already spent too much money that we don't have.
5. Defeat of any politician who voted for the February "Stimulus" bill.
6. Complete selloff and shutdown of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and an immediate ban on campaign contributions from both, as well as any other firm in Federal receivership.
All of them are good goals that I could get behind. Personally, I find goals that are more general appealing. I would go with something like these:
1) An amendment that requires congress to decide amount of money they'll spend before they go about allocating it. That'll really tie 'em up.
2) A repeal of the 16th amendment (the income tax).
3) Term limits for congress.
Then the ones from the top.
I hope something more than, "We're pissed, YEAH!" comes out of this. Maybe the Republicans get a little discipline or a legitimate third party that actually supports limited government arises from these Tea Parties. That'd be nice.
Seven European Countries
All these countries are smaller than Rhode Island. There are seven of them:
Luxembourg
Andorra
Monaco
Liechtenstein
San Marino
The Vatican
Malta
Courtesy of Sam.
UPDATE: We aren't the only folks who compare European countries to States.
Luxembourg
Andorra
Monaco
Liechtenstein
San Marino
The Vatican
Malta
Courtesy of Sam.
UPDATE: We aren't the only folks who compare European countries to States.
IS-LM vs AS-AD
I'm a fan of the AS-AD model. It makes sense.
Anyways, I was talking with a guy from the Netherlands (I almost spelled that Neitherlands) about the different models. I told him at Miami they don't teach the IS-LM model. Greg, whom I have to write a paper with about the US exchange rate, said that is because Miami is a conservative bastion* in Ohio. Not that that has anything to do with which model to use. Honestly, I don't understand why people still use the IS-LM model. Granted, I've only been using it for about two months, but it seems like the AS-AD model can do all the IS-LM can and then some. For example, the IS-LM model allows 0 ≤ MPC < 1 where the AS-AD model can allow 0 ≤ MPC ≤ 1. You'd be surprised how big a difference this makes (and how much simpler it is to assume MPC = 1). Also, the AS-AD model provides just ONE equilibrium for the goods market. The IS-LM model gives you a whole line of them for the goods market and the only way to determine which equilibrium is the "right" one is to use the money market (the LM curve). That's just confusing. I also don't know how the IS-LM model can assume that supply is passive. That makes no sense whatsoever. The AS-AD model has a whole curve (the AS curve) devoted to supply.
The guy from the Netherlands is taking the international macro class they offer here and they apparently teach both the IS-LM and the AS-AD models but he said they were using the IS-LM to derive the AD curve. That sounds a little strange to me. I do like that they teach both, here. I think it's a good thing to know the different models so you can see where different people are coming from. Right now, our policy is following the assumptions of the IS-LM model. Oh, and when I say "our" policy, I'm talking about the entire world, not just the US. So it's good to know what is motivating these people (though there is the argument that there is no theory behind what they're doing; they - Obama - are just shooting from the hip, much like Bush did).
Greg said he's a third year economics student - like me - and he hasn't heard of IS-LM. The only reason I knew about it was because I read Mankiw's blog. The guy from the Netherlands (I should really learn his name because that's way too long to type) said maybe it's because my professors think very highly of themselves and won't teach something they didn't come up with. I highly doubt that's the case.
All in all, it was a very good discussion.
In other news, I bought Sam and I train tickets to Bratislava. We're nearly there. I just need to write that paper....
* My favorite line is: "Wright said Miami's slant toward liberalism is not a result of indoctrination, but rather reflects a general worldwide climate toward it." Hmm. I wonder just how far up his ass this guy's head is. What does he think indoctrination is?
On a related note, I was describing the US political system to Erkal. I told him that the people who want higher taxes and more government are the liberals. He looked very, very confused. You see, in Europe the people who want higher taxes and more government are socialists and the people who want a smaller government and lower taxes are the liberals. So let's hope that the worldwide climate really is slanting liberal - and not the perverted American version of liberal. (I believe Hayek addresses this issue in the forward to "The Road to Serfdom," I'm not sure which edition.)
Anyways, I was talking with a guy from the Netherlands (I almost spelled that Neitherlands) about the different models. I told him at Miami they don't teach the IS-LM model. Greg, whom I have to write a paper with about the US exchange rate, said that is because Miami is a conservative bastion* in Ohio. Not that that has anything to do with which model to use. Honestly, I don't understand why people still use the IS-LM model. Granted, I've only been using it for about two months, but it seems like the AS-AD model can do all the IS-LM can and then some. For example, the IS-LM model allows 0 ≤ MPC < 1 where the AS-AD model can allow 0 ≤ MPC ≤ 1. You'd be surprised how big a difference this makes (and how much simpler it is to assume MPC = 1). Also, the AS-AD model provides just ONE equilibrium for the goods market. The IS-LM model gives you a whole line of them for the goods market and the only way to determine which equilibrium is the "right" one is to use the money market (the LM curve). That's just confusing. I also don't know how the IS-LM model can assume that supply is passive. That makes no sense whatsoever. The AS-AD model has a whole curve (the AS curve) devoted to supply.
The guy from the Netherlands is taking the international macro class they offer here and they apparently teach both the IS-LM and the AS-AD models but he said they were using the IS-LM to derive the AD curve. That sounds a little strange to me. I do like that they teach both, here. I think it's a good thing to know the different models so you can see where different people are coming from. Right now, our policy is following the assumptions of the IS-LM model. Oh, and when I say "our" policy, I'm talking about the entire world, not just the US. So it's good to know what is motivating these people (though there is the argument that there is no theory behind what they're doing; they - Obama - are just shooting from the hip, much like Bush did).
Greg said he's a third year economics student - like me - and he hasn't heard of IS-LM. The only reason I knew about it was because I read Mankiw's blog. The guy from the Netherlands (I should really learn his name because that's way too long to type) said maybe it's because my professors think very highly of themselves and won't teach something they didn't come up with. I highly doubt that's the case.
All in all, it was a very good discussion.
In other news, I bought Sam and I train tickets to Bratislava. We're nearly there. I just need to write that paper....
* My favorite line is: "Wright said Miami's slant toward liberalism is not a result of indoctrination, but rather reflects a general worldwide climate toward it." Hmm. I wonder just how far up his ass this guy's head is. What does he think indoctrination is?
On a related note, I was describing the US political system to Erkal. I told him that the people who want higher taxes and more government are the liberals. He looked very, very confused. You see, in Europe the people who want higher taxes and more government are socialists and the people who want a smaller government and lower taxes are the liberals. So let's hope that the worldwide climate really is slanting liberal - and not the perverted American version of liberal. (I believe Hayek addresses this issue in the forward to "The Road to Serfdom," I'm not sure which edition.)
Die tote Stadt
Firstly, I must say that I'll have to somehow get to Schottentor by 4:20am on Friday morning to catch the N66 to Sudbahnhof. I can either walk, and I'm not positive on how long that will take, or I can take the N41 from Kutschkergasse which leaves at 3:49am. Either way, Friday is going to be a helluva day. I'm just glad the coffee in Italy is strong.
Tonight, I went to the Staatsoper with Sam to see Die tote Stadt. This was a big hit in the 1920's when it came out but the composer, Korngold, had Jewish lineage and the opera was banned during Hitler's reign and forgotten until recently.
The opera's about a guy, Paul, who can't get over his dead wife, Marie. The city the opera is set in - the dead city - is Bruges, and there is a strong connection between Bruges and Marie for Paul. Paul sees this other woman, Marrietta (go figure), whose has the exact likeness as Marie. He falls for her but is conflicted because he still is faithful to Marie. Paul then goes insane (of which the majority of the opera consists) and flips out into some crazy hallucinations where Marietta severely messes with his head and finally he strangles her with his dead wife's shawl. It sort of reminded me of Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" with the ghosts of Christmas. They're two similarly structured stories but with different morals. Paul also kept Marie's hair in a glass box, which was a little disturbing. In the end, he comes to terms with his feelings for Marie and leaves her and Bruges.
In comparison, Carmen was a soap opera for the 1800's. Die tote Stadt actually has a complex plot, which I wasn't expecting. It was a pleasant surprise. Another good reason to see the opera is because this song is in The Big Lebowski, one of the greatest movies ever made.
The Dude Abides.
Tonight, I went to the Staatsoper with Sam to see Die tote Stadt. This was a big hit in the 1920's when it came out but the composer, Korngold, had Jewish lineage and the opera was banned during Hitler's reign and forgotten until recently.
The opera's about a guy, Paul, who can't get over his dead wife, Marie. The city the opera is set in - the dead city - is Bruges, and there is a strong connection between Bruges and Marie for Paul. Paul sees this other woman, Marrietta (go figure), whose has the exact likeness as Marie. He falls for her but is conflicted because he still is faithful to Marie. Paul then goes insane (of which the majority of the opera consists) and flips out into some crazy hallucinations where Marietta severely messes with his head and finally he strangles her with his dead wife's shawl. It sort of reminded me of Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" with the ghosts of Christmas. They're two similarly structured stories but with different morals. Paul also kept Marie's hair in a glass box, which was a little disturbing. In the end, he comes to terms with his feelings for Marie and leaves her and Bruges.
In comparison, Carmen was a soap opera for the 1800's. Die tote Stadt actually has a complex plot, which I wasn't expecting. It was a pleasant surprise. Another good reason to see the opera is because this song is in The Big Lebowski, one of the greatest movies ever made.
The Dude Abides.
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