Category Archives: Housekeeping

These were the most popular posts at Inertia Wins this year. If you’re a new reader, by all means, have a look.

1. Regulation of the Day 138: Dwile Flonking
2. What’s at Stake for Entrepreneurs?
3. Regulation of the Day 71: Waistlines
4. TSA Roundup
5. Regulation of the Day 94: Plastic Shopping Bags
6. Regulation of the Day 91: Horse Floaters
7. Regulation of the Day 135: Mustache Nets
8. 140 New Regulations in Florida
9. Regulation of the Day 15: The Color of Stitches
10. Regulation of the Day 84: The Size of Holes in Swiss Cheese

I will be out of town the rest of the week to spend some quality time with family and friends. Normal blogging will resume on Monday.

Thanks.

-Mgmt.

I’m leaving town for a few days to escape the DC heat. Back in action on Monday.

In the meantime, feel free to peruse the blogroll on the right side of the page. There are links to some fine writers who cover a variety of topics.

I will be without regular internet access for the next few days.

Back in action on Wednesday.

I leave you with yet another blow to terrorists’ reputation as being mostly competent; be not afraid of them.

Yesterday I put up a few papers I’ve written. You can read them by clicking on the “Papers” tab above, or by clicking here.

Baseball fans might enjoy my take on steroids and home runs. I argue that while steroids do have an impact, it is a lot smaller than most people think it is.

History buffs might like my paper on the economics of Ancient Greek religion.

The other two currently up are about trade and institutional change.

Poke around and see if any of them look interesting. I’ll be adding more later.

I just installed a feed of my recent Twitter posts. You can see it in the right sidebar. I signed up for Twitter yesterday, basically as a way to get more eyeballs reading my articles and blog posts. But that makes for a bland Twitter account — especially for Twitter users who already read this blog.

So I’m thinking of better ways to use this Twitter thing. I’m still going to use it to link to posts that I want people to read — but not every single post. I’ll also link to my articles as they come out. But here are a few ideas I have for additional Twitter content:

-Links to good articles and columns I find while reading the news of the day.

-Re-tweeting other people’s Twitter posts that are particularly pithy. Not only is this good Twitter etiquette, but there’s a lot of good stuff out there worth reading.

-Quick remarks about dumb policies and breaking news. I don’t always have time to write a whole blog post or op-ed on an issue, but I can usually write one sentence and get my point across.

If you have any other ideas or advice, please let me know. I’m new to Twitter, and still experimenting. If I find that the service is not particularly useful, or it’s too difficult to strike a balance between promotion and content, I’ll cancel my account. But I’m enjoying it for now. Any help is appreciated. Basically, I’m asking what you’d like to see. And if you’re on Twitter, you can follow me at @RegoftheDay. Thanks!

-Mgmt.

Little to no blogging this weekend. I’ll be at an IHS/Liberty Fund conference on F.A. Hayek‘s ideas. It’s going to be a treat.

Back in action on Monday.

If WordPress’ statistics are right, this is the 500th post here at Inertia Wins. This blog has changed quite a bit since I started it in 2005. Mostly for the better, I hope. Last month’s redesign has gotten a lot of positive feedback, and the traffic has well exceeded my expectations (tell your friends!). The new About and Publications sections are handy additions. More new features are on the way.

I also thought I’d take this opportunity to look back at a few of this blog’s highlights. Hopefully old readers and new will find something to enjoy.

-In one of my first posts, 2005′s “Is This Grounds for Pessimism?“, I recount one of my many learning experiences on Capitol Hill.

-A quick look through the category “The Partisan Mind” should dispel the notion that I am a Democratic or Republican party hack. I’ve been accused of being both over the years.

-For my views on executive power, soured by the experiences of the Bush and Clinton years, see “Why Good Men Don’t Become President Anymore,” written on the day of President Obama’s inauguration.

-Echoes of Mencken in one of my favorite lines I’ve ever written. The post was in response a comparison of the presidency to a monarchy: “Presidents are unremarkable creatures. Borne of much talent for campaigning and little for governing, more love for power than for principle, and the unyielding belief that they know best, presidents have the worst kind of hubris. This is perhaps their only regal trait.” The whole post is here.

-Channeling Charles Darwin, the French Enlightenment, and Austrian-school views on consumer sovereignty, I explain why most news coverage is shallow and overly pessimistic.

-I remain particularly proud of this letter to the editor from 2007, even though it was never published.

-On Earth Day of 2008, I explain what has become known around the office as my certainty principle.

-And finally, my ongoing Regulation of the Day feature. 75 dumb rules and counting.

More to come on all those fronts and more. Much more. Thanks for reading.