Terms  |
Definitions |
| Salerno, Joseph |
The editor of the Quarterly Journal of Economics, he claims that he “will not shy away from controversy, regardless of whose oxen are gored.” (Yeah, right!)
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| Samuelson, Paul |
A prophet. See Economic Forecasts.
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| Sandstorm |
The right time to rocket the Green Zone. Apparently, al Sadr has read Dune too. When the Mahdi Army attacks riding giant worms, it’s time to get out of Arrakis – I mean – Iraq. (For now, we’ve pushed them out of 107mm rocket range. However, in 2006, the Israelis were caught unaware that Hezbollah had thousands of Katyushas in range of Nahariyya. If al Sadr breaks his truce and finds us similarly unaware, the Green Zone is going to become a very difficult place to run an occupation from.)
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| Saturation |
The price and stock such that aggregate utility is at its maximum, that is, its first derivative is zero. See my Simplified Exposition.
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| Scalia, Antonin |
“[The Second Amendment] surely elevates above all other interests the right of law-abiding, responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and home.”
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| Scholarship |
Charity – unless it’s merit based. See Affirmative Action.
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| Score |
1) What one hopes to do when visiting the Downside Risk, 2) One hundred and five when playing single-deck blackjack with a 6:5 payout on naturals. See the Aguilar Blackjack System.
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| Scottsdale, Arizona |
The center of innovation in economic theory for the 21st century. (Well, I live there don’t I?)
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| Shelton, Judy |
“A gold standard beats a gab standard.” See Dollar.
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| Sixx, Nikki |
The great theoretical economist of the 1980’s. See my Review of Richard Duncan’s Dollar Crisis.
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| Sniper |
An eight-year-old girl with a bouquet of flowers. And if you don’t believe me, just ask Hillary Clinton. See Lying.
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| Snobsdale, Arizona |
See Scottsdale, Arizona.
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| Soccer Moms |
A crucial voting bloc! Who are they? Pear-shaped middle-aged women who talk endlessly about their diets – usually through a mouthful of Ring Dings. They are just as dumb as NASCAR Dads but – thankfully – less opinionated. Hillary Clinton could advocate the confiscation of all private property and the nuking of small countries for sport and they would still vote for her. All that really matters to them is breaking through that infamous glass ceiling. (If they truly believe that it was a glass ceiling that prevented them from becoming the captains of industry that, 40 years ago, their girls-can-do-anything grade-school teachers told them they would become, then they are even dumber than they look.) See Morons.
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| Spitzer, Elliot |
Writing comedy without mentioning this man would be like baking a cake and omitting the flour. See Whore.
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| Statistics, Meaningless |
Adding numbers together that have different units. Example #1) the “welcome” sign of a town, which gives the year it was founded, the elevation, the population and then (Isn’t this the epitome of cutting-edge humor?) the total of those three numbers. Example #2) the consumer price index, which adds up dollars per pound of beef, dollars per gallon of gasoline, dollars per haircut, etc., and then divides by the number of items observed and reports the result. See Section XI of my 2004 paper.
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| Stewart's Law |
Named after Jon Stewart, my primary source for breaking news on important current events. “The level of despotism is directly proportional to the number of inherent lies in a country’s name.” Example: the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the People’s Democratic Republic of the Congo have repression levels of bloody, sadistic, inhumane and genocidal, respectively. Pop quiz! Can you place “Patriot Act” on this scale? Show your work.
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| Stiglitz and Bilmes |
Have estimated that the occupation of Iraq will eventually cost three trillion dollars, or about $10,000 for every man, woman and child in America. When pollsters ask voters whether the war or the recession is of greater concern to them, the pollster is making an implicit assumption: that the two issues are unrelated. That is not true. See Waste.
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| Stimulus, Economic |
According to Stiglitz and Bilmes, the occupation of Iraq will eventually cost every man, woman and child in America over $10,000. Fortunately, as a consolation prize, George Bush is giving us each $600. (Woo-hoo!! Let the good times roll!!)
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| Stoning |
Gary North publically advocates establishing a theocracy in America, similar to Wahhabism, except nominally Christian. He alone would sit in judgment over us, ordering people stoned to death for such “crimes” as cursing their parents or criticizing Austrian Economics. North is an adjunct scholar at the <Mises Institute and, presumably, Ron Paul’s nominee for Attorney General.
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| Strategic Petroleum Reserve |
The ancient Egyptians thought to stockpile wheat against times of famine. But the result was that their economic cycles became even more volatile. If people want to stockpile fuel or heating oil for their own use, there is no law against installing a tank in one's back yard. But I think everybody understands by now that the SPR exists only so that gasoline can be dumped on the market during the summer before a presidential election. See Free Lunch.
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| Subjective Theory of Value |
Something that I believe in. I don’t know about anybody else. See Hayek, Friedrich.
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| Supply and Demand |
I don’t believe in it. I believe in the Demand Distribution, which is a mapping between price and stock. Supply has no place at all in my theory. See my Simplified Exposition.
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| Sycophant |
See Rothbard, Murray.
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| Sympathy for the Devil |
Apparently there is none in Austrian circles. C’mon guys, have some courtesy. Have some sympathy, and some taste. Instead of sending me snotty e-mails calling me “stupid” or a “spic,” why don’t you wipe your noses and compose some nice, polite e-mails to Roger Garrison asking him when he’s going to rebut my Critique? (Or I’ll lay your souls to waste.)
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