Intellectual Conformity 1, Intellectual Diversity 0

Harvard Professor Ruth Wisse explains in today's WSJ how intellectual diversity on college campuses has been replaced by intellectual conformism, aka political correctness: 

"The increased political conformism at universities may be traced in part to the redefinition of diversity that accompanied the introduction of group preferences, aka "affirmative action." Schools instituting this policy never acknowledged that it conflicted with competing commitments to equal consideration "irrespective of race, religion, or gender," or that at least half the country questioned its wisdom."

"In part the policy has become a joke, with claimants to 1/32nd Cherokee heritage gaining preferential treatment as minority hires. What is not a joke is that the meaning of "diversity" has shifted from the intellectual to the racial-ethnic sphere, foreclosing discussion of certain subjects like affirmative action, gender differences and everything considered politically incorrect."

"Thus, the current Guide to the First Year at Harvard alerts incoming students to orientation programs in diversity designed to build connections within and across "nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, physical ability, and religion." Characteristically and tellingly absent from the list is political or intellectual diversity."

Update: Excellent comment by J. Storrs Hall, "I have a dream: that a day will come when academics value diversity in the content of our minds, and not the color of our skin...", which was featured here at Maggie's Farm. 

Energy Updates: Marcellus Shale Gas Production Doubles and the Shale Boom Spreads to Russia

1. The shale gas boom continues in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale region, with output doubling this year during the January-June period compared to the same period in 2011, and energy industry jobs in Pennsylvania increasing by 150% from 2009 to 2011.  Here are some details:

Despite low prices and a new tax on the industry, natural gas production in Pennsylvania has doubled in the past year. Drillers operating in Pennsylvania’s expansive Marcellus Shale gas field extracted 895 billion cubic feet of gas during the first six months of 2012, according to figures released by the state Department of Environmental Protection. That’s up from about 435 billion cubic feet during the same period in 2011 (see chart above).

The data are evidence that – despite near record-low prices for natural gas that have caused some companies to slow production and the creation of a new state tax on extracting natural gas – the Marcellus Shale boom is continuing in Pennsylvania.

Patrick Creighton, spokesman for the Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, said the increased drilling was creating jobs, benefiting consumers with lower utility bills and helping the manufacturing sector. “These production reports are proof positive that … Marcellus Shale holds tremendous potential for decades to come,” he said.

The gas drilling industry supports more than 238,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, and has seen job growth jump by 150 percent for the three years ending in 2011. Job growth across all other sectors in the state declined for the same period, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry.

2. The horizontal drilling boom has spread to Russia, where its use is predicted to grow faster than in the United States, and is already driving a boom in shale oil and gas, according to this report in The Moscow Times.  Further, the article also mentions Russia's massive Bazhenov Formation, which could be the world's largest oil shale deposit ("80 times bigger than the Bakken") and is expected to be producing 1 million barrels per day by 2020.  

Peak what?

Cartoon of the Day: Green Jobs

By Lisa Benson.

More than a decade ago, Paul Gigot of the WSJ pointed out that "ethanol is produced by mixing corn with our tax dollars."  In that case, solar energy is produced by mixing sunlight with our tax dollars. 

One-Year U.S. Stock Market Return = Almost 20%

Top 20 Stock Market Returns Over the Last Year

With all of the bad news coming out of Europe, and the ongoing gloom and doom in America with predictions of a pending double-dip recession, it might be counter-intuitive that some stock markets have actually registered impressive returns over the last year, see the table above of one-year returns based on MSCI data that includes both developed and emerging markets.  Denmark leads the list with a 26.1% return over the last year, and other European stock markets like Belgium (15.8%) and Ireland (13.3%) have achieved returns higher than the world average over the last year of 10%.  Of course one-year returns in markets like Greece (-52%), Portugal (-33%) and Spain (-24%) have been pretty dismal, but it's not like the entire continent is doing that poorly.  

Some of the Asian markets like the Philippines (18%), Thailand (11%) and Korea (9.8%) are doing quite well, and one-year returns in the U.S. of almost 20% (and 15.5% per year over the last two years and 11.4% per year over the last three years) place the U.S. as the No. 3 stock market in the world over the last year for this group.  And the one-year return in the U.S. over the last 12 months of almost 20% is almost three times the 7% average annual return over the last 60 years, and twice the world stock return over the last year of 10%. 

Note: The S&P500 is up by 19.8% over the last year and the NASDAQ has gained 24.4%.  

Update: The chart below shows corporate profits after tax (through Q1) and the S&P 500 Index (through August) over the last ten years (data here).  One of the main drivers of stock prices is corporate profits, and one of the main reasons stocks have gained almost 20% over the last year is probably because corporate profits are at record high levels (at least through Q1).  

Quotation of the Day: Pro-Business vs. Pro-Market

Why do you say that America’s political system is degenerating into crony capitalism?

There is not a well-understood distinction between being pro-business and being pro-market. Businessmen like free markets until they get into a market; once they are in it they want to block entry to others. Pro-marketeers want free markets at all times. The more conservative pro-marketeers are fearful of criticizing business, because they assume they will be seen as criticizing the free market. But we need to stand up and criticize business when business is not helping the cause of free markets.

In what way?

Take lobbying. Lobbying may once have been reactive but now it’s proactive—businessmen use it to shape policy and ask for tax advantages. This is corruptive of democracy.

Examples, please.

Companies with a lot of money abroad sponsored a bill in 2004-2005 that allowed them to repatriate their profits at a low tax rate. Thus $1 produced $220 of tax savings. The Bush-approved drug and Medicare act was a huge bonanza for the drug industry. Their market value increased by several billion dollars when this was announced. I could continue.

~Luigi Zingales, professor of entrepreneurship and finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business being interviewed in The Economist

Markets in Everything: Private Online DMV in CA

"Cartagz is licensed and bonded with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and we are officially authorized to perform a variety of DMV related transactions. Official CA DMV license stickers and registration cards are issued directly from our central office."

"Each month, thousands of Californians benefit from Cartagz.com’s higher level of customer service and efficiency. As California’s leading vehicle registration service, Cartagz.com helps people save time and avoid trips to the DMV through this unique and easy to use online service." 

Cartagz has experienced phenomenal growth since starting four years ago, with revenues growing from $137,000 in 2008 to more than $14 million last year.  

More Example's (!) of the Misuse of It's for Its

From the Web and the CD comment's section: 

1. Crony Capitalism at it's best! 

2. Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, the band is paving it's own unique path in the world. 

3. Reductio ad Absurdum is a legitimate technique for pushing an argument to it's logical limits and showing it to be absurd. 

4. I'll take the opportunity costs of shale gas over it's subsidized or less environmental alternatives. 

5. And it's sold, for it's "skin rejuvenating properties.” 

6. You actually made a case for it's existence. 

Remember the simple (maybe not) rule: It's is a contraction for "it is."