1. It sounds like the stimulus was more like an offset: increased federal spending was an offset for decreased state spending.according to this NBER paper by Aizenman and Pasricha. King Banaian argues that the stimulus created/saved a half a million jobs but that the long-run effects are "murkier."
2. Entitlement programs don't increase the number of rich people relative to the population. Markets tend to do that and it's reasonable to think that, at some point, we run out of "other people" to pay the way with entitlement programs. Mark Steyn argues that Greece is at this tipping point. Many American states are at similar points. If the US legislates an entitlement health program - Obamacare, for example - then it, as a nation, is moving closer to the point Greece is at today. "What could go wrong?" Greece may provide an answer. Via Craig Newmark.
3. On the one hand we have Haiti, an impoverished country hit by a magnitude 7 earthquake. The result was hundreds of thousands dead and terrible damage. On the other hand we have Chile, hit by a magnitude 8.8 earthquake, much, much worse than the quake that hit Haiti in terms of sheer seismic power (the Richter scale is based upon the base-10 logarithmic scale). Like the Haitian quake, this one was centered near a major city and it caused considerable damage. Unlike the Haitian quake, it also generated a tsunami that inundated coastal regions of Chile. It was a double whammy for Chile. But the death toll was much smaller than in Haiti (just over 700 dead from what I last saw).
Why the difference in death tolls? One argument can be made that Chile's building codes were stricter than Haiti's. That is true. But you also have to point to Chile having enough wealth and income to be able to afford having stronger building codes. You have to be able to take care of the basics - basic food and shelter - first before you take care of the fancy stuff - fancy food and shelter. Where does wealth and income come from? Generally speaking, from strong market institutions (HT Art Carden). Why does Chile have stronger market institutions than Haiti? Bret Stephens points to Milton Friedman.
Ironically, Friedman's Nobel Prize ceremony was punctuated with protests for his having been associated with the Chilean dictatorship.
4. "African Poverty is Falling" and it is "remarkably general." This is a very good thing. Via MR.