One Of The Problems With

Economists Want Their Discipline To Be A Science, And They Have Nailed Down A Few Precepts, But Many Of Their Debates Are Still Clouded By Ideology.

Software-industry Battles Are Fought By Highly Paid And Out-of-shape Nerds Furiously Pounding Computer Keyboards While They Guzzle Diet Coke. The Stakes Aren't Very Dramatic. Life? Liberty? The Pursuit Of Happiness? Nope, It's About Stock Options.

Efficiency In Government Is A More Elusive Concept Than Efficiency In The Private Economy, Which May Be Measured Relatively Easily As Output Per Units Of Input. What Is The Government's 'output?'

We Collectively Have A Special Place In Our Heart For The Manned Space Flight Program - Apollo Nostalgia Is One Element, But That Is Only Part Of It. American Culture Worships Explorers - Look At The Fame Of Lewis And Clark, For Example. The American People Want To Think Of Themselves As Supporting Exploration.

My Career At Microsoft Really Was Getting In The Way Of My Cooking.