I was hanging out in my classroom this morning a bit early when a classmate of mine asks, "Did you see the Galloway hearing in Senate last week?" I had not and told him so but let him know that I had a gist of what went on. He then asked, "Now why couldn't we have someone like that run for president instead of Kerry." I am assuming he thought I was pro-Kerry based on the nature of his question.

I told him that the Democratic party did put forward some total lunatics such as Dean but they didn't make it past the primaries. He seemed highly confused and went back to what he was doing.

Just amazing...

I was witness to an exciting development on the Subway.

For years I have seen kids troll between cars selling candy for a dollar. Often they start with a prepared speech about how they are making money for their school or for their basketball team. I naturally assumed that this was a scam. I was never sure if the kids were scamming or if the schools were scamming the kids. In either event the whole thing seemed weird.

Yesterday, a kid enters the car and starts the speech. This time there was a twist. "Hello, my name is blahbahblah and I am not selling candy for my school or for my basketball team. I am selling candy to make some extra pocket money. Since the money is for me I have decided to lower the usual price of one dollar to just fifty cents. Thank you for your attention."

I find this amazing for a few reasons. First, the kid is a genuine entrepreneur. It is great to see this level of motivation. More importantly, he made the rather obvious leap to product differentiation based on price. If this is not market economics at work I don't know what is.

The exciting things to watch for are:

• Will this practice proliferate? Will we see a mass defection of candy salesman driven by self interest?
• Will the alleged 'do-gooders' lower their price?
  

Addiction is an amazing thing. It creeps up on you in ways you would never know and then latches onto your brain.

I discovered a few weeks ago that I was a caffeine addict. In a strange way I was the last to know.

I have always eschewed coffee. In my lifetime I have had maybe ten cups of coffee with breakfast. In the workplace I have fended off the endless assault of coffee. I can say with some satisfaction that I have never had a coffee at Starbucks. To me caffeine was the enemy.

To be honest I have always had the occasional espresso. Sometimes after dinner but never more than one or two a month. Like the person who can have one cigarette and then never think about it again I would consume caffeine.

Then came business school. At first it was a Diet Coke with breakfast. Then lunch. Before I knew it I was hanging out with Italians with the hopes of one of them suggesting that we have espressos. Then I found myself suggesting an Italian panini place for lunch just to have the post lunch espresso. Of course I did not know I was doing these things I just was. All along self-assured that I 'had never had a coffee'.

The wake-up call came when my teammate was kidding me about my morning Diet Coke. I meant to object but realized he was right. Within a moment the full extent of my capitulation became obvious to me.

The good news is that caffeine appears to be an easy drug to get off of. I have spent the past two weeks drinking flavored seltzer for breakfast and avoiding Italian people. I think I will probably be safe...

I watch an inordinate number of cooking shows for somebody who barely has time to cook. Over the years I have found a few favorites. Typically I gravitate towards the personality of the host rather than the style of cooking.

First some shows I tend to dislike:

• Emeril Lagasse -- The king of cooking shows this man put the Food Network on the map. The man has his own band and its easier to get Superbowl tickets than it is to get tickets to this show. With all the fanfare I still don't like the guy. His dishes are way to complex. His alleged 15 minute preparations mask the hours of undercover sous-chef work being performed in the background. His rich food will typically kill you within days if not hours. His penchant for New Orleans specialties translates into seafood or ham hocks in just about anything he makes.
• Sarah Moulton -- Sarah is the editor of Gourmet magazine and could be one of the 'whitest' people on television. It is always Christmas/Thanksgiving in her kitchen and her recipes tend to lack any real imagination. She does tend to have some great guests.
• Tyler Florence (Food 911)-- Here is a guy who I am on the fence about. He tends to make great recipes that are manageable in a home kitchen. His 'cooking doctor' motif appeals to my desire to improve my style. The real issue is that he is just kinda annoying.

Now for the people I like

• Alton Brown (Good Eats)-- When I first watched this show I could not believe what a wierdo this guy was. In time though I learned to appreciate his passion for food and his style. The theme of his show is taking the lessons from 'The Science of Cooking' and translating them into recipes. If you like his stuff I would certainly suggest 'Cookwise'. You may not make his stuff but you will be a better overall cook after watching his show.
• Rachel Ray (30 Minutes Meals) -- She is a very unlikely candidate for a cooking show in general and a cooking show that I would like in specific. She guffaws at her own jokes, gives cutesy hints, and creates fairly simple meals. Yet there is something inspirational about someone who can create a reasonable meal in 30 minutes of clock time. Any one of her recipes can be improved upon if you have more time but who does?
• Jamie Oliver (Oliver's Twist) -- It is hard to imagine a show more geared towards my state of mind. Jamie has all the charm of the coolest Londoner you have ever met. His dry wit and no-nonsense style belie the truly impressive dishes he creates. Just about anything I cook can draw some influence from his suggestions. The editing and content of this show speaks volumes about some real cultural differences between Londoners and New Yorker.
  

For the past two years I have been puzzled by just how annoying Paul Krugman is. I know he is a world famous Economist and all but everytime I read a peice of his I just cringe.

The writers over at Marginal Revoltion, one of my favorite blogs, recommended that anyone who is interested in Economics cannot miss Krugman's Accidental Theorist and Other Dispatches from the Dismal Science. I decided to try it. In truth, most of the articles in the book were elucidating. The real problem is not the content but the style. The guy is just downright rude.

After reading Steven Levitt's Freakonomics I am now convinced that you can be both a brilliant down to earth economist and a nice guy.