Coming up with a good idea, with an insight into the way the world works that is really new and that you really believe in, is a deeply satisfying experience.

I'm especially baffled by the idea of taking insurance against a U.S. default. If America defaults, we're talking about a chaotic world - Mad Max, more or less - in which case, who imagines that insurance claims will be honored?

Simple doesn't mean stupid. Thinking that it does, does.

I admit it: I had fun watching right-wingers go wild as health reform finally became law.

When stock prices are rising, it's called ''momentum investing''; when they are falling, it's called ''panic.''

America's political landscape is infested with many zombie ideas - beliefs about policy that have been repeatedly refuted with evidence and analysis but refuse to die. The most prominent zombie is the insistence that low taxes on rich people are the key to prosperity.

Republican candidates had to appeal to their base, which is by and large elderly white people arguing with empty chairs.