Would you were so honest a man

Was Hamlet crazy for love?

Goat Rope's meander through Hamlet continues, although if you've had enough of that you can scroll on down to the links and comments section.

As I mentioned yesterday, Polonius, father of Laertes and Ophelia and advisor to Claudius, is a twit. That is to say he is the Platonic form of twitness incarnate. He is at his twitty best (or worst) when he is caught up in his own verbiage.

One of the most amusing/irritating examples of this is when he tries to tell Claudius and Gertrude that he thinks Hamlet has gone mad through love of Ophelia. The scene occurs after diplomats have returned from Norway with news of an averted war:

This business is well ended.
My liege, and madam, to expostulate
What majesty should be, what duty is,
Why day is day, night night, and time is time,
Were nothing but to waste night, day and time.
Therefore, since brevity is the soul of wit,
And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes,
I will be brief: your noble son is mad:
Mad call I it; for, to define true madness,
What is't but to be nothing else but mad?
But let that go.

You can't blame Gertude for asking for more matter with less art. But Polonius is just getting warmed up:

Madam, I swear I use no art at all.
That he is mad, 'tis true: 'tis true 'tis pity;
And pity 'tis 'tis true: a foolish figure;
But farewell it, for I will use no art.
Mad let us grant him, then: and now remains
That we find out the cause of this effect,
Or rather say, the cause of this defect,
For this effect defective comes by cause...

It doesn't get much better when he tries to engage the apparently mad Hamlet in conversation. Here's just a bit:

LORD POLONIUS: Do you know me, my lord?

HAMLET: Excellent well; you are a fishmonger.

LORD POLONIUS: Not I, my lord.

HAMLET: Then I would you were so honest a man.

In homage to this exchange, we take it as an article of faith at Goat Rope Farm that people who sell fish are paragons of veracity.

SNOW WHAT? Here's a little reminder that snow and global warming can go hand in hand.

GIRL POWER. New studies indicate that team sports bring lasting benefits to girls.

I PREFER COFFEE. Here's an interesting description of the recent TEA Party conference.

ANCIENT MARINERS (MINUS ALBATROSS). Archaeological evidence in Crete suggests that early humans or related species took to sea as early as 130,000 years ago.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Not a god

The theme here lately is the failure of "conservative" economic policies, which is one of those topics where figuring out where to start is harder than figuring out what to say. The reader will also find links and comments about current events below.

One main feature of the failed economics of the past is a cult like worship of "markets," which are endowed with some kind of supernatural intelligence by true believers. In the real world, there are all kinds of ways markets can fail, as even the most mainstream economics textbook will say. Here are a few:

*Imperfect competition. Adam Smith famously said in The Wealth of Nations that

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.

But one big difference between Smith's day and our own is the eclipse of small independent butchers, brewers and bakers and the rise of giant corporations which often dominate markets and distort prices. Some forms of imperfect competition are monopolies or oligopolies (domination of an economic sector by a few businesses).

*Externalities. In an ideal market situation, which generally only exists inside the heads of true believers, prices "tell the truth," so to speak, about the costs of the products. Often however, there are social costs passed on to the public or to individuals which don't show up on any corporation's bottom line. Climate change is a classic example, but so are the numerous cases of people and communities damaged by sickness, pollution, etc. as the result of economic activity. The tendency is to socialize the costs while keeping the profits private.

*Information asymmetries. Market transactions can also go awry when one party has more or better information than another and is thus able to take advantage of the situation. Imagine, hypothetically, that some people made big bucks (for a while) selling mortgage based derivatives and other such "financial instruments" to people who got burned in the process. Golly, good thing that never happens...

Another problem with markets is that they don't do a good job of providing for public goods like roads, bridges, schools, fire and police protection, etc.

I won't even go into crony capitalism, i.e. the use of political influence to win profits and advantages for big businesses. Imagine, for example drug company lobbyists writing a prescription drug benefit bill or credit card companies writing bankruptcy legislation. Good thing that never happens, either...

All of this isn't to say that markets are evil and should be banned. It's just to point out that there are lots of ways they can mess up and melt down, which is why there is also a need for a degree of regulation. The market=God idea is one that is long overdue for a decent burial.

HOW'S THE WEATHER? El Cabrero and the gang at Goat Rope Farm were without phone, water, electricity and email since Tuesday. Here's hoping the Gentle Reader made it through the storm. I'm scheduling this post early in case the power is gone tomorrow. If anything really bad happens between now and then, please accept our condolences. If anything really good happens, please accept our congratulations.

STIMULUS PASSES. The US House passed the stimulus package yesterday along party lines.

A BETTER BAILOUT is discussed here by Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz.

SPORTS AND SUCH are the subjects of the Rev. Jim Lewis' latest edition of Notes from under the Fig Tree.

ANTIWHAT? Here's a list of five world leaders accused of being the Antichrist. (Personal note: those who picked #5 might have been onto something. )

BIRD BRAINS outlasted the dinosaurs.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED