My Pazz & Jop Ballot, part one

Here's my Pazz & Jop ballot as I just submitted it; I've got a week to write comments. If I write any, I'll repost this with the comments added. Also, as far as I'm concerned the year doesn't end until December 31, so I'll post expanded lists then, and for all I know the order and contents of my top tens might also have changed.

Frank Kogan's Pazz & Jop Ballot 2008

SINGLES
1. Rihanna "Disturbia" (Island)
2. Ashlee Simpson "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Geffen)
3. Ashlee Simpson "Little Miss Obsessive" (Geffen)
4. Heidi Montag "No More" (no label)
5. Robyn "Who's That Girl?" (Konichiwa)
6. September "Cry For You" (Robbins)
7. Annie "Songs Remind Me Of You" (Island)
8. Britney Spears "Break The Ice" (Jive)
9. Buraka Som Sistema f. Pongolove "Kalemba (Wegue Wegue)" (Fabric)
10. V.I.C. "Wobble" (Reprise)

ALBUMS
1. Danity Kane Welcome To The Dollhouse (Bad Boy) 13 points
2. Willie Nelson Moment Of Forever (Lost Highway) 13 points
3. Scooter Jumping All Over The World (All Around The World) 12 points
4. Ashlee Simpson Bittersweet World (Geffen) 11 points
5. CSS Donkey (Sub Pop) 11 points
6. María Daniela Y Su Sonido Lasser Juventud En Éxtasis (EMI Mexico) 10 points
7. Vanessa Hudgens Identified (Hollywood) 9 points
8. Santogold Santogold (Downtown) 8 points
9. Britney Spears Circus (Jive) 8 points
10. Buraka Som Sistema Black Diamond (Fabric) 5 points

Keynes's difficult idea

Paul Krugman, Keynes's difficult idea

What's been striking me lately is how many people who talk and write about macroeconomics just don't get Keynes's essential point - the fact that economies can suffer from insufficient aggregate demand because people want to acquire liquid assets rather than real goods.

That doesn't seem like such a difficult idea, though I did have to go to Wikipedia and look up "market liquidity" and "aggregate demand." And I'd have to engage in some book learning to discover why getting people to buy goods and services is better for the economy than inspiring them to basically hold money or hold something that's nearly as redeemable as money. The idea makes intuitive sense, but I haven't done the reading in macroeconomics to know the argument.

My guess, though, is that the idea, far from being difficult, is clear but so unexpected for people who don't want to believe it that they simply won't understand that there's something that they need to grasp, and they're unable to shut up what's currently rattling around in their minds, hence don't have the ability to take in new information, or to notice it.

Keynes's Difficult Idea part two

OK, here is Keynes giving a simplified version of what Krugman calls Keynes's difficult idea:

( The Great Slump Of 1930 )