Exasperated Calculator: Star Trek & Economics
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More good news
[Joss Whedon is returning to television](http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/detail/index.jsp?uuid=972f7d73-e0a2-43ea-abad-0abf6afba1f3). If you don’t know who he is, go watch *Firefly*.
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Election07: Revelation Edition
*Announcements*: ALP has [$20m for a National Centre of Excellence in Water Desalination](http://alp.org.au/media/1107/msiwatloo020.php). That was all I could find… *Polls*: [AC Nielsen](http://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/labor-retains-poll-lead/2007/11/01/1193619061391.html) ALP 55-45. And in [Bennelong](http://www.pollbludger.com/669) it’s ALP 52-48. 22 chaptersdays to go.
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Freaky-nomics
[Japan’s Phillip’s Curve looks like Japan](http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2007/11/rorschach-econo.html) (including picture). In case you were wondering: it doesn’t seem to work for Australia.
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Something of the year
[The Australian of the Year finalists](http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/australian-of-the-year-finalists-announced/2007/11/01/1193619053511.html?s_cid=rss_news). Only two sportspeople on the list, thankfully. But I’ve never been sure why on earth this prize exists, it serves no purpose and has no well defined criteria.
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The Nerdiest Frontier
[Star Trek themed coffins](http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/star-trek-coffin/star-trek-coffin-warps-your-corpse-to-the-final-nerd-frontier-317341.php). In case my loved ones are wondering: **NO!**.
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Taxing times
[A history of US tax rates by income group](http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2007/10/evolution-of-tax-rates.html). The decline in the top 0.01 per cents tax rate is astonishing, but it’s noteworthy how badly the top 20 per cent did in the Clinton years compared to Bush II.
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It’s coming!
[The iPhone may launch in Australia in 2008](http://www.tuaw.com/2007/10/31/iphone-looking-to-head-down-under/). Yay! Happy dance time.
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Election07: Chromosomal edition
*Announcements*: * The [ALP boldly copies 90% of the coalition senior citizen benefit increases](http://www.smh.com.au/news/federalelection2007families/41b-pitch-for-grey-vote/2007/11/01/1193619029438.html?s_cid=rss_news) (with some extra treats). $4.2 billion. * The coalition promises [50 new family emergency medical centres staffed by GPs](http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/01/2078923.htm). $433 million. No other fun announcements or polls today. 23 days to go.
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Better than the PSS
[Tiger Woods retirement fund could be worth $US 1 billion](http://sports.yahoo.com/golf/pga/news;_ylt=AvrCG7Va3rP9NtKe3.eLXJ45nYcB?slug=dw-pension090407&prov=yhoo&type=lgns). It’s hard to find retirement funds better than the government one, but this manages it…
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Geek alert
[Is the Star Trek Federation of Planets really a federation](http://volokh.com/posts/1190182117.shtml). Almost as fun as a debate as [‘Is Star Trek communist’](http://stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/Trek-Marxism.html)