Two Things Someone Else Needs to Discuss

Since I'm trying to cut a 24-page paper down closer to 15 today, I'll leave the Heavy Lifting to other. But two things probably should be discussed (or at least noted) here:

1. Brad DeLong appears (to me) to confuse perceiving a move from Democratic Republic to Empire—and therefore away from any Competitive Advantage for the past 100-ish years—with conspiracy theory. But I may just be reacting to his headline.
   
2. Tim Duy (at Mark Thoma's place) refuses to jump into the briar patch:
   

   Increasingly, society views the purchase of a home as primarily an investment, not for the service it provides (don’t even get me started on this topic).

   
   Someone needs to get him started. Or continue from Tom's previous AB post.