Author Archives: Timothy B Lee

Jim Henley makes a good observation: Across a whole range of problems there’s a class of responses I’ll dub the “low road” and another class I’ll call the “high road.” Examples of the former include war, torture, sanctions and blockades, … Continue reading →

Bilski v. Kappos was the most-anticipated Supreme Court patent case in a generation. And when it was finally handed down on Monday, it turned out to be the most anticlimactic. There’s been a raging debate about software and “business method” … Continue reading →

Over at Ars Technica, I’ve got an article examining the tech policy record of Justice John Paul Stevens, who retired today: Stevens penned the 1978 decision that shielded the software industry from the patent system in its formative years. In … Continue reading →

A couple of follow-ups on my post about the decline of reporter impartiality. First, Jim Henley points out that the ethos of the opinionated blogger isn’t really new: I submit that this is just magazine-journalism ethos with the addition of … Continue reading →

On Friday, the DC media world was abuzz with the news that Dave Weigel resigned from the Washington Post after intemperate comments he’d made on a private mailing list were made public. Dave’s a friend of mine, so unsurprisingly I … Continue reading →

The more I think about it the more trouble I’m having understanding what people mean when they say they’re against [Edit: illegal] immigration. Analogies are never perfect, but consider driving. I speed on a semi-regular basis. And virtually everyone else … Continue reading →

This Rolling Stone profile of General McChrystal has recently led to his downfall. But the really troubling thing about the article isn’t what McChrystal thinks of his civilian superiors (although that is troubling) but the picture it paints of the … Continue reading →

I’ve been blogging about immigration over at Megan’s blog. On Friday I called out Mint.com for posting an inflammatory info-graphic on its blog (which the company subsequently pulled). And today I consider the common argument that the rule of law … Continue reading →

My friends Megan McArdle and Peter Suderman got married in DC this weekend. For the next couple of weeks I’ll be guest-blogging for Megan while she’s on her honeymoon. Here is a post where I give my impressions of her … Continue reading →

The point I made on Friday about the dangers of over-reliance on (possibly faulty) data seems obvious in hindsight. You might think that McNamara just happened to have an unusual blind spot, and that his problems could have been avoided … Continue reading →