In 1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable music player. It weighed 14 ounces and cost $200. It could play a cassette that could hold about 90 minutes of music. It was a little bigger than a cassette. It was pretty ugly.

A new nano from Apple was announced yesterday. It weighs less than an ounce. The 8GB model is $149. It holds about 60 hours of music. It is smaller than a matchbook. It is very beautiful.

Writing in Barron’s, My GMU colleague Tom Hazlett praises the Obama administration’s support for property rights in the radio spectrum.

Here’s a brief (about 18 minutes) Mercatus Center podcast where I talk about Fear the Boom and Bust and talk about economics education generally.

In Brad Paisley’s song, Welcome to the Future, he sings about the glories of innovation and ties it to the evolution of the civil society. OK, he wouldn’t use those words, but you get the idea:

When I was ten years old
I remember thinking how cool it would be
When we were going on an eight-hour drive
If I could just watch TV
And I’d have given anything
To have my own Pac-Man game at home
I used to have to get a ride down to the arcade
Now I’ve got it on my phone

In these xenophobic times, I just heard Brad Paisley singing American Saturday Night a song that came out last year. The closest thing you’ll hear to a pro-trade, pro-immigration pop song:

She’s got Brazilian leather boots on the pedal of her German car
Listen to the Beatles singing Back in the USSR
Yeah, she’s goin’ around the world tonight
But she ain’t leavin here
She’s just going to meet her boyfriend down at the street fair

Beautiful, heartfelt, truth from my good friend David. This is my favorite type of music. You can hear more of his music and some comedy on David's YouTube channel.

Sweetwater sells audio and music equipment. Our sales rep sent me a link to a virtual tour of their new facilities which look awesome. I wonder if they have any openings...

Check out my friend David Seagull's awesome tune "Troubled Times." There's also a hilarious skit "My Peonies" on his YouTube channel. I hope to see many more videos from David.