Via Brad Delong, an interesting article (that is, however, likely to be somewhat obscure to a general audience) to consider when reading, say, Paul Krugman on  the Chinese renminbi / US dollar exchange rate.  (Note that in this article, Krugman doesn't actually say the Chinese currency is undervalued; he just says they'd be doing us a favor by appreciating it relative to the dollar (which they would do by lending us less money, notably by buying fewer US treasury bills and such)).  Helmut Reisen thinks the exchange rate is not as undervalued as some claim based on purchasing power parity; low-income countries tend to have a lower exchange rate due to the fact that nontraded goods in such countries are cheap, relative to traded ones whose prices are equalised internationally through trade, and even more, relative to similar nontraded goods in high-income countries.  Based on a linear regression, he estimates the RMB is only 12% undervalued.  The scatter plot of deviation of exchange rate from purchasing power parity versus log GDP per capita doesn't look linear to me (it looks convex downward), and if the apparent nonlinearity reflects some some relevant functional form in the dependence of one on the other, it might suggest the Chinese currency is even less undervalued.  Of course, comparison with such a cross-country regression shouldn't necessarily be decisive if more detailed China-specific analysis is available.  But I wonder what such analysis suggests.

Unsubstantiated rumors from anonymous sources department: "Jester", who claims to be a particle physicist formerly working at CERN and now in New Jersey, blogs that there may be indirect evidence that CDMS' announcement this coming Friday may contain evidence for dark matter having been detected in a mine in Minnesota.  But the real news is the purported email from a senior editor at Nature, in which a rumor that Nature was about to publish a paper from CDMS on this is shot down as containing "as much truth as the average Fox News story".  Of course Fox intermingles truth, falsehood, and opinion, so maybe he's leaving them some wiggle room...those Nature editors can be wily!

Caveat link-follower:

Resonaances is a particle theory blog from New Jersey. Here you find latest news and comments on developments in particle physics, spiced up with my legendary sense of humour. As my name tells, my primary objective is to make laugh. If you get more out of this blog, that's entirely on your own responsibility.

I was pointed to it by a particle physicist at PI, though.

This piece by Brad DeLong is essential reading on the current economic situation.  Paragraphs 8-10 are the key ones.

I don't necessarily agree, however, that until the Fed and the Congressional centrists thrash out an understanding of whether we're in a liquidity trap or not, there's no point in a jobs summit.  Anything that keeps it in people's consciousness that something needs to be done about unemployment, is probably good.  Perhaps the administration and Congress will decide to do something more.  "More stimulus" talk seems to be in the air, despite widespread claims that it won't fly.  Sometimes things sneak back onto the agenda.

One of the many great things about Perimeter Institute is the tradition of wine and cheese Fridays at 4 PM.  Dan Lynch, who manages PI's Black Hole Bistro, always lays in a good supply of some good-old-standby reds and whites, a small assortment of other interesting bottles, excellent cheese and hors d'oeuvres.  And there are  the friendly PI scientists, staff, and guests to talk to.  Yesterday I had a half-glass of 2007 Flat Rock  Cellars Red Twisted, an Ontario wine from the Niagara peninsula.  The only red grape the winery names on their website is Pinot Noir, and that's what this tasted like.  Although the website calls it a blend, perhaps that means a blend of barrels of Pinot that didn't make it into the higher-end Gravity Pinot and Reserve Pinot.  It was a nicely balanced, rather French-style, easy to like PN, not too light in body nor tart and green as young Pinot sometimes is, but rather fruity in a low-key, black-cherry and raspberry sort of way, kept in line by restrained use of oak, and with some hints of minerality characteristic of where it comes from.   Before springing $20.15 for it, Flat Rock's list price, I'd want to taste another glass or two... but next time I'm in the area I'll certainly stop by to do just that, and check out their other wines:  various higher-end Pinots, Chardonnays, and Riesling.  A 2008 (?) Nautilus Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (from New Zealand) was also really nice---with the characteristic gooseberryishness and hints of grassiness of Marlborough SB, but in a restrained, balanced way that I really liked.  (Marlborough Sauvignons can be a bit over the top at times).  Crisp, but not ostentatiously so. Yum.  The good-old-standby on the red side was the Pilitteri 2007 Merlot.  I like this wine fine, it's moderately rich, but a bit rougher and less balanced than I'd prefer, and with some hints of foxiness to the black-cherry fruit.  I'd choose instead another of their wines that PI has in its cellar---the 2002 Reserve Merlot, which Dan chose to serve at a conference banquet I attended last month.  This was excellent stuff, a bit lighter bodied than the 07 regular bottling, but with a suave, even velvety mouthfeel despite a bit of tannin, classic blackberry flavors with a hint of minerality, and a nice bouquet mingling plum and cassis-ish notes with hints of tarriness, spiciness, oak and maybe a hint of coffee.  It's still availabe at Pilliteri for $30.  (I was there last weekend.)  Although it's not a tannin monster, I'd make sure it has time to air and develop over the course of a meal, in the glass or in a decanter, and if you have a cellar, I think it might continue to mellow and perhaps develop further over another 5 or more years.