Nick Baumann

"Iceland’s economy will this year outgrow the euro area and the developed world on average, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates. It costs about the same to insure against an Icelandic default as it does to guard against a credit event in Belgium. Most polls now show Icelanders don’t want to join the European Union, where the debt crisis is in its third year."

"This is an excellent idea and would be a good idea even if the money were simply heaped up in a big pile and lit on fire."

"The West Wing writers room would not have come up with the idea of running a presidential campaign in which an African-American gets elected. Because the realism view would have said that’s not possible. And I say that with no disrespect for the creative process, but rather with a greater respect and awe for the real world."

"Are you the sort of person who can only be friends with people who share your politics? If so, I pity you. You’re going to live an unchallenged, introspection-free life, congratulating yourself on your purity while never engaging in good faith with people who don’t see things your way. You deny yourself the richness of the world. I refuse to join you. And if you fuck with my friends, you will regret it."

"When Christ performs the miracle of the loaves and fishes do we condemn him for depriving fishmongers of hypothetical income?"

"It seems like a no-brainer that the long-planned Dulles Airport Metro line should include a stop at Dulles Airport, but to one key decision-maker, that remains an open question."