Who Will Lead the Senate? Follow the Prediction Markets

How would commentary on the midterm election look if economists, rather than Beltway pundits, were calling the race? You would read a lot less about personalities, gaffes and gossip, and a lot more about fundamentals like the state of the economy. And you would certainly get a more sophisticated reading […] Read more »

Too Close to Call

… The Senate projections among forecasters using different methodologies, including those of Silver and Wang, are beginning to converge, much as I suggested they would in my previous post on this topic. That convergence is making it increasingly clear that the battle for control of the Senate is still too […] Read more »

Senate Forecasts Aren’t Obvious. Just Take a Look at Kansas.

Races for the United States Senate feature the same drearily familiar elements as presidential contests: partisan polarization, ideological predictability and voters with fixed opinions about well-known politicians. But in Senate races, those elements are all a little smaller, and matter a little less, which makes the outcome of this fall’s […] Read more »

Misreading Senate forecasts

When I was in graduate school, deconstructionism was the intellectual rage with my humanities oriented friends. One of deconstruction’s central tenets is that “all reading is misreading.” I heard it all the time, but frankly, it never meant much to me until I started seeing reactions to the plethora of […] Read more »