~marginalrevolution | Bookmarks (552)

Here is the link. The post Germany chart of the day appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to Joe Bern. The chart you linked displays change ... by TrinityIn reply to Prof. Emeritus. “In the third quarter of this ... by DismalistIn reply to Buck_Mulligan. That's interesting if true. The ... by KalebergIn reply to Anon. So you are angry American fracking...

1. The Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi has a Cinnabon on its ground floor. 2. “The UK police detained 3.3k+ people for ‘online trolling’ in one year, and they’re *doubling down* on this policy.” 3. More minimum wage debates. 4. Can architecture reveal the spread of purdah? 5. Drones to map and follow buses? 6. […] The post Thursday assorted links appeared first on...

It’s been a while so time to re-up my 2004 post on thanksgiving and the lessons of political economy. Here it is with no indent: It’s one of the ironies of American history that when the Pilgrims first arrived at Plymouth rock they promptly set about creating a communist society.  Of course, they were soon […] The post Thanksgiving and the Lessons of Political...

That is the new book by Marty Makary.  Since Makary has been nominated to head the FDA, I am surprised this work is not receiving more attention. In the book, Makary is sympathetic to HRT, skeptical about a lot of antibiotic use (microbiome issues), says it is fine to ingest the cholesterol in eggs, and […] The post *Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It...

1. George Gissing on LLMs. 2. The decline of Shanghai as a financial center (FT). 3. “Liberal” as a political adjective in English, and its history. 4. Aphantasia and mental modeling, and how multimodal AI will win. 5. Classical liberalism and classical music. 6. Princeton students interview Jason Furman. 7. Back of the envelope tariff […] The post Wednesday assorted links appeared first on...

It’s been said that the radical left often ends up duplicating the policies of the radical right, just under different names and justifications, e.g. separate but equal, scientific thinking is “white” thinking and so forth. Here’s another example from Salim Furth: the re-creation of redlining. Redlining was the practice of making it more difficult to […] The post Environmental “Justice” Recreates Redlining appeared first...

Trump has announced the appointment, so it is worth thinking through a few matters.  While much of the chatter is about the Great Barrington Declaration, I would note that Bhattacharya has a history of focusing on the costs of obesity.  So perhaps we can expect more research funding for better weight loss drugs, in addition […] The post Jay Bhattacharya at the NIH appeared...

Via the excellent Bryan Caplan. The post Who Americans spend their time with, by age appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsSad plot… all that time spent with co-workers. by Stephen LindsayThought there would be more sole proprietorships than ... by Sheriff JohnIn reply to Lord Action. Ugh, yes. Building as many social ... by kwaziiIn reply to Scott Mauldin. Definitely an improvement to...

We study the tax payment and innovation consequences of limiting the tax deductibility of research and development (“R&D”) expenditures. Beginning in 2022, U.S. companies are required to capitalize and amortize R&D rather than immediately deduct these expenditures. We utilize variation in U.S. firms’ fiscal year ends to test the effects of the R&D tax change […] The post The Consequences of Limiting the Tax...

Bloomberg says so, a very good pick. The post Kevin Hassett to lead the NEC? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to Torn. Definitely on the chopping block. Teaches ... by WCRIn reply to WCR. First thing that comes to mind for me is New ... by TornIn reply to rsm. So you mean when two people settle on a ... by...

Wow, our government employees market is now projecting a new low of just 60k cuts For context, there are a record 23.4 million government employees When Elon Musk took over Twitter, he reduced the workforce by more than 80% That is from Kalshi.  Here is the market. The post Can we expect large federal workforce cuts? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply...

1. Updating economic growth convergence results. 2. Update on DOGE progress. 3. New Korinek paper on how to use LLMs for economic research. 4. Cremieux on tax reform. 5. Reading list on permitting reform. 6. Cass Sunstein on regulatory reform without Chevron. 7. Thinking about a Hezbollah deal in terms of incentives. The post Tuesday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         Comments#4...

Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic governor, announced on Monday that he would reinstate a tax credit for electric vehicle purchases if the incoming Trump Administration removes federal EV tax credits. But the state may not extend the credits to Tesla because of the company’s large market share. Tesla’s stock price fell 4% on Monday. Here is […] The post More Randian villains appeared first on...

Local population decline has spread rapidly since 1970, with half of counties losing population between 2010 and 2020. The workhorse economic models point to net out-migration, likely driven by changing local economies and amenities, as the cause of this trend. However, we show that the share of counties with high net out-migration has not increased. […] The post Birth Dearth and Local Population Decline...

Here is the audio, video, and transcript.  Russ and I agreed to read the book in its entirety and then discuss it.  Here is part of the episode summary: Russ and Tyler cover Grossman’s life and the historical context of Life and Fate, its themes of war, totalitarianism, freedom, and fate, the novel’s polyphonic structure and […] The post My Conversation with Russ Roberts on...

1. AI is discovering new Nazca lines in Peru (NYT). 2. New paper on long-term asset returns. 3. AI agents as researchers. 4. More on NIH reform. 5. Scott Sumner on what matters. 6. How AI is improving the energy sector. The post Monday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to LivelyClock. “Everybody talks about the big ... by Charlie...

In the comments on Sunstein on DOGE many people argued that regulations were mostly about safety. Well, maybe. It’s best to think about this in the context of a real example. Here is a tiny bit of the Federal Meat Inspection Act regulating sausage production: In the preparation of sausage, one of the following methods […] The post Regulating Sausages appeared first on Marginal...

I was delighted to appear on the a16z crypto podcast (Apple, Spotify) talking with Scott Duke Kominers (Harvard) and Sonal Chokshi about prediction markets. It’s an excellent discussion. We talk about prediction markets, polling, and the recent election but also about prediction markets for replicating scientific research, futarchy, dump the CEO markets, AIs and prediction […] The post Prediction Markets Podcast appeared first on...

Jeff is the producer of Conversations with Tyler, and soon he will be interviewing me, in part about the year’s CWT episodes (but not only).  So what should he ask me? The post What should Jeff Holmes ask me? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to RAD. Ah, Rad, but the evidence is on my side. by deariemeSeveral rather high profile cases...

Itamar Vieira Junior, Crooked Plow. Karen Jennings, Crooked Seeds. Richard Flanagan, Question Seven. Guadalupe Nettel, La hija única, or Still Born Sally Rooney, Intermezzo.  Here is a good Henry Oliver review. Of those I would pick Crooked Plow as the best.  The new novels by Alan Hollinghurst and Murakami stand some chance of making the […] The post Favorite fiction of 2024 appeared first...

The number of deaths caused by alcohol-related diseases more than doubled among Americans between 1999 and 2020, according to new research. Alcohol was involved in nearly 50,000 deaths among adults ages 25 to 85 in 2020, up from just under 20,000 in 1999. The increases were in all age groups. The biggest spike was observed […] The post Alcohol estimates appeared first on Marginal...

1. Was early life complex pretty quickly? 2. Might Trump recognize Somaliland? 3. Hegelian Roon. 4. Ross D. on Trump’s cabinet (NYT). 5. Arnold Kling on managing professionals vs. managing managers. 6. Fentanyl overdoses in decline. 7. Bryan Caplan in January on Milei. The post Sunday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to Brett. This blog does not allow links....

That is the topic of my latest Bloomberg column, here is one excerpt: Given that background, simple economics would indicate that an interest rate cap of 10% would mean that only people with strong credit ratings would be able to borrow money on their cards. Those with lower net wealth, or poorer payment histories, would […] The post Against federal usury laws for credit...

The author is Theodore M. Schwartz and the subtitle of this excellent book is A Biography of Brain Surgery.  Excerpt: Whil there is no proven ideal age for a brain surgeon, let’s just say that during the first five years after residency, we are still getting our sea legs.  Over time, as with any learned […] The post *Gray Matters* appeared first on Marginal...