~marginalrevolution | Bookmarks (547)

Here is the link, hope to see you there!  October 16, and you do need to pre-register. The post Los Angeles area meet-up for CWT fans appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to Michael Stack. Good, want to avoid rayward by DeCologeroIn reply to Math. ... by Robert SmithIn reply to krugfan. Anyone else awaiting the mystery reveal ... by Tyler's turning...

1. “I’d like to see an AI future that focuses on what makes a great teaching interface, what makes users pay attention, and will make more people better learners.  Until then, UATX is the only startup I see putting the human interface first.”  Link here. 2. Indian student builds the world’s smallest vacuum cleaner, using […] The post Thursday assorted links appeared first on...

This is one of the best and most correct self-help books.  Bryan describes it as follows: I’ve been writing economically-inspired self-help essays for almost two decades, Self-Help Is Like a Vaccine compiles the most helpful 5-7% of my advice. Of Bryan’s recent string of books, this is the one I agree with the most.  Bryan offers some […] The post *Self-Help is Like a Vaccine*, by...

In this post, we show that under the median estimated elasticity the socially optimal fertility rate is 2.4 in the US, well above today’s 1.7, given that the US should place a value of 14.28x GDP per additional birth ($1.17mn per birth). Furthermore, to achieve this, the US should be willing to spend the equivalent […] The post Solving for optimum U.S. fertility appeared...

Here is the audio, video, and transcript.  Here is part of the episode summary: Tyler and Philip discuss how well scientists have stood up to power historically, the problematic pressures scientists feel within academia today, artificial wombs and the fertility crisis, the price of invisibility, the terrifying nature of outer space and Gothic cathedrals, the […] The post My excellent Conversation with Philip Ball...

Announced today, here is the website: “A network of thinkers and builders advancing human flourishing in the AI era.” Here is a tweet storm from Brendan McCord.  Here is the video and Substack post. The post Cosmos Institute appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to Mike. I see AI mowing through white-collar ... by Anti-GnosticIn reply to mkt42. Meta: Cosmo Kramer's coffee...

1. Nabeel Qureshi on adapting to the AI revolution. 2. Patrick Wolff on San Francisco YIMBY. 3. Jeff Sachs Daily Mail. 4. Rothko Chapel in Houston to close indefinitely, and the Pergamon Museum in Berlin may not reopen until 2043.  We are a bit asleep on some of these heritage issues.  Low-quality institutions are not […] The post Wednesday assorted links appeared first on...

No double indent, from the excellent Matthew Lilley: “Hi Tyler, I thoroughly agree with both of you on taxing unrealised capital gains. I am intrigued though by Furman’s rejoinder of “why are you guys opposed to broader and flatter taxes?” Except for loopholes like step-up basis (just fix those directly), how is taxing unrealised capital […] The post More on taxing unrealized capital gains...

We study Taiwan’s landmark 1950s land reform, long seen as central to its growth miracle. Phase II of reform—which redistributed formerly Japanese public lands—reduced tenancy, boosted rice yields, and increased the share of labor in agriculture. By contrast, phase III— which reduced tenancy by breaking up larger estates—did not increase agricultural productivity and pushed labor […] The post How much did land reform help...

The proximate cause of this problem is the housing crisis, but the underlying reason is that Ireland’s political spectrum is still broken due to being defined by its reactions to colonialism and Catholicism. Beneath the surface-level tides of imperialism, rebellion, theocracy, and liberalisation is a deep nationwide conformism and lack of agency. There is a […] The post Claims about Ireland (from the comments)...

Dylan Matthews and a few others were saying this on Twitter, so I thought I should cover the question.  Perhaps we are all understanding terms differently, but my answer is a simple “no.”  At least not apart from the step-up basis being revalued at death, which I (like many others) would change.  Even that is […] The post Does the current structure of capital...

On the Housing Crisis: Land, Development, Democracy.  I just heard it is out today, of course I ordered my copy immediately… The post The new Jerusalem Demsas book appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to Anti-Gnostic. A well-functioning metro area (and ... by mkt42In reply to Josh M. Right. But maybe the book is one that ... by mkt42In reply to Anti-Gnostic....

1. Durlauf reviews Koyama and Rubin, and Brad DeLong. 2. Some remarks on Norway and unrealized capital gains taxes.  And Scott Sumner, on his new Substack, on how to manage taxation. 3. Chinese student views on AI risk. 4. The Pentium as Navajo weaving. 5. “I think hate is very much part of any complete […] The post Tuesday assorted links appeared first on...

Ireland ranks as the loneliest country in Europe, with almost a fifth of people lonely most or all of the time and nearly two-thirds of people suffer from anxiety or depression, according to EU data. One in seven children live in homes below the poverty line, defined as 60 per cent of the median disposable […] The post Ireland fact of the day appeared...

I don’t agree with this theory as stated, but it can be worth spelling such things out, if only to see their weaknesses, or perhaps some strengths at some of the more unusual or less likely margins.  Here goes: People, especially “thinkers,” like to believe they serve all sorts of noble purposes in the intellectual […] The post A simple theory of which thinkers...

scottsumner.substack.com The post Scott Sumner is switching to Substack appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to Bill Allen. Just like with Covid, is the reaction ... by rsmIn reply to Neurotic. So you've solved all those problems ... by rsmIn reply to rsm. Of course! Scott is a serious dude while you ... by EdRIn reply to rsm. Let's see…Yeah, let's see...

1. Founder mode. 2. Forthcoming movie about brutalism, The Brutalist, three hours and thirty-five minutes, receives standing ovation. 3. Paper types, ranked by likelihood of paper cuts. 4. Pre-order the new Houllebecq. 5. Judit Polgar, egalitarian radical.  She is not a sexist. 6. Okie-dokie.  Neo again. 7. Trade and the end of antiquity. 8. Hard […] The post Monday assorted links appeared first on...

Sadly, Jason Furman has been endorsing one of the very worst economic ideas of our generation.  Here is Jason’s Twitter take, here is his earlier WSJ piece. Let me start with his quick summary: I like the Biden-Harris proposal to tax unrealized capital gains. For any given level of capital taxation it’s more efficient & […] The post Taxing unrealized capital gains is a...

First read Tyler on the practical difficulties implementing a tax on unrealized capital gains! I have a different argument that I rarely see discussed. A significant fraction of what we call capital gains is due to variation in the discount rate rather than variation in income. Take the simplest Gordon model of stocks P=D/r where […] The post Taxing Unrealized Capital Gains and Interest...

“I didn’t want my ex-employer to deny my resignation and keep me working for longer,” she told CNN during a recent interview. But she found a way to end the impasse. She turned to Momuri, a resignation agency that helps timid employees leave their intimidating bosses. For the price of a fancy dinner, many Japanese […] The post Those new Japanese service sector job...

1. Learning by teaching chatbots. 2. Noam Dworman profile (WSJ). 3. Wisconsin fact of the day, where are the most drunk counties? 4. Can the cost of solar energy keep on shrinking? 5. Are low wages an advantage in international trade? (bears on the Michael Pettis claims of course) 6. Elite tennis servers would do […] The post Sunday assorted links appeared first on...

Progress in crypto has been slow but one saving grace may be AI. AIs can’t get a bank account but they can use cryptocurrencies. Bryan Armstrong at Coinbase tweets: This week at @CoinbaseDev we witnessed our first AI to AI crypto transaction. What did one AI buy from another? Tokens! Not crypto tokens, but AI […] The post Crypto is the Money for AIs...

About ninety minutes, transcript only, almost entirely fresh material.  Lots of philosophy.  Here is one excerpt: Tyler Cowen: I think when you read [John] Gray on many people, you get quite a bit of Gray. That’s not a complaint. I love reading John. I like him. I like talking to him a great deal. But I […] The post My dialogue with Aashish Reddy appeared...

When people criticize cars, you often hear it mentioned that many people die in road accidents, many more are injured, and so on.  All that is true, dangerous driving does represent a negative externality on others, and it implies that roadway reforms should be undertaken. Still, the point remains that, for those who choose to […] The post Sometimes people overrate “marginal value” and...