~marginalrevolution | Bookmarks (64)

President Biden has made a big deal of simplifying fees: The FTC is proposing a rule that…would ban businesses from charging hidden and misleading fees and require them to show the full price up front. The rule would also require companies disclose up front whether fees are refundable. This would mean no more surprise resort fees […] The post Why is the Biden Administration Against...

“I have one partner now with three kids. He is transmasc, and he’s radical about the way he raises them. They’re radically home-schooled. They’re 17 and nonbinary, 6 and 5. They know everything in age-appropriate ways. They’ve seen their mommy undergo the transmasc experience, seen their mom become who they really are.” 5 and 6!  […] The post Does the NYT not recognize child...

In my 2011 book, Launching the Innovation Renaissance, I wrote: At times, teacher pay in the United States seems more like something from Soviet-era Russia than 21st-century America. Wages for teachers are low, egalitarian and not based on performance. We pay physical education teachers about the same as math teachers despite the fact that math […] The post Pay For Performance Increases Performance (Water...

We often hear today that Wokeism and Political Correctness are gradually receding.  Contrary to this opinion, I think that this phenomenon is gradually being “normalized,” widely accepted even by those who intimately doubt it, and practiced by the majority of academic and state institutions.  This is why it deserves more than ever our criticism — […] The post Can you guess who wrote this...

Stanford alum, business school dean Jonathan Levin named Stanford president The post Economist Jonathan Levin is the new president of Stanford appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsHe looks a bit lacking in diversity pokemon points. by HorheIn reply to Blutowski. The stay in their dorm rooms not ... by OutHereLooks like a hack by BDidn’t he used to be president of Yale a...

Here is the transcript, audio, and video.  Here is the episode summary: But might technological advances and good old human resilience allow kids to adapt more easily than he thinks? Jonathan joined Tyler to discuss this question and more, including whether left-wingers or right-wingers make for better parents, the wisest person Jonathan has interacted with, […] The post My contentious Conversation with Jonathan Haidt...

Alex Bartik and Arpit Gupta, Chicago and NYU, to work on zoning codes, machine learning, and LLMs. Sasha Przyblski, 16, Ontario, building more durable batteries. Egzona Marina, Kosovo and MIT, to promote science and neuroscience education in Kovoso. Aldrich Heinz Alvarez, Manila, travel grant to San Francisco and Singapore, wearables that harness multi-modal AI. Molly […] The post Emergent Ventures, 33rd cohort appeared first...

Here’s my talk on teaching the super simple Solow model which Tyler and I present in our principles textbook, Modern Principles. Here are the slides. The post Teaching the Super Simple Solow Model appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsAgain, US-centrism is undignified and poor scholarship. ... by Aus-econIn reply to SimonG. Did not watch the whole video but perhaps ... by johnGood stuff....

Here is the audio, video, and transcript.  You can tell he knows what an interview is!  At the same time, he understands this differs from many of his other venues and he responds with flying colors.  Here is the episode summary: Tyler sat down with Fareed to discuss what he learned from Khushwant Singh as […] The post My Conversation with Fareed Zakaria appeared...

The Solow model is a foundational model for understanding economic growth. Yet it’s typically not taught to principles students because it’s considered too difficult. In Modern Principles, however, Tyler and I develop a super simple version of the model that is fun to teach and accessible to students of all levels. I’ll be talking about […] The post Teaching the Solow Model appeared first...

Google plagiarism and you will find definitions like “stealing someone else’s ideas” or “literary theft.” Here the emphasis is on the stealing–it’s the original author who is being harmed. I prefer the definition of plagiarism given by Wikipedia, plagiarism is the *fraudulent* use of other people’s words or ideas. Fraudulent emphasizes that it’s the reader […] The post In Defense of Plagiarism appeared first...

Indiana’s Republican governor has just signed new law that introduces “intellectual diversity” as a standard for tenure decisions in state universities. Under the law, campus boards of trustees will determine what intellectual diversity consists of, and lack of such diversity can be grounds for denying tenure. Intellectual diversity also must be considered in the post-tenure review process. […] The post Indiana’s new intellectual diversity law for...

Here is the audio, video, and transcript.  Here is the episode summary: Marilynne Robinson is one of America’s best and best-known novelists and essayists, whose award-winning works like Housekeeping and Gilead explore themes of faith, grace, and the intricacies of human nature. Beyond her writing, Robinson’s 25-year tenure at the famed Iowa Writers’ Workshop allowed her to shape and […] The post My excellent Conversation with Marilynne Robinson...

Bryan Caplan has a good post on out-of-state tuition: [State schools] almost always charge students from their own state much lower tuition. In the most recent data, average out-of-state tuition for four-year colleges was $26,382, versus $9,212 for in-state — roughly a 3:1 ratio. I’ve argued for a long time that an enterprising lawyer ought to sue […] The post The Puzzling Law and Economics of...

Thomas is at the Templeton Foundation, here is the link (with transcript), here is one bit: Tom: …So, I know that you’re a voracious reader, you’re immensely curious. Going back to your childhood, what were some of your favorite books during some of those formative years? Tyler: Well, when I was very small, my favorite books […] The post My podcast with Thomas Burnett appeared...

a16z has issued the talks from that event, and we are issuing it too, as a bonus episode of CWT.  But note it is shorter than usual, and not the typical CWT format — this was done for an audience of actual DC human beings! Excerpt: COWEN: Why is open-source AI in particular important for national […] The post Marc Andreessen and I talk AI...

Here is the video, audio, and transcript, taped in his Apollo office in NYC.  Here is the episode summary: Marc Rowan, co-founder and CEO of Apollo Global Management, joined Tyler to discuss why rising interest rates won’t hurt Apollo’s profitability, why liabilities have traditionally been the weak spot in insurance, why the concept of liquidity […] The post My excellent Conversation with Marc Rowan...

Please apply and send your students to the 2024 Public Choice Outreach Conference! The conference is a crash course in public choice. It’s entirely free. Indeed scholarships are available! More details in the poster. Please pass around. Applications are here! Here is a pdf of the poster, please circulate. Outreach Conference Flyer 2024 – 2 The post Public Choice Outreach 2024! appeared first on...

Distraction is everywhere. As I write this post, I pause to check twitter. Phones are omnipresent and demand our attention. Dopamine hits rule. Yet, despite the potential for greater distraction, a large study finds that on a standardized test, the ability to concentrate is up (modestly) for adults. In the present cross-temporal meta-analysis, we investigate […] The post The Ability to Concentrate is Increasing?!...

Via Francis Santora, Hudson County, NJ. The post Claude 3 Opus as economic analyst appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsClaude 3: what's the error bar on GDP? Can you run your Monte ... by rsmIn reply to Of course. I am fasting. The earth has a creator, ... by EquestrianIn reply to Taylor. The model it built clearly suffered from ... by VulcidianIn...

419 Swedish economists were asked which economics concepts are most important to understand and manage economics "for an individual" and "for a citizen", respectively. Opportunity cost was the most popular answer to both questions.https://t.co/wGQNdmzyrI pic.twitter.com/OoPK2xEMrX — Stefan Schubert (@StefanFSchubert) March 4, 2024 The post Swedish economists seem to be doing OK appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to mkt42. What is the...

What percentage of individuals attending economics graduate school — at the higher levels — have an undergraduate economics major?  What is the best source on this question?  And other than mathematics, what other undergraduate backgrounds are common? The post Economics graduate school bleg appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to joan. Actually formal theory in economics is more ... by WikiIn reply...

A superb video on the history and mathematics of options pricing from Veritasium. The post The Black-Scholes-Merton Options Pricing Equation appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to rsm. It didn't at first. Customers started ... by JoshSo when the good professor says that derivatives are many ... by rsmIn reply to EdR. Does it say anywhere that Black thought ... by rsmIn...

Yesterday, someone asked me to elaborate on talent picking and why “narrowing the subset” matters. It’s easier to pick the best talent from a subset of 10 versus 100 or 1000. You’d think seeing 1000 candidates would mean you have a greater chance of finding a unicorn genius but it takes longer and gives more […] The post Very good sentences appeared first on...