1. Greg Clark fears the machines.
2. Can the health care fight be won?
3. The cover for SuperFreakonomics.
4. Waffle House weirdness (via Craig Newmark).
5. History of Times New Roman.
Assorted links
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Speaking of Waffle Houses, how about this for an office perq:
http://www.chefstack.com/index.html
I can see a future version of Office Space in which a character wonders what “PC Load Butter” means.
Although Greg Clark’s writing was interesting to read, I’d be careful about taking it at face value. There’s a lot of mechanization that can occur – if it is profitable to pay for the capital expenses and operating expenses.
Hell, there’s a number of areas where you could implement greater use of robotics and mechanization today, but which doesn’t occur because it’s cheaper to use relatively low-skilled humans instead.
I don’t know why you linked to the Clark article, expect maybe to show how horrible economic reporting is in the mainstream media. It is one giant Luddite fallacy which completely ignores the gains to the poor from technology. The comparison of pre-industrial revolution wages is misleading and distracting. The unskilled made close to the wages of the skilled because they were both at near basic sustenance anyway and the “skills” at the time were basically useless in increasing productivity. I read and enjoyed “A Farewell to Alms” and I’m amazed that this is the same author.
@azmyth: Huh? Before the Industrial Revolution, unskilled workers’ wages were further from skilled wages than they are now, not closer. Clark was citing such statistics as a possible counter-argument, not as support for his argument.
Re: Superfreakonics, no insurance company would sell life insurance to a suicide bomber, unless he underwent a conversion to jihad, etc. after buying the policy.
He then, it’s a doubtful scenario.
A lot of useful information in those links, thanks. I feel that it might even be too much for me.
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