Monday assorted links
2. “Jessica Adams, the astrologer for Cosmopolitan magazine in Australia, said she heard from “an avalanche of people worried that they were no longer a Leo and concerned that astrology is a fraud”.” The political economy of zodiac realignment.
3. Some reasons why many Colombians voted no. I am myself a Coasean, and I don’t believe in holding grudges — at all. Yet when you consider the notion of seats in the legislature, or transitional payments that non-terrorist Colombians won’t receive, rejection of this referendum should hardly come as a surprise. How many electorates would have voted for something comparable? It just wasn’t a peace deal that could be sold so readily to a people who have fought against FARC for over fifty years. It’s easy enough to blame the process of referendum (which by the way I do not in general favor), but maybe something also was wrong with the peace deal and with the peace preconditions themselves. Would the deal actually have ended the civil war? Is “ending the civil war” really what voters rejected? Here is further Monkey Cage commentary.
4. Yes there are some valid outrages in the overall story, but it’s worth stressing that tax-loss carryforwards really are very common, including for HRC and the NYT. The quality of discussion on this issue has been weak, including from some very smart people. I’m also stunned but not surprised by how “possibly might not have paid (some kinds of) taxes for eighteen years” has morphed into “did not pay taxes for eighteen years.” Imagine the button, people!
5. Medical marijuana increases labor supply for older adults.
6. Some results and correlations on financial markets and the elections: “In the two months prior to the conventions, the S&P 500 had a strong, positive relationship with Republican likelihood of winning the election. On the other hand, for the two months after July, the relationship shifts to a strong, positive relationship with Democrats’ likelihood of winning.” But here is Matthew A. Winkler: “Prices of U.S. debt and equities are showing the narrowest fluctuations for any presidential election year in at least two decades…” the Mexican peso, however, is another story.