Month: July 2022

1. Timothy Snyder’s argument that Russia is losing.

2. “We provide novel evidence that poor individuals born in countries with high consumption of meat are more likely to show soccer prowess.”

3. Are young people becoming more miserable relative to older people?

4. Wikenigma.

5. Why did Haiti and the DR diverge in their economic prospects?

Noted Canadian chemist Patanjali Kambhampati on the DIE movement:

My “lived experiences” as a Third World immigrant to the United States has in fact led me to be a lifelong defender of the practices of merit, fairness and equality — practices derived from classical liberal principles….My father was born Third World poor. [My father’s] only hope was to gain employment as a secretary or to be able to test into the top engineering school in India, the Indian Institute of Science. By gaining admission to this top school, my father was able to bring his family to America, where we received a superb education and tremendous opportunities.

In my father’s world, it was merit that enabled him to advance and his family to flourish. Merit and the practice of meritocracy are also classical liberal values. Merit is also central to the immigrant dream, and the rise of modern society.

…As a recent example of common practices in science funding in North America, I was denied funding opportunities twice by Canada’s federal science foundations, both of which were detailed in these pages, purely because I said I would hire research assistants based on merit, regardless of their gender or ethnic or cultural backgrounds.

Over the past year, the encroachment of the cult of DIE into academia has only grown. There are now many positions that are simply off limits to straight white men who are not handicapped. One must pledge allegiance to these illiberal principles in order to be a practising scientist in 2022.

These are some of the reasons I am writing about DIE in science and in the broader society. As someone who has dealt with the “lived experience” of racism, I am here to make the case that we need to move beyond antiquated intellectual racism and inept modern anti-racism, and move instead toward a more individualistic approach….I hope that my experiences can play a role in enabling others to speak and think freely and add value to the never-ending drive for human progress and freedom.

1. More on the rise and fall of mobile home manufacturing.

2. “Caitlin and Philip met back in 2015 on Hinge, bonding instantly over the fact they had been to many of the same DMV restaurants—thanks to Tyler Cowen’s Ethnic Dining Guide.”

3. “Sun-drenched Texas — not exactly known for its bleeding-heart liberals — has nearly triple the solar capacity this summer than it had last summer.”  Link here.

4. Billionaire wealth as a percentage of gdp, across countries.

5. Krugman needs to calculate Italy’s true net fiscal position, relative to tiny TFR and near-zero growth for more than 20 years (NYT).

Among the most alarming things the FBI uncovered pertains to Chinese-made Huawei equipment atop cell towers near US military bases in the rural Midwest. According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, the FBI determined the equipment was capable of capturing and disrupting highly restricted Defense Department communications, including those used by US Strategic Command, which oversees the country’s nuclear weapons.

And:

In 2020, Congress approved $1.9 billion to remove Chinese-made Huawei and ZTE cellular technology across wide swaths of rural America. But two years later, none of that equipment has been removed and rural telecom companies are still waiting for federal reimbursement money. The FCC received applications to remove some 24,000 pieces of Chinese-made communications equipment—but according to a July 15 update from the commission, it is more than $3 billion short of the money it needs to reimburse all eligible companies.

Here is the full story, vtekl.

Perhaps you drink responsibly, but you create contagion effects for others:

How malleable is alcohol consumption? Specifically, how much is alcohol consumption driven by the current environment versus individual characteristics? To answer this question, we analyze changes in alcohol purchases when consumers move from one state to another in the United States. We find that if a household moves to a state with a higher (lower) average alcohol purchases than the origin state, the household is likely to increase (decrease) its alcohol purchases right after the move. The current environment explains about two-thirds of the differences in alcohol purchases. The adjustment takes place both on the extensive and intensive margins.

That is from a new research paper by Marit Hinnosaar and Elaine M. Liu.   To be clear, I don’t think we should ban alcohol, I simply think each and every person should stop drinking it, voluntarily.  Now.

Will MacAskill remarked to me recently (in a not yet released CWT) that Effective Altruists tend to be social liberals.  But should they be?  Why should they not jump on this bandwagon?  It is in fact a wagon you jump on!

1. China policy: an early career guide.

2. Looksism is everywhere.

3. Labour call for UK supply-side progressivism.

4. David Gasca on Brasilia.

5. What is the coffin money for Russian soldiers?  Supply curves slope upwards!

6. Bayesian probability for babies.