Saturday assorted links

1. The Dean Karlan plan for fixing USAID.

2. David Salle tutors an AI in how to make art (NYT).

3. Jellyfish evidence that “thinking/learning” goes on at the cellular level (NYT).

4. If the federal government shuts down, members of Congress still get paid though regular federal employees do not.

5. Rust Belt fact of the day: “Labor conflict accounts for half of the decline in the region’s share of manufacturing employment. Foreign competition plays a smaller role, and its effects are concentrated after most of the region’s decline had already occurred.”

6. Esquire profile of Knausgaard.