Category: Web/Tech

Tyler Cowen has laid down the gauntlet to the Marginal Revolution readers, pointing them to our contest to caption the infamous Bush-congratulates-Krugman photo, and urging them to “see if you can beat their readers.”

I’m also excited to announce that we have a very special guest judge: Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman has agreed to pick the winning entry.

Freako readers, add your entry here; Marginal Revolters, try here.

The link is here.  If Justin (and indeed Paul) is willing to count the MR entries that already have been created (here and here) and since Typepad comments are currently down leave new ideas here, I'll bet Justin dinner at the restaurant of the choice of the winner, U.S. only.  Justin, are we on?

I believe Typepad is working on it.  In the meantime, you can leave comments on the stifled posts here.  But only if you wish.  Don't go snooping.

1. Indian classical music links, including to YouTube

2. What would a modern depression look like?

3. How to take multiple choice exams

4. The acidity of the ocean is increasing very rapidly

5. Memories

1. The origins of the Great Depression

2. Kiyoshi Ito, of Ito’s Lemma (recommended link), passes away.

3. Price Fishback on massive fiscal stimulus.

4. Claims about recommender systems

5. Don’t wash your hands with soap and water

1. Property rights and air pollution

2. Pirate headlines (humor)

3. 2666, the perfect book review (now that I’ve read the book)

4. Update on the quest for the Netflix prize, interesting throughout

5. Triumph of the small countries; Israel just displaced Armenia for top position in the Chess Olympiad; Russia and the United States lag behind.  The standings and major contestants are here.

1. New econ blog from Harvard Business School.

2. Airline industry woes, and their economic roots, from Air Genius Gary Leff.

3. Halting arbitrage: the "Nebraska put" is now limited to infants.

4. Eric Posner on the new world order to come.

1. Walter Block and IQ

2. A bad year for Mavericks

3. Condy Raguet in print; order it here.

4. Policing nature, part II

1. Dark flow?

2. Canadian banks

3. Photo of Bora Bora.

4. Is shipping food really an environmental problem?

5. More good reasons not to trust former Nazis. 

6. First pictures of extrasolar planets.

1. Brasilia photos, via Yana

2. The singularity is far

3. Lots of job market advice, with links

4. Chart of what Presidents have done in their first 100 days

1. New World Bank blog on the financial crisis

2. Geithner or Summers?

3. How ants avoid traffic jams

4. 96 pt. type and day-after newspaper arbitrage

Last year China banned the sale of virtual currency in an effort to
shut down "gold farmers" — businesses that hire young Chinese to play
video games all day and sell the proceeds (in the form of game currency
or magic items) on eBay (EBAY) or online.
The Chinese government did nothing to enforce its own ban, so it
remains to be seen whether Beijing follows up with its latest edict:
Gamers who sell virtual goods for a profit will be taxed at 20% of the
proceeds, the same rate applied to profits on real estate or other
transactions.

In December 2005 the New York Times estimated 100,000 Chinese were employed full-time
in the gold farming industry, and consulting group iResearch says the
virtual currency trade is a $1.4 billion dollar industry growing at 15
to 20% a year.

Here is the story and thanks to Alex Rosen for the pointer.

1. How to Make a Difference blog (by Tim Harford’s wife)

2. Le Clezio overview

3. Making health insurance competitive across state lines: how much would be saved?  I don’t agree completely with this analysis but it is one place to start.

4. Best sports pieces ever written? (via Craig Newmark)

Employees said they were told Thursday that most of Portfolio’s Web
site staff would be dismissed and that much of the content unique to
the site would be dropped.

Please keep him, we need him (and Zubin too).  I hold out hope in that word "most."  Here is the story.  Media, like new library books, are being hurt by the downturn and the slowing of advertising dollars.  I fear that the non-independent blogosphere may be in for a bit of a financial bloodbath.  So often the bloggers were an "investment in long-term name and image" rather than a profit center.

Update: So far, so good.  Felix lives!

1. The new Princeton University Press blog

2. Here is a good paper on how structured finance went wrong.

3. Robert J. Samuelson, The Great Inflation and its Aftermath.  It’s remarkable that no other major book to date has covered this critically important topic.