Krugman digs up a hilarious skeleton in the closet of the US conservative movement.
Unlearning Economics: Falsification in Economics
the record as a whole is not good. Theories from over a century ago look, and are taught, the same way as they were when they were initially adopted. New ideas that are not even disputed by economists, such as behavioral economics, are slow to be adopted, and when they are adopted are presented as a ‘special case’ and in a way amenable to the core framework, which is, of course, still taught alongside them. As far as I’m aware, there is no clear cut case of a neoclassical theory being completely thrown out and never mentioned again. This alone should be an indicator that the scientific method is not at work in economics.For those who after all this time still needed to be clued in.
Social Democracy For The 21st Century: Murphy on Keynesianism and Great Recession
Recommended for both the video and the blogger's commentary. Posts like these are helpful for getting a broad view of all facets to the issue, but the crucial market monetarist angle is left out of view. The dichotomy between liquidationism and laissez-faire induced collapse on one hand and politically opportunistic fiscal interventionism on the other is a false one.
Sydney Morning Herald: Rise of the warlords
Sobering, but unsurprising account of the failure to introduce basic rule of law in Afghanistan. I'm reminded of various remarks from Johan Galtung, whose cultural analysis of the situation verdicts the involvement of the West in that area in its current form to be an abject absurdity. That massive sums of money, not to mention the lives of men and women in their prime, are being sunk into these adventures is a compounded farce.
Fear Index Says This Stock Market Reminiscent of October 2007
VIX Index sinks to an unusual low of 11.30, hopelessly failing to even register the recent volatility in US GDP growth, not to mention a host of risk factors that require no explicit mention here. I issue an ominous warning: this will end in tears.
Daily Mail: Trump warns Republicans they are on a 'suicide mission' if they give citizenship to 11m immigrants - because they'll all vote Democrat
Which he is probably right about, for a change. The comical thing about this headline is not just that Trump makes it, but the implication that the decline of US conservatism is reversible dynamic, or, for that matter, one that should be lamented.
IO9: How Much Longer Until Humanity Becomes A Hive Mind?
I'm inclined to view this as a gradual process. Humans have always to a certain extent been interconnected and technological change only accelerates the pace of the interactions between individuals, its scale and the distances concerned. Mental interfaces are a cosmetic and marginal link in the chain of events towards more and more possibility* for cooperative integration, probably of smaller impact than the invention of writing and the internet to name just two things. My curiosity goes out to the issue of how individuality is preserved under these mental interface set-ups. I incline to viewing it as a crucial aspect to human thinking that can not be skimped on. Have developments up to this point led to decreased individual autonomy? In certain ways, probably, but my sense is that people also have vastly greater means available to them to develop their identities in keeping with personal idiosyncrasies. I see no basis on which to divine in which direction there will be divergence from this trend.
* I stress that this is optional if handled properly.
Neil Wilson: The Tri-party Government Sector
Reminded me of Miles Kimball's idea for a sovereign wealth fund that manages countercyclical asset purchases during crises, taking the political heat off the central bank so it can properly focus on its mandates. See: Miles Kimball: Why the US needs its own sovereign wealth fund
Gordon T. Long: An Orwellian America
Lots of fun graphs in this one, even if the message is childishly one dimensional and pitches the silly complacent notion that libertarianism is the Jesus of political philosophy, or a coherent ideological framework to begin with. The fact escapes the author that there are quite a few dimensions in which individual freedom is at a historical extreme right now. The fact I can read his work from thousands of miles distance and comment on it here for the entire world to read is testament to that.
China Is Engineering Genius Babies
I wouldn't be too surprised if certain of it's olympic prodigies were also the result of eugenic engineering programs of some variety.
Some youtube vids I am and will be watching; looks promising so far:
Airelon: The Greatest Depression: So Much To Learn
Airelon: The Greatest Depression: Faux Academia
1) The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto
"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." - Calvin Coolidge
The big issue with this of course being: persistence towards what? This is why we need contemplation, philosophy, why it's imperative to always reflect. Persistence is powerful, but it is morally indifferent. An unguided projectile if not handled with care.
Scott Sumner: Monetary, Not Real Shocks Cause Business Cycles
1987 crash and Japanese Fukushima disaster had no effect on the business cycle. I'm sympathetic to the argument but are two "misses" sufficient to eliminate the thesis that real shocks can induce business cycle events?
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