I have a 6th sense. Out of a list of hundreds of articles, I can tell you, with great accuracy, which ones will go viral. It comes from years of experience blogging and posting on websites. Many people have no clue what other people want to read. The quadrantsphere (education, race, economics and IQ) has never failed me. These are topics that affect everyone. We all like to rant about IQ and the SAT (how IQ & SAT matters/doesn’t), share our theories (often wrong) about race and our experiences (often bad) about school, and from the difficulty of finding work to the stories of the national debt, we experience economics on a daily basis.
It’s nice to see leftist political sacred cows slaughtered in this raging debate on Reddit about abortion and Down’s Syndrome. Thank Richard Dawkins for kicking off this much needed open, honest discussion about prenatal care. We already have debates about prolonging end of life care for the elderly, which is not nearly as taboo, so why can’t we discuss end of life options for the early stages of life?
Richard Dawkins is right. Even though I ideologically lean republican, a compelling argument can be made for compulsory abortion in instances of genetic anomalies that would severely compromise cognitive functioning, quality of life, and life expectancy. If not stillborn, they are a burden on tax payers and the family.
We’re definitely in a technological and intellectual Renaissance in America. So many cool technologies and discoveries, especially in the past few years alone. And many more to come.The biotechnology revolution will settle the nature vs. nurture debate once and for all, that all traits are heritable. Because of this, biotechnology will help solve society’s ills through eugenics, new treatments for deadly diseases like cancer, designer babies, and prenatal screening.
Is it wrong for corporations to horde cash? With few exceptions (like the 2008 bank bailouts or Tesla) corporations do a better job allocating cash than governments and charities. To quote Milton Friedman:
There are four ways to spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why you really watch out for what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well then, I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it costs, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government. And that’s close to 40 percent of our national income.
Sometimes in an economic recovery, not everyone can participate at once, or even at all. Those who create vaue, have high IQs, and take risks are reaping the lion’s share of this economic boom – think web 2.0, private equity, Bay Area real estate, Snapchat, Whatsapp, Uber, etc. The recovery is so uneven because, to be honest, many people are dull and employers no longer have much use for them. Redundant, useless, or overpaid jobs are being automated, outsourced, or simply eliminated. That’s just the reality of the hyper-competitive, meritocratic economic environment we find ourselves in today.
Here’s an interesting video about how millions of jobs may be rendered obsolete due to automation:
Before the financial problem of 2008, there was a labor glut, and using the crisis as excuse to thin the herd, multinationals are reporting record high profits, earnings, and productivity – a trend that will continue for a very, very long time to come. Dow 20,000 soon. Also, consumer keep spending and exports keep being blowout quarter after quarter. There was no de-leveraging nor a new era of frugality. The ‘new normal’ that Jar Jar Binks opined about in 2010 is the same as the old normal, but more extreme as in extremely high healthcare an education costs with no end in sight , extremely high gas prices, extremely high stock market, extreme profits & earnings, extreme wealth inequality, extreme police.. etc. Nothing changed, as this blog correctly predicted, and baring some major event like nuclear war or a massive asteroid impact, nothing ever will.
Sources of Political Dysfunction: America in Decay
Sorry liberals, but congressional dysfunction, low public approval of congress, and partisan intransigence does NOT mean America is in a state of decay, whatsoever. Historically, the economy and stock market has done better under a divided house. The best government gives no constituency exactly what it wants; instead, it leaves the free market to its own devices, keeps taxes and regulation low, and only intercedes during crisis like in 911 or in 2008. That’s the best way to govern, by governing as little as possible, except in exigent circumstances. If no one happy, no one has too much power. An example of how too much power and consensus is bad is Nazi Germany, or even FDR’s efforts to pack the supreme court so his policies would far outlive him.
But is America in decline? Again, absolutely not, as measured by record low borrowing costs for multinationals and the U.S. government, record profits & earnings, political and national stability, the booming web 2.0 scene, surging high-end real estate, and institutions such as MIT, Caltech and the Ivy League being the envy of the world.
From marginal revolution Which economies are most likely to be shrinking?
As I explain in the piece, the most likely economies to undergo sustained negative growth today are Italy, France, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, and possibly Taiwan. We should be more optimistic about the United States, but still a similar logic is applying to some parts of our middle class.
Tyler is right. It’s time to be optimistic about the future of America. Europe & Russia are pretty much in a borderline recession. Other countries have high inflation. America is in that sweet spot of tame inflation and steady growth.
America , unlike those other inferior countries, will never have a period of sustained economic decline or a decline in global influence. It’s why we’re exceptional. Thank good fed policy, multinationals, the tireless consumer, Washington for doing a good job during crisis, free market capitalism, the meritocracy ,etc. The left, in their war on success, wishes this weren’t so.