I saw this going viral Trading trust, by Seth Godin. True, Americans have lost trust in its institutions, as can be confirmed by polls and sentiment online, but this does not establish the causality: is it due to Americans being more pessimistic, or have the institutions gotten worse? Likely both. I posit it was a… Continue reading The Post-2022 Liberal Defection, continued
Does Successful Traders on Reddit’s ‘Wall Street Bets’ Refute the Efficient Market Hypothesis?
Some examples of big returns on Reddit’s WallStreetBets just in the past day (many more): https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1asd1fc https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1asar0w https://www.reddit.com/gallery/1asi4j0 The usual rebuttal is dismissive of skill, such as along the lines of, “If enough people flip a coin, some will get all heads,” or “People who lose money are less inclined to post.” But how many… Continue reading Does Successful Traders on Reddit’s ‘Wall Street Bets’ Refute the Efficient Market Hypothesis?
Bring Back Smoking to End Obesity
The apparent post-’70s rise of obesity in America can be explained the decline of smoking. The decline of smoking inversely matches the rise of obesity almost perfectly: I can attest in the ’90s and early 2000s it was common to see pedestrians smoking. Cigarette butts littered the sidewalks and accumulated in small mounds or dams… Continue reading Bring Back Smoking to End Obesity
Luxury Beliefs – a flawed and unoriginal concept
‘Luxury Beliefs’ That Only the Privileged Can Afford, by Rob Henderson. The concept of luxury beliefs seems like a rebranding or rehashing of the Champaign socialist or Limousine liberal trope/archetype. The origin of the latter dates to the early ’70s: In the 1970s, the term was applied to wealthy liberal supporters of open-housing and forced… Continue reading Luxury Beliefs – a flawed and unoriginal concept
Trace – Freddie Enrichment and IQ Debate: Why Trace is Wrong
Trace has gotten into a spat with Freddie deBoer over educational enrichment and IQ. Freddie soundly rejects the blank slate, whereas Trace, finding some agreement with Freddie, still sees value of enrichment. I am going to give this one to Freddie, and I think Trace is off the mark here. It started with an article… Continue reading Trace – Freddie Enrichment and IQ Debate: Why Trace is Wrong
Cory Doctorow and ‘Enshittification’: Stuck in Stage Three
From FT: ‘Enshittification’ is coming for absolutely everything, by Cory Doctorow. But in case you want to be more precise, let’s examine how enshittification works. It’s a three-stage process: first, platforms are good to their users. Then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers. Finally, they abuse those business customers… Continue reading Cory Doctorow and ‘Enshittification’: Stuck in Stage Three
Tucker-Putin Interview
It’s less of an interview and more like a speech or monologue Ep. 73 The Vladimir Putin Interview pic.twitter.com/67YuZRkfLL — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 8, 2024 Tucker’s job is to stare with rapt attention as the guest filibusters or rambles, whilst not showing the slightest hint of disinterest or boredom, such as by averting his… Continue reading Tucker-Putin Interview
The Investment Case for Leveraged Tech, This Decade’s Bitcoin
The dominance of big tech is, IMHO, one of the biggest investment opportunities and new economic paradigms in history, or at least going back to the industrial revolution. An increasingly large share of global economic activity, such as cloud, AI, apps, mobile, ads, etc. is being funneled through maybe a couple dozen huge companies. Although… Continue reading The Investment Case for Leveraged Tech, This Decade’s Bitcoin
College as a path of least resistance: why degrees continue to thrive
I saw this tweet going viral. Elon Musk has a low opinion of higher ed, particularly elite colleges: The value of an “elite” college education is not what it used to be — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 31, 2024 Unless he means it’s more valuable, the fact that parents are spending so much money on… Continue reading College as a path of least resistance: why degrees continue to thrive
College grads and IQ, now and then: claimed 15-point difference is too high
College grads of decades ago were almost a full standard deviation smarter compared to today’s grads: A few decades ago, the mean IQ of a college grad was about 115. Now it's somewhere between 100 and 102. — i/o (@eyeslasho) February 4, 2024 Based on what? He gives no evidence to substantiate his claim. For… Continue reading College grads and IQ, now and then: claimed 15-point difference is too high