Jobs, Basic Income, Post Scarcity, and all that Jazz

There have been a smattering of wealth inequality/economics articles lately: THREE GREAT ARTICLES ON POVERTY, AND WHY I DISAGREE WITH ALL OF THEM Economics Has Failed America Scott goes on about the unrealistic expectations of trying to teach everyone high-IQ skills, when biology imposes barriers to such hopes: The QZ article warns that it might… Continue reading Jobs, Basic Income, Post Scarcity, and all that Jazz

Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Thin-Skin In The Game

The Talebian One himself, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, whom I have written about at length on this blog, has a new book, “Skin in the Game”, which he has been promoting on Twitter. This is not a review of the book; rather, it’s a review of his broader ideas and character. The problems with Taleb are… Continue reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb: Thin-Skin In The Game

Theranos: The Cards Fall

With recent news of Theranos voiding test results, and other revelations, there is now a definite possibility Theranos has been mortally wounded and that my earlier optimism may have been misplaced. But now even accusations of ‘fraud’ are being thrown around, and I think that’s where the line needs to be drawn. From zr0h3dge: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-05-18/elizabeth-holmes-admits-theranos-technolgy-fraud-restates-voids-years-test-results… Continue reading Theranos: The Cards Fall

Chinese nationals pour more than $150 billion over five years into US real estate

Chinese nationals pour more than $150 billion over five years into US real estate But during the same period, at least $127 billion went into US homes, and in the 12 months to March 2015 — the latest period for which relatively comprehensive data could be gathered — home purchases totalled $39 billion. That put… Continue reading Chinese nationals pour more than $150 billion over five years into US real estate

Lessons From the Trump Surge: What We Learned

1. You cannot buy victory. Although the left insists money has corrupted politics, allowing the rich to buy elections, Jeb Bush spent over $130 million on his campaign, with nothing to show for it, while Trump spent very little and still bested all of his competitors by a large margin: 2. The pundits are (almost… Continue reading Lessons From the Trump Surge: What We Learned

Genes for IQ finally found…what’s next

There have been some recent developments in genome-wide association study (GWAS) pertaining to IQ and academic achievement: Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment: Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends our earlier discovery sample1, 2 of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and… Continue reading Genes for IQ finally found…what’s next

Ingroup/Outgroup Dynamics

Ingroup/outgroup dynamics are a topic of much interest to both the ‘alt right’ and rationalists. From Wikipedia: In sociology and social psychology, an ingroup is a social group to which a person psychologically identifies as being a member. By contrast, an outgroup is a social group with which an individual does not identify. For example,… Continue reading Ingroup/Outgroup Dynamics

Bay Area Rent Is Surging

Despite tame CPI-based inflation, rent, particularly in the Bay Area, has really exploded since 2011: The Bay Area real estate market is white hot, defying all predictions of its collapse. According to Zillow, San Jose, San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Berkeley rent has gained 40-70% since 2011, vs. only modest national gain in wages and… Continue reading Bay Area Rent Is Surging