~marginalrevolution | Bookmarks (564)

1. Inside arXiv. 2. Focal dystonia. 3. Jason Furman goes all Don Boudreaux (NYT). 4. Nabeel podcast with Jackson Dahl, with transcript.  And also from Nabeel, people preferred the AI translation. 5. George Borjas now at the CEA, click on staff. 6. Which restaurants have the most attractive diners? 7. The funeral Claude Shannon planned […] The post Tuesday assorted links appeared first on...

This is from the Free Press website, written by me, so I will not indent: The Free Press is where I have decided to make my new intellectual home. In a rapidly changing world, I feel The Free Press is the correct base for me, and it has the audience I wish to reach. First, The Free Press is a […] The post The Free Press appeared first on...

The NYTimes has an excellent piece by Kate Morgan on AI discovering new uses for old drugs: A little over a year ago, Joseph Coates was told there was only one thing left to decide. Did he want to die at home, or in the hospital? Coates, then 37 and living in Renton, Wash., was […] The post AI Discovers New Uses for Old...

Browser data from an approximately representative sample of individual investors offers a detailed account of their search for information, including how much time they spend on stock research, which stocks they research, what categories of information they seek, and when they gather information relative to events and trades. The median individual investor spends approximately six […] The post The Research Behavior of Individual Investors...

After two years at Harvard, I had finished all of my graduate school courses and oral (!) exams.  Then I had a compulsion for what I should do next, something that at the time appeared remarkably stupid, although it worked out very well for me. At some critical points in my life I have made […] The post Living in Freiburg, Germany appeared first...

Schools in Beijing will introduce AI courses and teaching methods into the primary and secondary school curriculum starting September, to nurture young talent and boost growth in the advancing sector. In a statement shared on its official website on Friday (Mar 7), Chinese education authorities said schools would “explore and build” AI courses while incorporating […] The post China AI mandate of the day...

1. Australia fact of the day: “In 2023-24, for the first time, Australia spent more on in-kind benefits (e.g. the NDIS) than on transfers.” 2. Fine-tuned chatbots seem to work as well as humans for mental health treatments in this RCT. 3. The decline in publicly listed companies is microcaps. 4. The pro-natalist movement in […] The post Monday assorted links appeared first on...

I’ve been shouting Sell! for many years. Perhaps now is the chance to do it. Here’s a recap: The Federal Government owns more than half of Oregon, Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Alaska and it owns nearly half of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming. See the map (PDF) for more [N.B. the vast majority of this land is […] The post Sell Floyd Bennett Field! appeared first...

The New York Times has described her recent Onyx Storm as the bestselling adult book of the last twenty years, as the work sold 2.7 million copies in the first week of publication.  Out of curiosity I started the book, but it is not for me.  It feels like reading a computer game?  Grok 3 […] The post Rebecca Yarros and the vibe shift...

This is all from Andrew Mitrak, I will not double indent: “Back in January, I listened to your interview on the Frames of Space podcast. You shared some advice that I haven’t seen you share elsewhere, so I’m pasting a transcript below here (transcribed with Gemini 2.5 Pro) Host: Do you see podcasts in general, especially podcasts […] The post Start your podcast (from my email)...

Peter Navarro is arguing that the pending tariffs will raise $600 billion a year, which might make them the biggest tax increase in U.S: history.  I am completely against this!  And for reasons I (and Alex) have explained over the years in dozens of MR posts. I would like to point out one thing, however, […] The post Consistency on taxes and tariffs appeared...

1. “Our results suggest that the recent stagnation of the college wage premium primarily reflects demand factors, specifically a slowdown in the pace of skill biased technological change.” 2. The Zvi on Gemini 2.5.  I agree it is very strong. 3. Very old interview with Hrishikesh Mukherjee. 4. Does Boulez still matter? A good talk, […] The post Sunday assorted links appeared first on...

For a brief moment in the mid-1950s, it seemed as if Liverpool’s transportation system was about to be revolutionised, not by cars, trams, buses or ferries, but instead by helicopters.  As strange as it may seem, Liverpool was at the forefront of a flurry of interest from planners and politicians who imagined that an age […] The post That was then, this is now...

Here is a new set of results, by Laura Lemahieu, et.al.: Abstaining from social media has become a popular digital disconnection strategy of individuals to enhance their well-being. To date, it is unclear whether social media abstinences are truly effective in improving well-being, however, as studies produce inconsistent outcomes. This preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis […] The post Social media and well-being appeared first...

1. Richard Ngo on AI safety. 2. Owen Hatherley interview on Central European emigres to Britain. 3. AGI and the future of warfare. 4. 42 new words added to the OED (NYT). 5. Okie-dokie. 6. Argentina nearing new $20 billion loan from the IMF (FT).  “He said the central bank’s gross reserves, which include a […] The post Saturday assorted links appeared first on...

Peter Marks was key to President Trump’s greatest first-term achievement: Operation Warp Speed. In an emergency, he pushed the FDA to move faster—against every cultural and institutional incentive to go slow. He fought the system and won. I had some hope that FDA commissioner Mary Makary would team with Marks at CBER. Makary understands that […] The post Peter Marks Forced Out at FDA...

Mexico’s economy is slowing sharply and will soon fall into recession, several economists predict, as Donald Trump’s changing tariff plans cast uncertainty over the relationship with its largest trading partner. Mexico is one of the countries most vulnerable to the US president’s drive to reshore investment and close trade deficits. The country’s economy was already […] The post Is Mexico falling into recession? appeared...

David Sheff, Yoko: A Biography.  An excellent work, I view Yoko as a quite good visual and conceptual artist, a sometimes quite interesting but hard to listen to in any volume musical creator, and overall a pretty stunning woman.  Sheff has known Yoko well for decades, so you get a real sense of her from […] The post What I’ve been reading appeared first...

Here is the YouTube link.  Here is part of the episode summary: I had a wonderful conversation with Professor Tyler Cowen. We discussed his view of economic growth, the chase for GDP growth, the most underrated risks to global economic stability, and whether capitalism will survive the next century. Other topics included universal basic income, behavioral […] The post Science podcast with Hrvoje Kukina appeared...

1. Guess why Utah has so few restaurants. 2. Invisible College, August, for 18-22 year olds, Cambridge UK. 3. How did Kerala become relatively wealthy? 4. Sharks make clicking sounds? (NYT) 5. Digital Delacroix (NYT). 6. Bari Weiss interviews Leonard Leo. 7. Speculative. 8. Anthropic on how the AIs think.  Blog post here. 9. Trump […] The post Friday assorted links appeared first on...

The economics of AI remains surprisingly understudied, even as technical progress in artificial intelligence continues rapidly. The Stripe Economics of AI Fellowship aims to help fill that gap by supporting foundational academic research in the area. We invite graduate students and early-career researchers who are interested in studying the economics of AI to apply, regardless […] The post Stripe economics of AI fellowship appeared...

Here is a good post by Brian Albrecht, he works through the logic.  A VAT, properly understood, does not favor say European producers over American producers.  Work through his example if you don’t see this right away.  In this sense the pro-tariff “fairness” arguments are quite wrong.  Yet I am not entirely convinced by the […] The post Is a VAT an export subsidy?...

Here is a new and sure to be controversial piece from the JPE: Why does the stock market rise and fall? From 1989 to 2017, the real per capita value of corporate equity increased at a 7.2% annual rate. We estimate that 40% of this increase was attributable to a reallocation of rewards to shareholders […] The post Where do stock market returns come...

Your daily life will feel more controllable and legible than it does now. Nearly everything will feel more personalized to you, ready for you whenever you need it, in just the way you like it. This won’t be because of one big thing, but because of unfathomable numbers of intelligent actions taken by computers that […] The post Dean Ball on “how it will...