~marginalrevolution | Bookmarks (39)

Only rarely: Recent social movements stand out by their spontaneous nature and lack of stable leadership, raising doubts on their ability to generate political change. This article provides systematic evidence on the effects of protests on public opinion and political attitudes. Drawing on a database covering the quasi-universe of protests held in the United States, […] The post Do protests matter? appeared first on...

Here is the audio, video, and transcript, along with almost thirty minutes of audience questions, filmed in Miami.  Here is the episode summary: Tyler and Peter Thiel dive deep into the complexities of political theology, including why it’s a concept we still need today, why Peter’s against Calvinism (and rationalism), whether the Old Testament should […] The post My excellent Conversation with Peter Thiel...

The author is Alex Fernandes, and the subtitle is The Day Portugal’s Dictatorship Fell.  A very good and well-written book, here is one short excerpt: The First Republic is sixteen years of unrelenting chaos, one that sets the scene for the fascist state that follows it. Between 1910 and 1926 Portugal goes through eight presidents […] The post *The Carnation Revolution* appeared first on...

The collapse of the Key Bridge is a national disaster but also an opportunity for societal advancement. We must rebuild but in doing so we must also address the historical discrimination faced by workers in Baltimore and beyond. Ensuring the participation of Baltimore’s workforce in the reconstruction project is essential. It’s Baltimore’s bridge and in […] The post Build Back Key Bridge Better appeared...

The author is Karthik Muralidharan, and the subtitle is A State-Led Roapmap for Effective Governance.  If you imagine a 600 pp. “state capacity libertarian” take on Indian development this is what you get, admittedly with the libertarian side of the equation downplayed a bit.  Excerpt: A common misconception is that the inefficiencies of the Indian […] The post *Accelerating India’s Development* appeared first on...

Yes I will be doing a Conversation with him.  Here is his bio: Brian Winter is the editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly and a seasoned analyst of Latin American politics, with more than 20 years following the region’s ups and downs. He lived in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico as a correspondent for Reuters before taking on his current role […] The post What should I ask Brian Winter?...

Here is the audio, video, and transcript.  You can tell he knows what an interview is!  At the same time, he understands this differs from many of his other venues and he responds with flying colors.  Here is the episode summary: Tyler sat down with Fareed to discuss what he learned from Khushwant Singh as […] The post My Conversation with Fareed Zakaria appeared...

By Annie Jacobsen, a very good book.  What would happen if a nuclear weapon actually were launched at the United States?  On the ground?  In the chain of command?  Organizationally and otherwise?  A good book, sadly still of relevance.  Full of drama throughout, and tactically astute.  Excerpt: Ted Postol is blunt.  “Russian early-warning satellites don’t […] The post *Nuclear War: A Scenario* appeared first...

At first people thought that drones favored defense, since Ukraine, in its war against Russia, was defending successfully with drones.  But now Ukraine is using drones to attack Russia, and Russian oil refinery assets and warships.  It is less obvious that drones are defensive assets on net.  Furthermore, Russia is now using more electronic jamming, […] The post Do current trends in drone technology...

A charter city is a special zone with a charter granting significant autonomy from the host country’s regulations. Hong Kong, a succesful Chinese city operating under British law, was one early inspiration. Examples like this fueled criticisms that charter cities were “neo-colonial”. But Charter cities do not inherently require foreign legal frameworks. The fundamental purpose […] The post Indigenous Charter Cities appeared first on...

Ireland’s effort to remove old-fashioned family values from its constitution suffered a double defeat Saturday as voters rejected the amendments on offer as maddeningly vague and threatening to property rights… In final results announced Saturday night, the amendment to change the constitutional definition of family was rejected by 67.7 percent of voters. The proposed changes […] The post The Irish reject a “Woke” constitutional...

During my visit to Prospera, one of Honduras’ private governments under the ZEDE law, I interviewed Prospera CEO Erick Brimen and Vitalia co-founder Niklas Anzinger. I learned a lot in the interview including the real history of the ZEDE movement (e.g. it didn’t begin with Paul Romer). I also had not fully appreciated the power […] The post In Conversation with Próspera CEO Erick...

That is the topic of my latest Bloomberg column, here is one excerpt: From both a biomedical and economic point of view, the success of the new class of weight-loss drugs is something to behold. Not only are they a remarkable scientific achievement, but — in the case of Ozempic and Wegovy, both made by […] The post Small countries, big firms appeared first...

This article argues that a society’s level of social trust influences employers’ hiring strategies. Employers can focus either on applicants’ potential and select on foundational skills (e.g., social skills, math skills) or on their readiness and select on more-advanced skills (e.g., pricing a derivative). The higher (lower) the social trust—people’s trust in their fellow members […] The post Hiring on general talent makes more...

BREAKING: Queen Camilla is taking a break from public duties for some "downtime", which means that NONE of the four most senior royals – King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William and Kate Middleton – are working right now. All is not well with the Royal Family. 💁‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/2sgSrM0Otz — Cillian (@CilComLFC) March 2, 2024 In […] The post Kind of like the NBA All-Star...

Unemployment is low and inflation is falling, but consumer sentiment remains depressed. This has confounded economists, who historically rely on these two variables to gauge how consumers feel about the economy. We propose that borrowing costs, which have grown at rates they had not reached in decades, do much to explain this gap. The cost […] The post Do high interest rates get people...

That sentence starts the abstract, here is the rest of it: Contrary to conventional wisdom, I argue that issues without clear economic value, such as barren lands, are more likely to be perceived as national interests because they do not benefit any single domestic group. Since who benefits is unclear, politicians have an easier time […] The post What international issues become national interests...

Here is Fareed’s home page, here is Wikipedia: Fareed Rafiq Zakaria…is an Indian-American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN‘s Fareed Zakaria GPS and writes a weekly paid column for The Washington Post. He has been a columnist for Newsweek, editor of Newsweek International, and an editor at large of Time. He was managing editor of Foreign Affairs at age 28, briefly […] The post What should I ask Fareed Zakaria?...

Egypt has agreed to a $35bn deal with the United Arab Emirates to develop the town of Ras el-Hekma town on its northwestern coast, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced on Friday after weeks of speculations. Madbouly said at a news conference, which was attended by Egyptian and Emirati officials, that Egypt will receive an advance amount of $15bn […] The post Why don’t nations buy and sell...

Doug of course is one of the top trade economists.  Here is the audio, video, and transcript, from the same wonderful Mercatus team that brings you CWT.  Here is one excerpt: RAJAGOPALAN: I have a different question on Adam Smith. We’re all taught Adam Smith’s division of labor, specialization, economies of scale, the cliff notes […] The post Shruti Rajagopalan interviews Doug Irwin appeared...

But anyone who actually wants to help people will eventually find themselves occupying positions of authority. And at that point, you need to act like a librarian who shushes people and collects late fees. That is from Matt Yglesias.  For which groups and endeavors is this not true? The post Paragraphs to ponder appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.         CommentsIn reply to Hazel Meade....

He titles his post What Tyler and Trump get wrong about NATO, excerpt: I believe that both Trump and Tyler misunderstand the role of Nato. The most important aspect of Nato is not the amount it spends on the military, rather its role is to provide a mutual defense pact so large that no nation […] The post Scott Sumner on Nato appeared first...

I have been following only snippets of the debate over whether Biden should step down as the Democratic nominee, for instance here Josh Marshall responds to Ezra Klein (NYT).  Most of all, I am struck by how little faith some of the commentators have in democratic processes.  Let’s consider a few possible arguments why Biden […] The post Well-functioning democracy for neither me nor...

Both rightists and leftists assume that the U.S. spends far lower to combat social problems (poverty, healthcare, education) than peer nations, but that is not true. pic.twitter.com/CXdVDNWb6p — David (@Data_David1) February 18, 2024 Here Robin Hanson notes that social spending as a percent of gdp tends to rise almost universally: Key question: will these trends […] The post I am tired of making this...