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Category Archive for 'Dynamism – Not'

There is a presumption in the planning vs. markets discussion that has gone back at least to the debates with Abba Lerner and Oscar Lange that it was simply a matter of computing power before we would be able to plan an economy. Well, that is a gross simplification, but if you think about the […]

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As you ponder the inane debates about tax “reform” (i.e. deck chairs and symbolism), suppose you take the work of Martin Feldstein seriously. He has previously estimated that the dead weight loss in an economy due to taxation would be up to 30% of the size of the tax take. Now, I suspect the direct […]

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THE highlight, among many: when Bill Gates talks about taxing robots, does he mean  taxing the Microsoft software that is doing things that a lot of people used to do?

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In fact I’m not at all clear how my family got to America. I think three generations above me had people illegally sneaking into the US from both Canada and I think parts south. But my family doesn’t quite know. But as sure as the ocean is salty, my kind was not much liked – […]

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Nothing Works in Education

Here is the latest “Big Push” to “fix” failing schools. It failed. That is utterly unsurprising. I do appreciate that this was tried, there should be vastly more experimentation in education, but I am afraid that this really isn’t the kind of experimentation that would lead to improvements. Of course this effort will be unilaterally […]

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As with just about every issue on Earth, most folks who are providing commentary on the Standing Rock Reservation protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline don’t have very much real information about the particular conflict. In order to have a reasoned and intelligent conversation about it, one would imagine wanting to learn more about the […]

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I’ve had a number of students ask me for letters of recommendation to help them secure their summer internships. Almost all of these internships are unpaid. Three quick observations: (1) It seems to be that high-end jobs have completely outsourced basic training to their future employees instead of it being done by them. You should see […]

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Reader warning – this is not well thought out, and I am narrating it to my phone via voice as I am driving to work this morning. It occurs to me that either retail financial institutions are intensely sclerotic, old-school, dinosaurs, or that regulation is strangling what they are able to offer retail customers, or […]

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The Thin Green(k) Line

It may appear funny, but our anti-dynamist culture is probably not far away from being like this. Here is a brief story via Tim Taylor, about Greece of course: This is best encapsulated in an anecdote from my visit to Athens. A friend and I met up at a new bookstore and café in the […]

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