Category Archives: Politics

Increased respect for animal intelligence also has consequences for cognitive science. For too long, we have left the human intellect dangling in empty evolutionary space. How could our species arrive at planning, empathy, consciousness and so on, if we are … Continue reading →

Students wiser than administrators?  Look at the last line of the section reproduced here. Two years ago, campus Provost Alison Galloway informed the athletics office that it would need to transition from central campus funds to a funding model that … Continue reading →

Probably they are both based on some earlier piece. But what an interesting connection. Listen to “Canto a los caidos” starting at 2:35:   Then listen to “Memorial” starting at 1:00:

But I have one objection: many of those quoted in the article probably have conflicts of interest because they are lobbyists or consultants to the various parties.  Journalists should ask and report these potential conflicts. To those creditors, the draft … Continue reading →

Very interesting for its overview of national policy issues.  I will summarize some of the points relating to economics.  Some interesting political issues addressed were the Guillaume Soro and Yacouba Zida “scandals”.  The full interview in Sidwaya is here. Government … Continue reading →

This … the Sendek hiring … is the first major test of Engh’s commitment: Sendek is receiving a substantial raise over his predecessor, Kerry Keating. That’s partly to be expected because of his resume — Keating was a UCLA assistant … Continue reading →

A bad egg. From Bill Sundstrom’s Blog: Based on his words and behavior as a candidate, if Trump were a kid in my son’s seventh-grade class, he’d be the kid my son would have to send (repeatedly) to the office … Continue reading →

Race-specific given names have been linked to a range of negative outcomes in contemporary studies, but little is known about their long-term consequences. Building on recent research which documents the existence of a national naming pattern for African American males … Continue reading →

How long can people keep repeating the exact same analysis, as if there was someone who didn’t understand why 30% of the Republican Party votes for Trump?  It is not a mystery.  Nor is there a mystery about how likely … Continue reading →

It doesn’t matter if you think it is true, untrue, fair, or unfair… what matters is that practically everyone agrees that indeed, these are the vulnerabilities.  There is no similar agreement about Sanders, I think.  He has vulnerabilities, but his … Continue reading →

I will definitely be listening to this on my next long run! Russ Roberts interviews David Autor on China and labor markets. Scott Sumner has asked a few times why Autor’s work is so important. I think it shows that … Continue reading →

What sometimes surprises me sometimes about my very liberal friends is how much they seem to care about this marginalized population, to the extent that they want a whole set of trade and competition-regulating policies to protect and support them, … Continue reading →

This opinion piece reviews the first two months of the new Burkinabè administration.  Notable is that every “fact” is an action by some actor other than the government.  Not a single “act” by the government in the first 60 days … Continue reading →

Probably Trump meant “consideration” but something in him said “use a bigger word”… By the way, the Trans-Pacific, if you look at the TPP, a total disaster, which, by the way, Marco is in favor of, they need — it … Continue reading →

Suggests just how easy it is to make a ton of money through corruption when you have a billion dollar company basically wanting to “give” you $500,000 with no oversight. In a contract signed several years ago, Nike agreed to … Continue reading →

I read Michael Faber’s The Book of Strange New Things. Definitely compares nicely to Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow, if you have read that. A missionary travel to Oasis, where the Oasans are a remarkably simply, vulnerable, Jesus-loving agrarian society. … Continue reading →

Tidjane Thiam, the chief executive of Credit Suisse, has asked the company’s board to reduce his bonus, days after the Swiss bank reported a multibillion-dollar loss in the fourth quarter. “I have asked the board of directors for a significant … Continue reading →