Abstract:
The Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) index was first produced by Gwartney, Block, and Lawson (Economic Freedom of the World: 1975–1995; 1996) and has been updated annually since. During this period, the EFW index has been cited in hundreds of academic articles. Here, we provide an accounting and description of this literature. Of 402 articles citing the EFW index, 198 used the index as an independent variable in an empirical study. Over two-thirds of these studies found economic freedom to correspond to a “good” outcome such as faster growth, better living standards, more happiness, etc. Less than 4% of the sample found economic freedom to be associated with a “bad” outcome such as increased income inequality. The balance of evidence is overwhelming that economic freedom corresponds with a wide variety of positive outcomes with almost no negative tradeoffs.
Abstract:
This paper examines the impact of political cycle on coalmine accidents in China. The political cycle is formed by the major local meetings of legislative bodies held every year in all provinces of China. This is because the government has a strong incentive to maintain social stability during the meetings and to focus on economic growth in other times. We test how such cycles affect coalmine fatality using monthly data at the provincial level between 2000 and 2010. We find that the number of accidents and casualties were significantly lowered during the local events of “two sessions” after controlling for other time fixed effects. The temporary reduction of accidents seemed to have been achieved by controlling production rather than by improving safety measures. The magnitude of the cycle for accidents is enlarged in provinces where media exposure is stronger and where the vice governor in charge of safety is faced with a possible extension to another term in the current post.
The saving grace of hipsters is their self-conscious irony in actually advocating FOR anything.
This video is hilarious because it shows why hipsters need to be ironic. It's because when it comes to actual policy questions, their (unfinished) humanities majors didn't really teach them how to think about policy questions.
It appears that they are upset that a pipeline carrying "fracked gas" will pass under the New York. Dude. If there is a gas leak, the fact that it is fracked will be the LEAST of your problems. And the video about being able to light your faucet on fire? That's because of the proximity of a well to a gas deposit in the ground. It's not likely that proximity to a gas PIPELINE is going to allow gas to travel through the gas pipe, through the ground, through the water pipe, and into your kitchen in that sweet minimalist loft you are subletting in Williamsburg.
Even if the gas is that magical evil called "fracked."
I watched it twice, and I'm still not totally convinced it isn't a hoax. But the self-righteous indignation, if it is faked, is pure genius. And if it is "real" (note hipster air quotes), then ....wow.
Nod to Anonyman, who--though he has faults--has never, ever been called a "hipster."
2. The rise of Wiener: The sad thing is that he is really bright and talented. Why do these people get siphoned off into politics, when they could be making stuff?
2. Dutch Boy sends this one: Prime minister praises old queen, new king and everyone else . Jackie Blue fails to understand the concept of "link." Sad, really. Old statistician/lawyers never die. They just get broken down by age and sex. Jack: It's called the "internet."
Review of General Psychology, March 2013, Pages 53-68
Abstract:
In recent years, the cognitive science of religion has displayed a keen interest in religions' social function, bolstering research on religious prosociality and cooperativeness. The main objective of this article is to explore, from a Darwinian perspective, the biological and psychological mechanisms through which religious monumental architecture (RMA) might support that specific function. A frequently held view is that monumental architecture is a costly signal that served vertical social stratification in complex large-scale societies. In this paper we extend that view. We hypothesize that the function(s) of RMA cannot be fully appreciated from a costly signaling perspective alone, and invoke a complementary mechanism, namely sensory exploitation. We propose that, in addition to being a costly signal, RMA also often taps into an adaptive “sensitivity for bigness.” The central hypothesis of this paper is that when cases of RMA strongly stimulate that sensitivity, and when commoners become aware of the costly investments that are necessary to build RMA, then this may give rise to a particular emotional response, namely awe. We will try to demonstrate that, by exploiting awe, RMA promotes and regulates prosocial behavior among religious followers and creates in them an openness to adopt supernatural beliefs.
