Monday's Child is Full of Links!

1.  What sort of person does this? It's not like running a red light. There was no chance of this working out well.

2.  There has to be more to this story.  The "she's from Ukraine, they do things differently there" defense seems weak to me. A bit different viewpoint here. I do have to say that anyone who has been around a toddler for more than about an hour has considered hanging as a solution.....

3.  Trump is wrong about the EU. But he is not entirely wrong about NATO.

4.  There is little to no evidence that voluntary pre-K programs do any good. All the positive results come from non-random assignment, meaning that educated and motivated parents are likely the cause, NOT the pre-K program. A randomized trial finds no effect. The problem: the main difference is educational environment in the home the kids are NOT staying home at.  Pre-K has to help some children, it's just hard to find a way to measure that accurately.

5.  The policy of restricting or taxing plastic bags does essentially zero good. It is however (1) inconvenient and (2) pleasing to people who like to suffer inconvenience as a way of showing their love for the earth in pointless, and therefore religiously useful, ways.

6.  A problem with the "road" to liberty.  You might want to be a directionalist, like I am.

7. Iga is having a ninja shortage.

8.  At least the Manchurian Candidate PRETENDED he cared about the U.S.  This guy, not so much.

9.  MoovMo.

10.   Russia gets another pass.

11.  "Places of Persistence: Slavery and the Geography of Intergenerational Mobility in the United States."

12.  Putting the "crow" into necrophilia.


13.  It's just cultural appropriation to impose your own, multicultural standards on the great works of the past. Some humility, younglings....

14.  This is not the Onion. This guy actually thinks that trolling people on the web is the key to success in mass elections.  No, really, he does.

15. Slavery did not make the U.S. rich. It made some people rich, and a lot of others poor.

16. The loss of a common culture. I don't think Deneen is entirely right, but he is certainly NOT entirely wrong.

17.  Not sure this is real. But it may be.

18. The tide of free speech....has it turned, on college campuses?

19.  All campaign strategies are local....

20.  My piece for the "The Hill," on UBI.

21. I'm sorry, ma'am. You've been deleted. Wow.

22. Cutest thing you'll see today: This little girl saw an abandoned broken water heater at the curb, waiting to be taken away. She thought it was a robot. And the cuteness ensued.

23. Why haven't higher wages (at the top end) reduced work hours? An interesting commentary on price effects and income effects of labor "supply." Or, are you willing to pay $1,000 an hour to go sailing? Even if you are really rich?

24. Why?  A drive-by bicycle shooting.

25. The road to socialism: Venezuela.

26. Black Jeopardy on SNL. One of them (the best, I think). Then another.  A third. Like all good comedy, it's partly mocking something directly. But it's also got some things that make your skin crawl and think about why that's not actually funny.

27.  Trans men on being men, compared to being women.

28. Talent. 

This, from V. Postrel.   What's more inclusive than extreme, semi-religious food taboos in the workplace?  The grand lagniappe, from Randy Simmons, in reaction to VP's article:

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

Sorry to have been away. But I've been away. First in Erlangen and Munich, Germany. Then in Edmonton, in Northern Alberta.  Both really fun.  Back in Raleigh now....

To the links.... 

1.  Amazing application of pure fairness. The town would benefit from using an auction instead. And the individuals who "win" the lottery would benefit from allowing a secondary market. So, an interesting example for class.  The graveyard lottery, in Germany.

2. Why are wages not rising? Of course, in some areas, they are.

3.  George Will writes a column on baseball. And I like it. Perhaps neither of those things is surprising.  But it is a REALLY good column.

4.  Hindcasting global population densities reveals forces enabling the origin of agriculture

5.   Right to try.

6.  Nipples.

7.  The WaPo is upset with the Oklahoma incident because two citizens responded and killed the shooter. Apparently the faster action that likely saved lives is LESS important than the fact that having armed citizens made the situation "more complicated for police." As if our objective is primarily to make life simple for police. Citizens are pretty much on their own. As we already know....

8.  Dude had a bad day.  Why in the world was he insisting they pull over? Anyway, it didn't go well.

9.  I'm going to guess that this sort of thing is quite common. We only know about it because of the police body cams.  If police want to be respected, they'll need to be respectable.  But it's hard, because the state provides conditions where the worst will always get on top.

10. Some people assume that wealth may substitute for genetic fitness, meaning that rich morons will be over-represented in the population. But Mr. Darwin has ways of taking care of that. (The guy didn't die. But he did learn some wisdom, I hope).

11. Starfish v. Spider education systems.

12. Guilds? There is no guarantee that the "firm" in its traditional form is optimal in the non-traditional future....

13. Not only is "Dead Salmon" a color, the producer is unironically (I think) doubling down on it as being "magical."

14.  "How White People Handle Diversity Training." This may not be entirely true, but I bet it's also not entirely false.

15. Since it is not easy to climb up out of poverty, it almost HAS to be true that a dogged belief that one CAN climb up out of poverty is a prerequisite.

16. That word "foe" you keep using. President Trump, I don't think it means what you think it means.

17. Realistic Marketing: Bird Scooter edition.

18.  I have colleagues at Duke who sincerely believe that Cuba's labor system is non-exploitative, and that Cuba's health care system is the best in the world. These claims are both absurd.

19.  A better way to run schools...

20.  Okay, goodONya and all, mates. But does "naked gay farmer" really evoke "mental health" as an association, in the minds of most people? On the other hand, they are likely right that it makes people pay attention.

The Grand Lagniappe, Copa Mundial edition: 538 takes another one in the shorts. The average goals scored per game this Cup tournament was about 2.65.  The standard deviation was about 1.2 goals (actually, it was less than that, but let's say.)  That means that 538 made an almost 3 sigma error, assuming even then that "very few goals" is equal to "average number of goals."  Why do we even have a government, if people are allowed to make such bad predictions?

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

1.  Interesting question: given that the "public" (that is, developers and construction companies) side is well-funded by tax dollars used for advertising and "education" programs about mass transit, is it illegitimate for private groups to try to balance the scale?  Even if it is the Kochs?  So-called mass transit tends to benefit wealthy neighborhoods whose residents want to go to sports events or go shopping.  If we really cared about mass transit, we'd end the stupid parking restrictions on new housing.  There is no "right" to free parking in densely populated urban areas. Just end the parking requirement, and the demand for mass transit will no longer be artificially suppressed by public policy.

2.  Rats devalue currency. I'm sure George Selgin has some Fed metaphor for us, but in this case its literally true.

3,  Wife sends husband back to jail.  She was right to do so, but still.

4.  Roger Stone is concerned that he might be indicted, because that would "suggest culpability."  Yes, yes, it would.  I understand the charges could be frivolous, and have to have innocent until proven guilty. But it would indeed be a bad sign if he is indicted.  I wonder if it's just a tactic to charge him with something, get him to plead guilty for immunity, and so on.

5.  Who are you going to believe? That outraged woman or some lying verbatim audio recording?

6.  If this is true, it is remarkable. And bad.

7. Rubies are red, sapphires are blue, but the Times just said, they're actually really the same mineral.

8. Prices, products, and wage stagnation. (tl;dr:  wages didn't stagnate) 

9. The case for free trade is unilateral. The case for free trade is unilateral. The case..... No, really, it's unilateral.  We should cut trade barriers even if our trading partners don't. If they want to tax their citizens, they get to do that. It says so in "The Big Boy Book of Governments."

10.  American see "media bias" everywhere. And they are not pleased.

11.  This is an actual refereed journal article. No, really. The dead cat is listed as a coauthor.

12.  Jubilee!  Or, pot jubilee, at least.  (In Hebrew tradition, Jubilee was a debt forgiveness year. Interesting incentive problems....)

13. There's a decent chance that within the next year Trump will start appearing in public wearing a uniform designed by some famous designer.  A military uniform.  If we keep doing stuff like this.

14. America is an idea. But it is not ONLY an idea.... And the part that is not an idea is fragile.

15.  Law schools need a new governance model.

16. The arguments for a "grand bargain" on immigration are not getting better.

17.  The Texas Health Department....standing for truth in pickles. 

Grand Lagniappe:  C'mon. Is it REALLY a surprise? I think we all knew....  Every once in a while, the cat gets a signal from the mother ship: "YOU ARE IN THE WRONG ROOM!  RUN!"  And off it goes, with an insane look on its "face." Alien.

Monday's Child is Full of Links

1.  News flash: People with below average income have below average income.  Seriously, these folks are shocked that poor people can't afford middle class stuff.  Does "middle class" just have no meaning?

2.  A list of summer reading lists.

3.  Why Canada should pay for blood plasma.

4.  It's raining octopus. That can't be right.

5.   J-Sess, the most evil AG in American history, actually quotes the Bible to support breaking up families.  If only there were some religion where the hero had been forced to hide from authorities were out to kill all the male children, and then had to live illegally under persecution. Maybe then we could understand people better. Or maybe if J-Sess had actually read Romans 13, all the way to verse 10, instead of just using the Cliff's Notes.

6. Netflix has a new "5 second rule." No eyeballin', there.

7.  Florida Man!

8.  Canada: You suck. Trinity Western decision is a blot on your copybook.

9.  Snake swallows woman whole.  I'm not convinced this is real. But it certainly is horrible.

10. Supermoon, in NYC.

11.  The "Data Science" course segment the EYM taught in Colombia.

12. The "Matthew Effect." Particularly prevalent, apparently, when a relatively unknown person, often a woman, is cited by a more famous person, often a man.  Later work cites the famous person who didn't actually do anything.

13.  Heterodox Academy. Full disclosure: I signed up.

14.  Not all sharing is done through markets. But much of it is now done through some software platform....

15.  Father Long's Sacred Nugget.

16.  This is a thing. Why?

Grand Lagniappe: Happy Father's Day to ME!

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

1. Lincicome talks to Goldberg.

2. State tax reform has had variable success, and failure.

3.  A good video. Not a great video, won't change your life. But some interesting info.

4.  Nick. On Tom.

5.  I've come to believe that most statements that start "Millenials LOVE....." or "Millenials HATE....." are usually pretty dumb, regardless of how the blank is filled in. But it is fair to ask: SHOULD Millenials love the market?

6.  Domestic disturbance in Germany. Man yelling at parrot, who won't shut up. But parrot doesn't say any words, though it can bark like a dog.  So it was more like man yelling at dog that wouldn't stop barking, though of course the dog was a parrot.

7.  Is tattooing actually beneficial, at least for the immune system?

8.  In praise of stolid clothing.  And Brooks Brothers.

9. The ideology of business schools.

10.  Remember how the History Channel used to show actual history?  And TLC was actually about learning? Then this happened.

11.  The complete NYU hooding ceremony. If you are interested, the EYM transcends corporeal form and evolves into pure energy at about 1:26:20 and thereafter....

12.  Selective exposure to misinformation: A Guess-Nyhan-Reifler joint.

13. Against libertarianism: A reading list. 

14. Nancy hanging with Mitch, and J-Mac hanging with Paul W.

15.  MAO'G on Maduro and Venezuela.

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

1.  Mummified monkey found in air duct. In Minneapolis museum.  In an AIR DUCT. I have to think that the month between the monkey dying and the monkey being moderately mummified had to be pretty smelly.  But maybe it was an exhaust duct?  Still....ew.

2.  And why would you have a gun in your "belly band" (?) while you roughhouse with your dog?  I qualified for a concealed carry permit. But I don't carry. Guns are dangerous. You are obliged, if you are going to carry a gun, to behave differently.  The poor pup was a lab/pit mix. Quite a sturdy fellow, I bet.

3.  what American history can teach us. David Brady's thoughts....

4.  AI and the end of capitalism.  Always with this end of capitalism stuff.  For Marx, it was industrialization. Far from the end of capitalism, it was the spreader of capitalism.

5.  Where is L-Mo gon git his tea and vegan muffin now?

6.  This is pretty amazing. Why would the black woman have to show her ID, when cops did not ask for the ID of the white woman.  If you have to show ID, then everyone has to show ID.

7.  Ollie.  Oh, Ollie. No, I don't think there is a useful comparison between NRA members and black citizens trying to live in Jim Crow.

8. The Middle East today is as complex, and dangerous, as central Europe in 1914. Or so sayeth LeBron.

9. "Assault weapons," explained.

10.  My good friend John Hood explains something that is hard to explain. Freedom is actually an economic strategy. And a good one.

11.  Wallets and return rates. A simple, not entirely scientific, but interesting experiment.

12.  Odd racial split: should NCAA athletes be paid?

13.  This is not news. French people believe that the collective is more important than individual freedoms.  Duh. The problem is always that "collective values" is just what *You* believe.  If the minority ever becomes the majority they'll be squealing Lockeans in a heartbeat.

14.  Amazingly, this IS news: Law School Faculty at L&CU vote to uphold academic freedom.

15.  Not sure this is correct. But the larger point, that it is PRECISELY people without language skills or economic skills who have become U.S. citizens, is clearly right. Nicholas Munger arrived in Guilford Colony in CT in 1651 (or so) and he had nothing.  But I'm glad he left. County Surrey in southern England was no place for a poor boy to try to live a life.

16. When disrespect by "elites" is a sign of merit, then only those with merit will be disrespected by elites. More simply, the constant gotchas and corrections by the self-important influencers of our established institutions of the left actually make people like Trump MORE .

17. Ben Stein does a FB remake.

18. One way to have more affordable housing would be to allow more housing.

19.  Amar has a good point. But it's not a GREAT point.   Things have to be pretty bad indeed before it's not possible for bumbling or meddling state action to make them much worse. 

20.    just not true.

21. Toys were Us.

22.  Lines from "Princess Bride" that are useful in grading student compositions....

23. 



The Grand Lagniappe:  Adam Dunn, King of the Four True Outcome Players.  The reason this is important is that now MLB is full of Adam Dunn wannabes.

Monday's Child is Full of Links

The EYM is home from Germany, and soon going to New York to defend his thesis.  So a strong EYM-focus on today's McIfol....

1.  Old people, the internet, and the end of times.  As I argued ten years ago, we (especially older people) depend on the "news" being verified and curated. The transition is hard.

2.  Along those lines:  that whole influence thing?  If it's important, it's fake.  Almost anything on the internet that seems important can be faked, and then why not fake it?  It's a problem.  But it may not be the problem that old peope think it is.

3.  Keep feet off the streets. That's why elites tweet.

4.  Of course, Jim Bakker has been selling fakery to the old and confused for a long time.  Still....really, Jimbo?

5.  Marx would have been 200. And he's still killing the sort of people he claimed to love.

6.  Why are so many conservatives upset about Baby Alfie, when they don't care about poor Alfonsito?

7.  We should denote length of time of Trump admin staff in terms of "Scaramucci"s.  That is, ten days.  As in, "That guy lasted three Scaramuccis. Pretty good, for a Trumpino."  The question: Will Giuliani last even one full Scaramucci?

8.  Kids can't be on their own, even on Sesame Street.

9.  I was willing to defend Pence for a long time.  But Arpaio?  Nope. D-Drez has some thoughts.

10.  Trump is winning by gathering all the groups that oppose liberalism. Both the new kind and the classical kind.  That's not actually winning, though, because it is not a program of what to do, only what to oppose.

11. Can smart contracts use blockchain technology?

12.  We don't need tariffs. We could just prohibit Americans from traveling abroad. Maybe we could even build a wall, to keep all that money at home.

13.  Figure 2, Panel A of this paper.  It appears that Donna Gingerella thinks she lives in a very large city, by the way....

14.  I don't know much about London; this may be completely wrong. But the young man calls out political leaders for their "supine cowardice," and that's always good. And he defends Sadiq Khan pretty convincingly, again given what little I know.

15.  This is one of the strangest things I've ever seen. I guess it makes me happy. But....seriously?

16.  Diana Fleischman being amazing in writing about sex robots.   (Her name means "Meat Man." She is aware of this.)

17.  For a standing ovation to mean "standing ovation," it can't be automatic.

18.  If you are a prospective grad student, these are the sorts of questions you should have for the Director of Grad Studies....

19. Drew Millard on Sexy Vegan. And some other stuff. There's a lot going on.  Including the new Robin Hood movie.

20.  Congress gives up. It's what Congress does.

21. Dang. I did not know this about till. Thanks to @bitteranagram. 

22.  It's dumb to claim you are at work when you are obviously not. But for the REASON that you are "obviously" not at work to be time-stamped charges on your University credit card?  Wow.  A "dedicated businessman" is charged with the heinous crime of "galavanting."  Who does he think he is, a professor?


Grand Lagniappe:

Art imitates life and makes a full circle, out beyond farce.  A truly remarkable video moment.  Stormy Daniels herself appears on the SNL cold open.  Good lord. 

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

1.  Jones Act, you are not good.

2.  The symbol of British democracy is rotting from within.  A metaphor, or just a fixer-upper?

3.  Economists are bad at Twitter.

4.  People fuss at each other on Twitter, about whether people who go to Hamilton can keep track of the Jazz game during the play.

5.  The price of losing respect for the MSM: People believe their dog can get autism from a vaccine.

6.  Turns out the DC press corps can dish it out, but they can't take it.  This is my "not surprised at all" face.

7.  When will AI exceed human performance, by specific function.

8.  This is...I'm not sure how to explain it, exactly.

9.  Of all the places to be a jerk and physically resist a police officer, I would not think an airplane was a good man. But Florida Man has to be Florida Man.

10.  Max the pup, in Australia, helps save 3 year-old Aurora. A sweet story. But also amazing, since Max is 17, deaf, and almost blind. 

The Grand Lagniappe:  Robin Grier sent me this piece about erotic significance of whale hips. I often mention that whale hips are an atavism. But, it turns out they are useful, just not to their original purpose.  Whales couldn't get busy without being hip, it appears.

Monday's Child is Full of Links

1.  Trolls. There should be a way...but there may not be.....dang.

2.  Fajita thief.

3.  Church!

4.  Mo-Dow on Barbara Bush.

5.  The future, when there are no cars.

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

A return after a two-week travel hiatus.....

1.  The most expensive speeding tickets of all time. Finland, oh, Finland.

2. It is a problem. Sometimes, when people disagree with you, it's not because they are on the "other side." It's because you are wrong.

3  On the inequality of social capital.

4.  Witness the violence inherent in the system!  "I've filed my paper!" Good luck with that, ma'am.

5.  Medieval moneyball on the battlefield....

6. How we screwed up nuclear power....

7.  The US tax system: complicated but still high compliance

8.  Liberal democracy...

9.  Tariffs were dumb. Efforts to buy off the harms caused to farmers are REALLY dumb.

10.  Devin Nunes should be removed from leadership.

11.  Amal Clooney.

12.  RIP, Art Bell.

13.  The first review I've seen of TOMORROW 3.0.

14.  I really do worry that we are on the verge of a "Cultural Revolution," where passionate feeling replaces reason and discussion.  If it comes down to strong feelings implying truth, then only those with strong feelings will have guns.

15. Eu-antisociality.

16.  A "mandatory course." That'll fix everything, Noah. Actually, the REAL answer is PPE!

17. Urban "renewal" as a means of achieving racist goals in cities.

18.  Florida man....oh, Florida man.

19.  A teacher who couldn't read.

20.   Staring. I'd be willing to stare at Ria, frankly, but not Braco. /UzpfSTU2OTQ3OTM5NjoxMDE1NTU5ODUwNDA0NDM5Nw/ All of which reminds me of "Unflinching Triumph"  Robert Anthony Peters as Cousin Donnie.

21.  A punk rock turtle that can breathe through its genitals. Because of course it can.

22. Syrian government is targeting civil government in areas it doesn't control. Because of course it is.

The Grand Lagniappe: An unexpected result in the "Guillotine v. Spray Paint Can" contest.  And THEN  

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

1.  The universe....in ten minutes.

2. Marxism and anti-Semitism?

3.  Amazing that "free range parenting" has to be protected by law.

4.  This "story" is from 2006. Rather quaint, now.

5. Participation in markets can improve food security.

6.  Automation is good. It's not good for everyone. But overall it's good.

7. Not dead dead man failed to note he was not dead in time. So now the decision of the court cannot be reversed.

8. In some ways, this seems normal.  In others....not so much.

9. Oh, the sh*t you'll do, after you're tenured....

10.  Libertarian "Dad jokes."  A bit edgy, actually.  Trigger warning.

11.  Japan has tiny houses.

12.  Facebook as scapegoat du jour....

13.  What time is it when your cat is found after 14 years being lost?  A: Not quite enough time being lost.

14.  The newest libertarian?

15.  Community colleges.

16.  Too much school for cool?

17.  Many responsible gun owners are for responsible gun control. But we are ignored, even shunned, by the extremists on both sides.

18.  There is a problem.  With Facebook. Even from Facebook's perspective, there is a problem.

19. 9 ridiculous things about the Omnibus.

20.  The Super Mario Brothers Movie. 25 years out. I'd never heard of it. A look back, sort of.  Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper. Amazing.

21.  This story has much of what makes America great.  Of course, it does make you wonder why he didn't just go up a mountain, if 2,000 feet is enough to disprove the "hoax." He was near Mt Charleston, which is 12,000 feet, and you can just drive most of the way.


Grand Lagniappe:  When you use the force on your kitten....

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

1.  Social activism is "good for you." Making me wonder (A) if this is selection, which seems likely, and (B) if being "active" in Christian or pro-life organizations is seen by college admissions drones as being "good." If this is just virtue-signalling to appeal to the ideological biases of a bunch of lefties who couldn't get real jobs, I'm not very impressed.

2.  It was not easy to remain poor in the period 1978-2018. But it was possible, if the state did the things that states do.

3. With apologies to Paul Simon, HRC's "42 ways to blame your other."

4. Gun culture.

5.  Can libertarianism be a governing philosophy?  With three responses....

6.  If you credit the stereotyping, what does the alt-right get "right" about Jews?  Jonny Anomaly says some things .

7.  Mostly Weekly: The End.

8. Pro golfers are big babies.

9. The power to tax is the power to destroy.

10. The "alt-right" and anti-Semitism.

11. So, ya wanna get married? No. Me, neither.  Let's go out for brunch and have avocado toast instead.

Monday's Child is Full of Links

1.  Fascism is not an easy concept to define precisely. But "says things about feminism that make me sad" is NOT "fascism," I'm pretty sure.

2. Darn that fine print. Turns out convicted felons can't serve as county sheriffs. Interesting side note: Buncombe County is the origin of the "that's bunkum!" insult.  If you try to prevent bunkum, you are "debunking."

3.  Too many Legos.

4.  Kim Kardashian has transcended corporeal form and has evolved into pure irony with no trace of self-awareness. Unless it is ironic on purpose, in which case well played, ma'am. "Swipe to download the 'Women's Empowerment Pack'" of "Kimojis" for $2.50.  The Onion should just close down. There is nothing left to say, nothing left to do.

5.  This CLAIMS to be satire. I'm actually not sure.

6. On the national security argument for protectionism.

7. Megan McCardle on what we know, and don't know, about minimum wages.

8. Katherine Mangu-Ward, on the case of "Smug v. Troll".

9.  Reason video: I like it, I love it!  Remy is awesome.

10. American farmers know more about foreign trade than American president, part 2,493.

11.  The conscience of capitalism. And the success of China being due to markets. And the dramatic worldwide decline in extreme poverty.

12.  California is losing population, mostly families with children. You can't afford to live in California, and the amenities of living there are no longer all that nice.

13. Fusion energy.

14.  Is this how China is thinking of Africa, or how China wants Africa to think of China? (And of course it is a gross generalization, because lots of variation within Africa, culturally, separate nations, and otherwise. But still...)

15. Immigration today and the Fugitive Slave Act then....

16.  How capicola became gabagool.  A video on this subject, with Kelly Ripa.  

17.  Libertarian perspectives on voting.

18 Math, math, the crooked path...to data science.

19. Whisky and deep time.

20. 10 things to know about tariffs....

Grand Lagniappe:From @academiaobscura:  Never ever let your publisher write the captions on your illustrations...

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

1.  If Germany had Floridians....A knight's costume? Still, "more than rude" gets that Florida element in pretty well...

2.  Pro-tip: if you have skunks in your basement, a smoke bomb should NOT be on your list of solutions. It's not a solution at all, in fact.

3. IVF: Capitalism's final frontier?

4. Streetlights? We don't need no stinkin' streetlights. 'Cause the trees glow.

5.  If you want to debate whether the "get your flu shot!" argument doesn't really serve public health, that's fair enough. But random fabricated stories are subversive not only to public health but to public trust in institutions. Our institutions do quite a bit to destroy our trust on their own, without help from trolls and link-whoring.

6.  A year ago, my friend John Hasnas wrote this. He has gotten righter and righter over time.  Trump is NOT antidemocratic, but is rather the apotheosis of the democratic, populist ideal. No elites, no experts, no truth, except what the majority decides.

7.  This would be ridiculous if it weren't really, really bad. Turkey needs to be a stabilizing force, not a bunch of nut-jobs with a huge, modern army.  And this is even worse. Golly.

8. Figure 4 is amazing. Not sure it's replicable. But....gosh.

9. Our Favorite Headlines:  Former Freemason, 51, found drunk and naked inside a huge pipe organ with a toy gun and remote-controlled police car says he got lost while trying to hand out cheeseburgers to the homeless (or, another reason to love Australia).

10. Drink beer, throw axes.

11. Kevin Williamson is not always right. But when he's right, he's right.

12. Did you know this? Twitter ditched the egg.  Dang. One of the things I loved about Twitter was watching Matt Iglesias mansplain something to an egg with three followers.

13. Wow. The New Yorker made a mistake and published an actual piece of objective journalism. I assume heads will roll....Still, well done.

14.  The town tweeter?

15.  Tribes.

16.  Banks and credit cards have to be neutral, at least on legal products. Ending a "branded" card, which is an endorsement, makes sense. But barring transactions on legal products is just a way of encouraging discrimination on other margins.

17.  It's against the law for guns to go to jihadists. And yet they go. A lot of them. We should be optimistic, though, about our ability to keep guns from going to depressed and angry young men. Because....wait, why?

18. Social media and democracy. 

19. There are certain facts everyone should know. One is that there has been a DRAMATIC decline in poverty, almost everywhere. Further, it actually IS TRUE EVERYWHERE in countries that use market systems. All remaining poverty is in places where markets are suppressed.

20.  Doomed to repeat it....

21. Florida or Ohio? "Man injured in chainsaw fight..." Nope, you're wrong. Ohio.

Grand Lagniappe! A cultural map of individualism, with considerations of innovation.  From this paper. (Click for an even more selfish view)

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

1.  P.F. Chang, Pyeongchang, all those Asian words look alike, right?  I had thought it was a spell-check error, but it was actually a spoof, and they didn't notice when it was time to do a serious story.  Could totally have happened to me, so I'll just shut up and laugh.

2.  There are probably no security cameras in the security area, right? Plus, the dude is a lawyer. He can steal tens of thousands of $ with his pen. Why go for cash?

3. NOT the "Onion." Passenger who passed gas continuously on flight forces emergency landing. Others on same row also forced to deplane.  And there's a thing called "Transavia Airlines."  They probably have a direct slingshot flight to Elbonia.

4.  We're not very good at handling problems of waste generated by electronics.

5.  It costs nothing to tweet, and someone might believe you. So you don't even need to send spam, you can get others to do it for you.

6. As tempting as a "Scooby Doo" ending would be....
It's unlikely.  But wouldn't it be great if, as Trump
 is being led away, the police pull off the mask. It's
 Bill Clinton! He had thought Hillary would still win,
 and he could date porn stars in the meantime.  After
 he won, he cooked up the Russia collusion thing as
 a distraction, so he could date MORE porn stars,
and serve again as President.  He shouts back, "And
 I'd have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for
 those meddling kids and their FBI!"
(WIth thanks to Brendan Nyhan)

7.  Facebookenstein.

8.  Top5-itis.

9.  Bowling for Fascism.

10.  The wrestler, in real life.

11. Brewing Up Entrepreneurship.

12.  Prison just makes bad people worse, and it's expensive.  We can make bad people worse just by letting them use Twitter, and Twitter is free!

13. Basic Income Guarantee and bad behavior....maybe not so bad?

Grand Lagniappe! Murphy sound asleep, curled in a ball, with his little tongue sticking out. Because....Monday.

Monday's Child is Full of Links

1.  In which "Doritos But For Women" is introduced.

2.  Making the world safe for moonshots.

3.  Jonathan Chait is an idiot. Yes, my friend Will Wilkinson can be hard to figure out. But mostly, Jonathan Chait is an idiot.

4.  I do love a smart young entrepreneur.

5. Canadians are so bored they are starting a trade war. With Canada.

6. On "regulation." I wrote.

7. Can you date a co-worker? Facebook status: "It's complicated."

8. Losing interest....

9. Regulation has become a silly concept, as if just "more" or "less" is the goal. As Jimmy Carter and Jerry Brown knew, the real goal is better.

10. California judge does sensible thing.

11. We all live on campus now...

12.  Wow. The fact is that "reduce the deficit" is ONLY a "Republican goal" when they are out of power. When Republicans are IN power, their primary goal seems to be "spend money as if you won the lottery." This is a remarkably empirically out-of-touch argument, here. 


The Grand Lagniappe:  Even Politico says, "HRC Needs to Move On..."  If Hillary Clinton were reincarnated as a dog....

Monday's Child is Full of Links!

(Sorry to miss last week.... I was hanging out with Marie Newhouse at Surrey U

1.  Can competition stem corruption?  Seems a little simplistic. In some ways corruption is a way of reducing competition, by buying favors.  I have argued that corruption can make the system more efficient....Tullock was first to argue that from an economic perspective.

2.  Self-check out is not in equilibrium. Something is going to change. Perhaps like this.

3.  This was a great EconTalk, I thought. As was this, though for different reasons.

4.  Check Figure 4 on p 32. Seriously: Check Figure 4 on p. 32.

5.  All the agricultural land in the world.

6.  Two things can both be true: (1) some students manipulate "accommodations" and (2) there are real problems some students face that can be debilitating and can be accommodated pretty easily. We haven't figured out the answer yet.

7.  Carter Page is a bona fide idiot. Remarkable.

8.  4 ways to communicate in an on-line course. I wonder if students WANT to be in direct contact. Of course, some do. Do these work well enough?

9.  I don't usually credit the "what if this were used for affordable housing instead?" kind of counterfactual. And this is largely devoid of any real economic understanding. Still: why are public funds being spent on such a ridiculous endeavor?

10.  So...this.  And then this.  And, then, THIS.  I frankly found the similarities between the second and third things a bit disturbing.

11.  A not very informative but still interesting piece about my friend (and Duke parent) William Kristol.

12.  And while we're reading the NYer, a very informative and even more interesting piece on what it means to die....or live.

13.  Will Wilkinson on taxes, and colors on maps.

14.  Armenian Rhapsody....

15.  I have long worried about the tendency of libertarians to blame enforcement agencies, rather than policy-makers, for dumb laws.  If you approve of what is being done to the FBI, then...well, you and I disagree.

16. Well, so THAT's good! No, it's bad.

17. More power is not always better....

18. Free markets fail the poor, as shown by that famously unregulated "market," public housing.

19. Did they really think that this would be a successful, admired commercial?

20.  On the other hand, well done, Very well done,

Grand Lagniappe:  Wedu Nagivafaka. From Hawaii. Enjoy!

Monday's Child is Full of Links

1.  The second-hand clothing market is collapsing. Partly because new clothes are so cheap. If you think that's a bad thing, you need to rethink.

2.  Florida Man!  Dude just wanted a burrito. Didn't want any trouble.  With thanks to MS for the assist...

3. On being a little more careful about "life span."

4.  Please watch the video, and then read the story. I think she may even be serious. Who says millennials aren't entitled? I mean, you heard her: She's an INFLUENCER. She shouldn't have to PAY. In a related vein, I'm not even sure what this woman actually wants.  But she definitely wants it.

5.  Megan McArdle is en fuego. Just read down the stream as she live-tweets events in DC during the shutdown.

6.  The. THING. Itself. Why would you expect anything different?

7.  Civil asset forfeiture is straightforwardly "for profit" policing. It doesn't have to be private to be a revenue-maximizing activity. I'm always surprised when people think anything public is NOT revenue-maximizing. Why wouldn't it be? Anyway, a ray of hope.

8.  King of Jordan pretty much says, "Pence, you ignorant slut..."  I'm paraphrasing, but only a little. (If you are too young for the reference....)

9.  I don't know about this. I'm willing to believe that California has the highest poverty rate, because if you subsidize something you get more of it. And CA has a great climate and is kind to panhandlers.  But is it really true that people would be better off if they were forced to work?  Isn't that just a different take on the paternalism the article decries in others?

10. Two words you may not know: Bideshedding versus Yak-shaving. The distinction may be important!

11.  If things like this can happen (and they CAN happen!) why do we even HAVE a government?

12.  Why it's so hard to figure out what college actually costs: Because it's more like medical services (highly protected and noncompetitive) than it is like a market (where you get information because competition forces providers to give out information).

13. How could you say that Argentinan "gradualism" is WORKING? Just because it's not Venezuela?   If only we knew something about the history....

14.  You can't make this stuff up. Folks: New Jersey and the (incomplete) I-95!

15. On dating Aziz Ansari. And another date with him.

16. James Buchanan, Public Choice, and the Political Economy of Desgregation.

17. Price elasticity and the opioid crisis.

The Grand Lagniappe:

If you see it, please call it in. The owner REALLY needs it!