Homelessness figures revised down by half. Goodbye housing shortage. And when you think about it, reliably estimating this figure was always going to be a challenge.
The rise of on-screen hugs. Once upon a time it shocked viewers and made news headlines if someone broke into tears on television.
Wisdom of the crowd is actually wisdom of aggregated individuals – the crowd is mad.
Finding time for reflection and deep thinking in a fast paced world. What about fast-paced deep thinking?
Facing the reality of electric cars
EV advocates invariably paint an appealing picture of EVs being charged by wind or solar power and claim that the combination of the two is wondrous beyond reckoning. Beyond the impossibility of charging an EV from home solar panels and driving it to work at the same time, the reality is that the presumptive virtue of wind and solar power arises from generating green electrons, not using them. Once green electrons exist, it makes no difference whether they’re used to power an EV or a toaster oven. Since green electrons that are consumed in an EV can’t be used to clean up a toaster oven, there can be no double counting of virtue. In fact, since wind and solar power impose their own burdens on materials supply chains there’s a solid argument that the pretty picture is doubly wasteful.
This reminds me of the Emma Goldman quote: “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.” Apparently the same can be said of dissent. It will only be tolerated if it is guaranteed to be ineffective.
The rise of mezzo-economics. Or economists who actually research real industry structures and their market operations, rather than theorise about stylised markets.
The super-connected companies that rule the world.
Facebook brings the world closer – or at least allows us to measure just how effective networks are at making connection. I still maintain that network theory, and tools for network analysis, are going to become much more valuable over the next decade or two.
A graph I made. There is more to credit (debt) than just interest rates, and there are lessons from looking at patterns the long run.
Finally, a great short clip on what motivates us. Money only motivates us in some circumstances, and backfires in others (ht. FactOrFiction).
Tips, suggestions, comments and requests to [email protected] + follow me on Twitter @rumplestatskin