Category Archives: Economics

Stories Are Not Evidence

Posted on Wednesday 18 September 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How the right “creates stories” to support their worldview (i.e. they’re all about motivated reasoning); Paul Krugman on Trump, tariffs, Stalin, and Lysenko; Items about DeSantis cheating and which party is the party of violence; Items about a brain fever … Continue reading →

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The Need for a Fantasy Past

Posted on Sunday 28 July 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

There are two problems with MAGA. First, it’s regressive in that it’s trying to reimpose primitive tribal values onto a complex, global world. Second, more practically, it’s simply not possible to return to conditions of the past. Today’s items: Why … Continue reading →

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Inherent Ignorance; Juneteenth; Republican schemes about tariffs.

Posted on Wednesday 19 June 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

Another three tracks for today. Are some people so ignorant that they believe the creation of the world (and the US) happened 2023 years ago? An example from Facebook. How Juneteenth suggests considering the relationship between MAGA and the Old … Continue reading →

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How Humanity is Hobbled by Tribalism

Posted on Saturday 6 April 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

I do have a general scheme in work, for which all of these items are supporting evidence. (And how this really does relate to science fiction.) A rogue GOP congressman who spouts unsupported conspiracy theories; How RFK Jr. supporters rationalize … Continue reading →

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Necessary Stories, and Most of the Others

Posted on Tuesday 26 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

About this morning’s Baltimore bridge collapse, and the right-wing conspiracy-theory accusations about it; Paul Krugman on how Republicans want to bring down Obamacare to support their notion that the government can never do good things; And a Doonesbury cartoon about … Continue reading →

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An Anthropologist from Mars Considers the Evidence

Posted on Saturday 23 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

What would a hypothetical anthropologist from another planet conclude about humanity from these several items today? Charlie Kirk insists Christians must vote Republican; a former ESPN anchor thinks Satan knocked out her teeth; Charlie Kirk thinks Haiti is infested with … Continue reading →

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The Economy, the Deep State, and Conservative Denial of Reality

Posted on Tuesday 19 March 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How conservatives have won their war against social media in order to keep spreading disinformation; A reality check on what the “Deep State” actually consists of; Two more takes on why so many people don’t realize how good the American … Continue reading →

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Stalwarts? Traditionalists? Tribalists? Cultists? Some Evidence

Posted on Monday 5 February 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

First, I’d thought to post a summary review of the third short philosophy book I’ve read recently — Bertrand Russell’s THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY — but as the day turned out, I had time only to do another round-up of … Continue reading →

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Odds and Ends…

Posted on Saturday 27 January 2024 by Mark R. Kelly

How journalism may never again make money; Keeping lists of books you’re read; Decoding the Mandelbrot set. More links collected the past week or so, today non-political ones. Washington Post, Perry Bacon Jr., 27 Jan 2024: Opinion | Journalism may … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Economics, Mathematics | Comments Off on Odds and Ends…

Whether Economics is a Science, and other topics

Posted on Tuesday 19 December 2023 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman on economists who won’t admit they are wrong; How science journalism is theatened, not to mention basic scientific literacy; Disinformation and journalists challenging interviewees on air; How Uganda’s anti-gay laws, inspired by American Christians, is hurting its economy; … Continue reading →

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