Category Archives: Economics

Ls&Cs: Is DNA Safe to Eat? Is America Undergoing a Mass Psychosis?

Posted on Tuesday 14 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman on Republican resistance to investments in the future; a concern about whether DNA is safe to eat; about watching Fox News every day; and about Carl Jung’s warning about mass psychosis.

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Pursuing Books During the Pandemic and Supply-Side Crisis

Posted on Tuesday 7 December 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Via book reviews and Fb posts, I’m aware of 2 or 3 new nonfiction books published every week that look interesting enough to consider reading. I restrain myself; at most I buy 2 or 3 new nonfiction books a month … Continue reading →

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Ls&Cs: Look at the (Economics) Evidence

Posted on Wednesday 13 October 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

More evidence that economics (and psychology) are becoming sciences, not just ideologies. This year’s Nobel Prizes in economics are interesting, Paul Krugman explains, because their recipients applied real-world evidence which turn out to undermine ideological economic theories that that have … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Reality; Economics; Religion and Politics

Posted on Saturday 16 January 2021 by Mark R. Kelly

Scientific American: Now Is the Time to Reestablish Reality, subtitled “We need to agree on the evidence—so we can disagree on what to do in light of it” On the occasion of the passing of the Trump administration, of course. … Continue reading →

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Link and Comments: Federal Deficits and Pandemic Relief

Posted on Thursday 23 July 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

One of the themes of my blog here is that reality is complex. While many if not most people (especially conservatives) cling to simple, black and white, alternatives to every issue, and think the right answer is always white, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Culture, Economics | Comments Off on Link and Comments: Federal Deficits and Pandemic Relief

Links and Comments: Secrets of Success, the 2010s, Gibson’s future, History v. Narratives

Posted on Friday 3 January 2020 by Mark R. Kelly

Here are a few items from recent papers. 1) Nicholas Kristof: The Four Secrets of Success. Which are: 1. Take a class in economics and in statistics 2. Connect to a cause larger than yourself. 3. Make out. 4. Escape … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Psychology and Economics; SF and Fantasy

Posted on Monday 8 October 2018 by Mark R. Kelly

Several items from Sunday’s NYT. First a review of a new book by Steven Johnson, FARSIGHTED: How We Make the Decisions That Matter the Most; the review is by Adam Grant: How Do We Make the Long-Term Decisions That Matter?. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Psychology, science fiction | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Psychology and Economics; SF and Fantasy

Krugman and Republican Tax Policy

Posted on Thursday 23 February 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

Paul Krugman is one of my go-to pundits, relentlessly pointing out the evidence of history as undermining conservative goals, even though his scope, politics focusing on economics issues, results in his rehashing certain themes over and over. Here’s one: On … Continue reading →

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Freedom of Media and Partisan Divide

Posted on Tuesday 21 February 2017 by Mark R. Kelly

From the opening essay in the March issue of Harper’s, Tyranny of the Minority by Rebecca Solnit. It’s about Repubican efforts to disenfranchise people unlikely to vote Republican, with this interesting aside: In 1987, for example, Republican appointees eliminated the … Continue reading →

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Links and Comments: Balancing the budget; the existential threat of atheists

Posted on Wednesday 6 May 2015 by Mark R. Kelly

Balancing the federal budget has a simple-minded, intuitive appeal, but it’s not actually necessary. The nation is not a family; and even families don’t balance their budgets from year to year. (E.g. mortgages.) Vox: Families don’t balance their budgets, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, Economics | Comments Off on Links and Comments: Balancing the budget; the existential threat of atheists