What should I ask Jennifer Pahlka?
Yes, I will be doing a Conversation with her. From Wikipedia: Jennifer Pahlka (born December 27, 1969) is an American businesswoman and political advisor. She is the founder and former executive...
View ArticleHow should government disclosure be done?
That is my recent Bloomberg column on this all-important topic. Here is one part: The risk is that Trump would hoard the most sensitive information and disclose selectively, to manipulate the news...
View ArticleReforming the NIH
It seems the Trump proposal to simply cut overhead to fifteen percent will not stand up in the courts, at least not without Congressional approval? Nonetheless a few of you have asked me what I think...
View ArticleAn Economic Approach to Homer’s Odyssey: Part II
My three-part essay for Liberty Fund continues, here is the opener: In the previous article, I outlined what an economic approach to reading Homer’s epic, The Odyssey,1 might look like. I also noted...
View ArticleWhat should I ask Ezra Klein?
Yes I will be doing a podcast with him. And he has a new and very good book coming out with Derek Thompson, namely Abundance. So what should I ask him? The post What should I ask Ezra Klein? appeared...
View ArticleThe Ukraine peace deal
The information environment is so soiled right now, it is especially difficult to assess such matters. And I, like many others, am upset about the rhetoric and methods that have been applied from the...
View ArticleShould OneQuadrillionOwls be worried?
IMO this is one of the more compelling “disaster” scenarios — not that AI goes haywire because it hates humanity, but that it acquires power by being effective and winning trust — and then, that there...
View ArticleThe political economy of Manus AI
Early reports are pretty consistent, and they indicate that Manus agentic AI is for real, and ahead of its American counterparts. I also hear it is still glitchy Still, it is easy to imagine Chinese...
View ArticleAn Economic Approach to Homer’s Odyssey: Part III
Published by Liberty Fund, by me, here is the third and final installment. Excerpt: “Below is a brief and simplified catalog of the major polities described in The Odyssey: • Pylos and Sparta: Visited...
View ArticleMy excellent Conversation with Ezra Klein
Ezra is getting plenty of coverage for his very good and very on the mark new book with Derek Thompson, Abundance. So far it is a huge hit after only a few days. I figured this conversation would be...
View ArticleCaleb Watney on risk and science funding
Right now, DOGE is treating efficiency as a simple cost-cutting exercise. But science isn’t a procurement process; it’s an investment portfolio. If a venture capital firm measured efficiency purely by...
View ArticleWhy Spain’s transition to democracy remains controversial
New podcast series on Latin American political economy, with Rasheed Griffith and Diego Sánchez de la Cruz, all in English. The post Why Spain’s transition to democracy remains controversial appeared...
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China’s Medicines are Saving American Lives
The Economist reports that China is now the second largest producer of new pharmaceuticals, after the United States. China has long been known for churning out generic drugs, supplying raw ingredients...
View ArticleWho believes in conspiracy theories?
While the psychological dispositions that underlie conspiracy thinking are well researched, there has been remarkably little research on the political preferences of conspiracy believers that go beyond...
View ArticleRethinking regulatory fragmentation
Regulatory fragmentation occurs when multiple federal agencies oversee a single issue. Using the full text of the Federal Register, the government’s official daily publication, we provide the first...
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