10 Weekend Reads

July 25, 2015 6:30am by

I thought things were supposed to quiet down over the Summer? (Apparently not). Pour yourself some cold brewed iced coffee, and settle in for our long form weekend reads:

• The Genesis Engine: We now have the power to quickly and easily alter DNA. (Wired)
• Robo Advisers to Run $2 Trillion by 2020 if This Model Is Right (Bloomberg) see also Investing’s Old Guard Gets Its Algorithm On (Bloomberg)
• The Next Wave in Technology: A Conversation with John Markoff (Edge)
• How an Unlikely Hollywood Juggernaut Came to Rule Netflix (Wired) see also Rain is sizzling bacon, cars are lions roaring: the art of sound in movies (The Guardian)
• Road Hazard: How the ‘Embarrassing’ Gas Tax Impasse Explains Washington (ProPublica)
• The Iran I Saw: Far from the nuclear negotiations, a new tech-savvy Iranian generation takes shape. (Politico)
• Can money buy happiness? It’s true to some extent, but chances are that you’re not getting your money’s worth (WSJ) see also The super-rich are just as miserable as the rest of us (The Week)
• How Ayn Rand Became Libertarians’ Sociopathic Pixie Dream Girl (Vice)
• The Science of Stress and How Our Emotions Affect Our Susceptibility to Burnout and Disease (Brain Pickings)
• Why Is It So Hard to Get a Great Bagel in California? (NYT)

Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with global economist Dambisa Moyo

 

Wage Floor and Employment

Source: Bloomberg

 

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  2. Willy2 commented on Jul 25

    Australian professor Steve Keen (now working in London) gave an truly excellent presentation on a number of debt dynamics.

    Steve Keen has build a model on how dynamics of debt works. He based his model on the thoughts of Hyman Minsky. Keen already saw the crisis coming in 2006.

    http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2015/07/09/will-we-crash-again-ftalphaville-presentation/
    Keen’s PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded as well.
    http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Keen2015WillWeCrashAgain.pptx

  3. RW commented on Jul 25

    Depression’s Advocates

    Back in the early days of the ongoing economic crisis, I had a line in my talks that sometimes got applause, usually got a laugh, and always gave people a reason for optimism. Given the experience of Europe and the United States in the 1930s, I would say, policymakers would not make the same mistakes as their predecessors did during the Great Depression. This time, we would make new, different, and, one hoped, lesser mistakes.

    Unfortunately, that prediction turned out to be wrong. ….

  4. VennData commented on Jul 25

    ​Louisiana gunman’s rage dates back decades

    ​​”…A local TV host frequently invited him as a guest, knowing he’d be a lightning rod who could light up the phone lines with rants against abortion and working women…”

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lafayette-louisiana-movie-theater-shooting-john-houser-extreme-views-on-tv/

    So he was part of what Donald Trump and Ted Cruz affectionately refer to as “The Base.”

    Yeah, those black, brown and penisless-people are the real problem in this country, right, sure.

    • VennData commented on Jul 25

      All these murder-suicide dudes have it backwards

  5. rd commented on Jul 25

    Re: Gas Tax

    The recent bridge collapse on I-10 in CA is going to be a good example of the interstate commerce nature of the national highway system. It is likely that the most impacted sector related to that collapse will be truckstops west of Phoenix, AZ on I-10. Trucks from Port of Long Beach will now have to go north on I-15 to I-40 through Vegas and Flagstaff or south through San Diego to Tucson on I-8. The stretch on I-10 from LA to Phoenix will be almost devoid of trucks for now.

    BTW – this incident demonstrates what “functionally obsolete” means. It typically refers to infrastructure not meeting new codes and standards – that means more accidents due to increased traffic in bad geometries, washouts of bridge piers in low frequency events, collapse in earthquakes, etc. even though there isn’t visible damage, such as excessive corrosion, fatigue cracking etc. So the structure itself was rated as “A” with regards to maintenance, but the old design for it increased risk of this type of event as bridge scour has become much better understood since the 1988 Schoharie Thruway bridge collapse in NYS. Much of I-10 was built long before that.

    • VennData commented on Jul 25

      But isn’t it important that Rand Paul makes a point about Planned Parenthood? He is after the darling of the “freedom lovers.”

    • VennData commented on Jul 25

      It is very important that all the Silicon Valley types get out there and picket Planned Parenthood storefronts to support their man, Rand Paul.

      And while they’re at it, they can cut their own hair like he does.

  8. ilsm commented on Jul 25

    Nero’s congress appropriates money to buy its own highway bonds…….

    The Thrift Savings Plan is the federal employees’ form of 401k, with match up to 5%.

    The congress wants to use TSP funds to buy road bonds rather than raise federal gas taxes.

    OPM’s Thrift Savings Plan in Nero’s Wonderland.

  9. VennData commented on Jul 25

    All these murder-suicide dudes have it backwards.

  10. VennData commented on Jul 25

    Corrections: July 25, 2015 – The New York Times

    http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/pageoneplus/corrections-july-25-2015.html?referrer=

    “…An article and a headline in some editions on Friday about a request to the Justice Department for an investigation regarding Hillary Clinton’s personal email account while she was secretary of state misstated the nature of the request, using information from senior government officials. It addressed the potential compromise of classified information in connection with that email account. It did not specifically request an investigation into Mrs. Clinton…”

    http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/pageoneplus/corrections-july-25-2015.html

    But it fits the “Clinton Narrative!”

    So run with it!!

  12. VennData commented on Jul 25

    Sandra Bland.

    “…The 28-year-old woman’s family has questioned the findings, saying she was excited about starting a new job and wouldn’t have taken her own life. A large crowd gathered Saturday morning at the DuPage African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lisle. The July 10 traffic stop was captured on a patrol car dash camera video. It escalated to an assault arrest when the officer said Bland kicked him…”

    http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mourners-attend-illinois-funeral-sandra-bland-who-died-texas-jail-n398326

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/21/much-too-early-to-call-jail-cell-hanging-death-of-sandra-bland-suicide-da-says/

    Texas is getting the best people with their low tax policies.

    Put out your cigarette and show some respect to the police when you get pulled over for breaking the law. Your bad-assedness is nothing anybody in civil society cares about.

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