In the last decade, large financial institutions in the United States have purchased hundreds of thousands of homes and converted them to rentals. This paper studies the welfare consequences of institutional ownership of single-family housing. We build an equilibrium model of the housing market with two sectors: rental and homeownership. The model captures two key […] The post Institutional ownership of single-family housing appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
From the NYT: The part of this research that really blows me away is the realization that our environment is, in part, made up of the genes of the people around us. Our friends’, our partners’, even our peers’ genes all influence us. Preliminary research that I was involved in suggests that your spouse’s genes […] The post Dalton Conley in genes-environment interaction appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
The welfare contributions of new goods and free goods are not well-measured in our current national accounts. We derive explicit terms for the contributions of these goods and introduce a new framework and metric, GDP-B which quantifies their benefits. We apply this framework to several empirical examples including Facebook and smartphone cameras and estimate their […] The post A new measurement for the value of free goods appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. What explains the global Islamic revival? 2. Sofia Gubaidalina, RIP (NYT). 3. Europe’s oldest universities that are still open. 4. Civic Future Talent Programmes. 5. Do we need a more assertive Congress? 6. Ruxandra on fertility. The post Friday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
It seems this ought to happen soon, though it is not (yet) a major news item. Iranian air defenses are severely disrupted, though not forever. The “Hezbollah counterattack” has been more than neutralized, and no alternative deterrent has been put in its place. That too may be temporary. Israeli public opinion is still close in […] The post When will Israel attack Iranian nuclear facilities? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Despite arrests and legal aggression from the Greek Orthodox Church, the First Hellenic Polytheist Temple in 1700 Years is now open. Located near the village of Kalliani in the Peloponnese, in the wild mountains of Arcadia, Pan is once again being honored in his native lands. The Wild Hunt reported in Pagan Community Notes on February […] The post Ross Douthat, telephone! appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
From Samuel Watling, in the new Works in Progress: By the early 1900s, Progress and Poverty was more popular than Shakespeare among Labour MPs. In 1910, the Liberal government of Henry Asquith implemented a tax on increases in land value and undeveloped land with a view to reforming Britain’s system of property taxes. Asquith’s gambit failed […] The post The failure of the land value tax appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Sir Keir Starmer is abolishing NHS England as Labour embarks on the biggest reorganisation of the health service for more than a decade. The prime minister said that scrapping the arm’s-length body would bring “management of the NHS back into democratic control” and reduce spending on “two layers of bureaucracy”. He said the quango, responsible […] The post More British DOGE appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Chad’s PM2.5 levels were more than 18 times higher than the WHO guideline, with mineral dust in the Sahara Desert as the primary source of air pollutants. Here is the full article, most of all noting that six of the world’s ten most polluted cities are in India. Via the excellent Samir Varma. The post Chad fact of the day appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. SSC on Ozempic shortages and compounds. 2. Catherine Rampell joins MSNBC as host. 3. Saturn gains 128 new moons, bringing the total to 274 (NYT). 4. Nicholas Decker on Chad Jones. 5. “Dodge Charger owners are now experiencing an exciting new feature: pop-up ads that appear every time the vehicle stops at a light.” […] The post Thursday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Germany opened its doors a decade ago to nearly 1 million Syrians, taking in more than any other country in Europe. Today, some 6,000 Syrian doctors make up the single largest group of foreign-born physicians, filling vital gaps in care at hospitals and clinics from the Alps to the Baltic Sea. That is especially true […] The post Germany fact of the day appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Claire Wang, Cambrige, Mass. whole brain emulation. Minji Kim, high school, Seoul, to build a running app. Collin Juurako, Vancouver, UBC, cryobiology. Stevie Miller, Carnegie Mellon, to write for Works in Progress, general career development. Ruhan Khanna and Louis Merriam, WDC Sidwell high school, to decipher the Indus script. Marwa Mattaii and Anush Mutyala, Vancouver […] The post Emergent Ventures winners, 41st cohort appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Greenland’s centre-right opposition has won a surprise general election victory – in a vote dominated by independence and US President Donald Trump’s pledge to take over the semi-autonomous territory. The centre-right Demokraatit party – which favours a gradual approach to independence from Denmark – achieved around 30% of the vote, near-complete results show… Five of […] The post The election in Greenland appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. Lydia Polgreen on Dubai and migration (NYT, a good series from her, ongoing). 2. Open Philanthrpy is starting an Abundance and Growth program. 3. New Will MacAskill project. 4. Co-Reader. 5. “One in four new recruits to the German armed forces drops out within six months of joining, according to the nation’s military watchdog […] The post Wednesday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
The number of times people visit the doctor per year varies tremendously across OECD countries from a low of 2.9 in Chile to a high of 17.5 (!) in Korea. I haven’t run the numbers officially but it doesn’t seem that there is much correlation with medical spending per capita or life expectancy. Data can […] The post Visits to the Doctor, Per Year appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
The cost of child care now exceeds the price of college tuition in 38 states and the District of Columbia, according to a new analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute. The left-leaning think tank, based in Washington, D.C., used 2023 federal and nonprofit data to compare the monthly cost of infant child care to […] The post Model this, child care vs. college costs appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
We document that, after remaining almost constant for almost 30 years, real labor productivity at U.S. restaurants surged over 15% during the COVID pandemic. This surge has persisted even as many conditions have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Using mobile phone data tracking visits and spending at more than 100,000 individual limited service restaurants across the […] The post The Curious Surge of Productivity in U.S. Restaurants appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Check it out here. The post Political markets in everything, Steak ‘n Shake edition appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. More on stablecoins going mainstream (FT). 2. Kevin Drum, one of the all-time great bloggers, RIP. 3. Bioethicists, on average, are worse than astrologers. Much worse. 4, Mark Carney wants to eliminate the consumer carbon tax and replace it with a carbon tax on imports? 5. Scott Sumner reviews George Selgin on the New […] The post Tuesday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Kevin Drum was one of the OG bloggers. I never met him IRL but we know from Ibelin that that is no bar to being friends. One thing I learned from Ayn Rand is that virtue should be rewarded, not just sin punished. That’s one reason why we shouldn’t wait until someone has passed to […] The post Kevin Drum, RIP appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
The daughters of immigrants enjoy higher absolute mobility than daughters of locals in most destinations, while immigrant sons primarily enjoy this advantage in countries with long histories of immigration. That is from a new and very interesting paper by Leah Boustan, et.al. You have pondered the implied policy recommendations, right? The post Sentences to ponder appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Did you know that the rest of the country (world?) calls it “the beach”? New Jerseyans call it “the shore.” (Why?) While growing up, my mother would take my sister and me to the New Jersey shore for a week, each summer. My father would drive down and visit, but he was too much of […] The post Visiting the New Jersey shore appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
be mebe Marginal Revolutiondaily links postedcommenters debating obscure economic theoriessomeone mentions Baumol’s cost diseasehalf the commenters triggered, half delightedTyler posts cryptic sentence about food trucks“markets in everything” intensifiesrealize you just spent two hours reading about medieval grain pricesmfw economics was the real marginal revolution all along The post GPT 4.5 on this blog appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. A new and thorough Manus report. And Manus would be a huge liability risk in the United States. And yup. And double yup, when will the NYT cover Manus? And from the Manus founder. 2. Stephen Kotkin on Trump and Ukraine (New Yorker). So far one of the best pieces this year. 3. Greg […] The post Monday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID. The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States. In consultation with Congress, we intend for […] The post US AID, current status appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Yes, I will be doing a Conversation with him. Chris is a managing partner at Andreessen-Horowitz, and has recently published Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet. Here is Chris on Wikipedia. Here is Chris on Twitter. Chris has some writings on his home page. So what should I ask him? The post What should I ask Chris Dixon? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
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 by Telemachus, superficially seem normal but they seem sadder on reflection and Sparta relies on intoxication to support public order. • Ogygia, or Calypso: An […] The post An Economic Approach to Homer’s Odyssey: Part III appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Here is the audio, video, and transcript. Excerpt: COWEN: You grew up in Northwest Territories and also Alberta, so western Canada. How do you think that’s shaped your perspective on economies? CARNEY: Well, the big thing I took from my time in Alberta is just, I mean, it made me a market believer because I’ll give you […] The post Redux, my 2021 Conversation with Mark Carney appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Highly controversial plans to revolutionise Whitehall by introducing performance-related pay, an accelerated exit process for under-performing mandarins and more digitalisation will be announced this week in what ministers say is a programme to “reshape the state” so it can respond to a new “era of insecurity”. The proposed changes, to be announced by Cabinet Office […] The post Will there be a British DOGE? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. Ezra Klein essay, adapted from his Abundance book with Derek Thompson (NYT). 2. Ancient transport vehicles, without wheels, in New Mexico. 3. Was Victor Hugo also a great visual artist? (Times of London). Further links here. 4. It turns out Buffy Sainte-Marie isn’t even Canadian? 5. Is brick making a comeback in urban architecture? […] The post Sunday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
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 agentic AI “getting there” before the American product does. If so, what does that world look like? The cruder way […] The post The political economy of Manus AI appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. Salim Furth uses Deep Research. 2. Culture wars in New Zealand. 3. Gdp without g (Bloomberg). 4. “Surprisingly common trait in high agency people is they had heroes and figured out how to meet them all before age 25” Nabeel 5. “We find that Gun Sanctity is highly predictive of different forms of magical […] The post Saturday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. Manus. And more. And Chubby weighs in. Here is background information. This seems to be some kind of demo? The post Manus assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Yes I will be doing a Conversation with him. This is Jack Clark the co-founder of Anthropic, rather than Jack Clark the baseball player. For further background, here is his LinkedIn page. So what should I ask him? The post What should I ask Jack Clark? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Recent evidence indicates that the emergence of stone tool technology occurred before the appearance of the genus Homo1 and may potentially be traced back deep into the primate evolutionary line. Conversely, osseous technologies are apparently exclusive of later hominins from approximately 2 million years ago (Ma), whereas the earliest systematic production of bone tools is currently restricted […] The post Systematic bone tool production at 1.5 million years ago appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Poland will look at gaining access to nuclear weapons and also ensure that every man undergoes military training as part of an effort to build a 500,000-strong army to face off the threat from Russia, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the parliament on Friday. Here is the full article. The post Solve for the equilibrium appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. Brian Potter analyzes Boom and the attempt to build a successful supersonic aircraft. 2. Balaji on tariffs. 3. Max Tabarrok on AI and the economics job market. 4. 50 thoughts on DOGE, an excellent post. 5. Why people don’t like neighborhood density. 6. Starting to get freaky? 7. Rebuilding Addis? (FT) 8. Jean-Claude Saintilus, […] The post Friday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
That is the topic of my latest Bloomberg column, here is one bit: The most important factors behind trade balances include savings decisions, fiscal policy, economic growth rates, wealth levels and demographic characteristics such as the age of the population. As economist Joseph Gagnon bluntly put it: “None of the studies found any role for trade barriers.” […] The post Tariffs do not in general help trade deficits appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
I always loved games and card games, and they played a big role in family life. It was one activity that everyone, including my grandmother, could partake in enthusiastically, and on a more or less equal footing. The big card game was euchre, yes euchre. It is a trick-taking game with trumps, think of it […] The post Games we played appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Denmark’s state-run postal service, PostNord, is to end all letter deliveries at the end of 2025, citing a 90% decline in letter volumes since the start of the century. The decision brings to an end 400 years of the company’s letter service. Denmark’s 1,500 postboxes will start to disappear from the start of June. Transport […] The post Denmark fact of the day appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. In defense of Gemini. 2. Schelling applied to AI dominance? 3. One account of the Zizian story. 4. Can you induce anxiety in your LLM? 5. Chris Blattman on Deep Research. 6. ESPR summer camp, for 16- to 21-year olds. 7. AI art auction exceeds expectations. The post Thursday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
An excellent EconTalk episode with Pete Boettke on the socialist calculation debate. I like Boettke on the three Ps. The three Ps–property, prices, and profits and loss. Property incentivizes us. Prices guide us. Profits lure us to new changes and losses discipline us. Today, “incentives matter” is often considered the first lesson of economics. But […] The post Boettke on the Socialist Calculation Debate appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Here is my 68 minutes with David Perell, who is excellent in such settings: Here is David’s Twitter take, here is a short bit on how to use different AI tools. Here is the transcript. Self-recommending. The post How AI is changing and will change the world of writing appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Here is the audio, video, and transcript. Here is part of the episode summary: He joins Tyler to discuss why it took scientists so long to accept airborne disease transmission and more, including why 19th-century doctors thought hay fever was a neurosis, why it took so long for the WHO and CDC to acknowledge COVID-19 […] The post My Conversation with Carl Zimmer appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
German borrowing costs surged by the most in 17 years on Wednesday, as investors bet on a big boost to the country’s ailing economy from a historic deal to fund investment in the military and infrastructure. The yield on the 10-year Bund surged 0.21 percentage points to 2.69 per cent, its biggest one-day move since […] The post Germany fact of the day appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. Some new survey results on work from home. 2. Digital doppelgangers. 3. Liu Jiakun wins the Pritzker Prize, photos at the link. 4. The ideology of AI governance. Can AI rule be interpretable to humans? Weird stuff, don’t worry I don’t understand it either. 5. Three Wikipedia pages for great economists. 6. Robert Mundell […] The post Wednesday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Elon recently re-opened the perennial debate about whether Social Security is a ponzi scheme. Here’s my, lightly edited post from 2011. Elon is in good company calling social security a ponzi scheme. First up is Nobel prize winner Paul Samuelson who wrote: The beauty of social insurance is that it is actuarially unsound. Everyone who reaches […] The post Is Social Security a Ponzi Scheme? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Of relevance to some recent debates: We have four main findings: First, measuring “economic income” as currently-taxed income plus new unrealized gains, the income tax base captures 60% of economic income of the top 1% of wealth-holders (and 71% adjusting for inflation) and the vast majority of income for lower wealth groups. Second, adjusting for […] The post The Role of Unrealized Gains and Borrowing in the Taxation of the Rich appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
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 is a cohort of humans that fear this expansion of trust and control, and those humans find themselves at odds with the nebulously part-human-part-AI […] The post Should OneQuadrillionOwls be worried? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
1. Perplexity, Deutsche Telekom, and an AI smartphone. 2. GPT 4.5 and Bishop Berkeley! 3. Stocks vs. flows, blah blah blah you still can compare two numbers. 4. “That men once stood before the Rokeby Venus and gawped means nothing to us.” 5. GDP forecasts getting worse. 6. Australian who blood saved the lives of 2.4 […] The post Tuesday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
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