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Marginal Revolution

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Economics blog by Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok covering economics, culture, and ideas.

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Discussions from Marginal Revolution

Healthcare

The Shingles Vaccine Reduces Dementia

In 2013 in Can the Shingles Vaccine Prevent Dementia? I wrote: A new paper provides good evidence that the shingles vaccine can prevent dementia, which strongly suggests that some forms of dementia are caused by the varicella zoster virus (VZV), the virus that on initial infection causes chickenpox. We now have three studies–from America, Australia and […] The post The Shingles Vaccine Reduces Dementia appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesMontana’s SB535 and a Potential Biote...

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Education

How research in math will change (from my email)

From GA: I am a mathematician…and some of your recent comments on MR about the role of AI in Econ research as well as the (disappearing?) role of academic papers inspired this response. (It is partially but not exclusively about academia, so I hope it is ok that I’m sending it to your GMU address. […] The post How research in math will change (from my email) appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesAI-Native FirmsMy Conversation with Dave BaszuckiDo teens regret their social medi...

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Society

Facts about American men and women

Much of what looks like changing marriage preferences over the twentieth century is actually demographics. Exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in sex ratios across U.S. birth cohorts (1870, 1930, 1950), we jointly identify preferences, match quality dynamics, and the costs of marriage and divorce. Demographics alone explain two-thirds of cross-cohort differences. Women’s premium for older husbands […] The post Facts about American men and women appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Comm...

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Society

A Cohort Perspective on Latin America’s Fertility Transition

Latin America’s momentous fertility transition is now in the domain of history, allowing a cohort perspective on the decline of completed fertility. Using census microdata from 17 Latin American countries, we track female birth cohorts from the 1920s to the 1970s by subnational region to document the extent to which cohort fertility decline coincided with […] The post A Cohort Perspective on Latin America’s Fertility Transition appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsThe decline in bir...

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Technology

Can Online Activity Be Regulated? Evidence from Adult Websites

The consequences of online regulations depend on the extent to which users can circumvent restrictions or substitute toward noncompliant platforms. Since 2023, 25 U.S. states have implemented age verification laws that caused prominent adult websites (including Pornhub) to restrict local access for all users. We study how these restrictions affected browsing activity using individual-level panel […] The post Can Online Activity Be Regulated? Evidence from Adult Websites appeared first on Marg...

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Society

Do teens regret their social media use?

A new study by Irish researcher Eoin Whelan attempts to answer this. Dr. Whelan told me he was specifically inspired by Haidt’s 2024 claims and sought to examine them rigorously and in the context of other regrets. This is a great use of science…testing dramatic public claims. So…do they hold up? In Dr. Whelan’s study, 389 young […] The post Do teens regret their social media use? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsFour hundred young adults aged 20–24 from Ireland, the . by MikePR...

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Culture

*Disclosure Day* (doubt if there are net spoilers in this post)

Perhaps rewatching The Omen is better prep for this movie than thinking about UFOs? In this regard Disclosure Day is somewhat more interesting than I had been expecting. Peter Thiel, Ross Douthat, telephone! And yet I have plenty of quibbles. It was a little too long. The acting is entirely serviceable, but none of the […] The post Disclosure Day (doubt if there are net spoilers in this post) appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsAnyone else thinking of Childhood's End by Clarke, w...

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Geopolitics

AI nationalism, Europe included

Most of my Free Press column deals with Mythos, but here are some remarks on Europe: There is yet another huge problem behind all these first-order problems. Let us say, for instance, that France’s Mistral AI develops very nicely and serves as an EU counterpart of Anthropic and OpenAI. Well, then the other European countries […] The post AI nationalism, Europe included appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsFrance needs Pétainism. by AnonSuppose that at any given moment you can buy el...

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Education

Educational arbitrage?

Is it really all about the networking? Some people think so, and they are taking action: Justin Helman didn’t get his dream acceptance from the University of Florida. But that isn’t stopping him from pursuing the classic college experience there. The recent high-school graduate from Park Ridge, N.J., is set to move into a private apartment […] The post Educational arbitrage? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesWho Leads? Relative Age Effects on Social CapitalMy excellent Con...

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Economy

How High-Skill Immigration Restrictions Eroded Regional Productivity: Evidence from the 2017 BAHA Executive Order

This paper estimates the regional economic impact of high-skill immigration restrictions by analyzing the 2017 “Buy American, Hire American” (BAHA) policy as a quasi-experimental policy shock. By significantly tightening H-1B visa adjudication, BAHA caused new employment petition denial rates to double from 7% to 17%, while STEM-specific rejections tripled to 31%. Using a difference-indifferences framework, […] The post How High-Skill Immigration Restrictions Eroded Regional Productivity: Evi...

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Economy

Might AI hurt corporate profits? (from my email)

From Clifford Sosin: I loved your talk about AI and wanted to bounce an idea off you. I think AI may be bad for corporate profit margins. A lot of companies make money because their customers can’t be bothered to monitor them more closely, or to insource something. Customers let the company make some money […] The post Might AI hurt corporate profits? (from my email) appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesLaw professors prefer AI over peer answersHow High-Skill Immigration Rest...

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Healthcare

Is work from home bad for your mental health?

From the “Results” section: Relative to those in nonremotable jobs, workers in remotable jobs spent approximately one additional hour alone per workday after the pandemic. Those in remotable jobs also differentially increased days spent entirely alone and decreased after-work socializing. The rise in isolation was sharpest for those living alone, whose likelihood of spending the […] The post Is work from home bad for your mental health? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsIn reply ...

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