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Marginal Revolution

Marginal Revolution

Newsletter | United States | Centre-Right
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Economics blog by Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok covering economics, culture, and ideas.

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Articles

Discussions from Marginal Revolution

Education

Claims about grade inflation

Average grades continue to rise in the United States, raising the question of how grade inflation impacts students. We provide comprehensive evidence on how teacher grading practices affect students’ long-run success. Using administrative high school data from Los Angeles and from Maryland that is linked to postsecondary and earnings records, we develop and validate two […] The post Claims about grade inflation appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

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Infrastructure

A New Order of Things

Big infrastructure projects in the developing world for things like water and electricity are under-pressure. Chinese and US funding is down and these projects often fall apart due to corruption and political incentives to build but not maintain. It is possible to break old institutions and establish new ones, but “there is nothing more difficult to […] The post A New Order of Things appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesThe 21st Century ROAD to Housing ActChristopher Sims, RI...

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Culture

What should I ask Toby Wilkinson?

Yes I will be doing a Conversation with him. He is one of the leading historians of ancient Egypt, and he has a recent book out on Ptolemaic Egypt, namely The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra. Here is his Wikipedia page, he also has served as Vice Chancellor of Fiji […] The post What should I ask Toby Wilkinson? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsIn reply to lastexposfan. Yes. Building on this the . by Nate1. Is the YouTube channel History for Gran...

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Politics

Tricameralism in apartheid South Africa

Yes. South Africa really did have a tricameral Parliament under the 1983 Constitution, in force from 1984 until the democratic transition. But the phrase can mislead, because it sounds more pluralistic than it really was. The system created three racially separate parliamentary chambers: a House of Assembly for whites, a House of Representatives for Coloured […] The post Tricameralism in apartheid South Africa appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsIn reply to rayward. Democrats contr...

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Culture

Christopher Sims, RIP

Here is one notice. Here are previous MR posts on Sims, with a survey of his Nobel contributions at the top. The post Christopher Sims, RIP appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsI’m not a macro person but I always heard good things about . by Tyler RansomRelated StoriesSome simple spatial analytics of Cape TownStudying with Ludwig LachmannWhy is the USDA Involved in Housing.

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Environment

Is Germany actually that good at research?

Jannik Reigl writes: Germany’s remaining research strengths are disproportionately concentrated in fields with limited commercial value. Consider climate science. German institutions co-lead with the United States. The Max Planck Institute in Hamburg, the UK Met Office Hadley Centre, ECMWF in Reading: these are world-class operations. Klaus Hasselmann won the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics for […] The post Is Germany actually that good at research? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Comments...

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Technology

The moralization of artificial intelligence

We started by asking how moralized AI has become in public discourse. Analyzing 69,890 news headlines from 2018 to 2024, we found that AI was moralized at levels comparable to GMOs and vaccines, technologies whose moral opposition has been studied for decades. It ranked above both. The sharpest spike came within weeks of ChatGPT’s launch […] The post The moralization of artificial intelligence appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsAI is the new climate change. Didn't Star Trek do a s...

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Society

Some simple spatial analytics of Cape Town

Rio de Janeiro let its hillsides be filled in with lower-cost dwellings. The result was a significant increase in the crime rate. On the more positive side of the ledger, upward mobility increased too. If you live in a decent favela, you can get to a downtown job with not too much difficulty, albeit with […] The post Some simple spatial analytics of Cape Town appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesStudying with Ludwig LachmannWhy is the USDA Involved in Housing.The 21st Century...

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Politics

Why is the USDA Involved in Housing?!

In yesterday’s post, The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, I wrote that Trump’s Executive Order “cuts off institutional home investors from FHA insurance, VA guarantees and USDA backing…”. The USDA is of course the United States Department of Agriculture. In the comments, Hazel Meade writes: USDA? Wait, what. Why is the USDA in any […] The post Why is the USDA Involved in Housing. appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsIn reply to Ira Gilligan. Today it is a lot more okay, almost . by...

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Education

Studying with Ludwig Lachmann

Since I am in South Africa, I am reminded of my time studying with Ludwig Lachmann, the South African economist from University of the Witwatersrand. I was seventeen, and Lachmann teaching a graduate seminar at New York University. Someone (Richard Ebeling maybe?) had told me he was interesting, so I wanted to sit in on […] The post Studying with Ludwig Lachmann appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesAcademis journals and AI blegWhy is the USDA Involved in Housing.The 21st Cent...

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Politics

Claude on NY’s Senate Bill S7263

A NY State Senate proposed bill (Senate Bill S7263) would prohibit a chatbot to give substantive responses; information, or advice or take any action which, if taken by a natural person, would constitute unauthorized practice or unauthorized use of a professional title as a crime in relation to professions who licensure is governed by the […] The post Claude on NY’s Senate Bill S7263 appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsIn reply to corpore sano. Yea, I suspect I'll want/need to . by...

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Society

My podcast with Nebular

We’ve just published the video on YouTube, X, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. We also published some extended show notes and the transcript on Substack. I thought they did an excellent job here, and lots of fresh material. We start with the fertility crisis: Murphy: We’ve always had a majority young society, and in our lifetime, we’ll have this transition to majority old society. […] The post My podcast with Nebular appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

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