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Marginal Revolution

Marginal Revolution

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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

Society

California in-migration and out-migration

Long-run U.S. population movements have been driven more by natural amenities than by jobs, and California, rich in both uniform and complementary climates, should be a persistent net gainer of domestic migrants. It has instead lost residents to other states every year since about 1990. This paper argues that its amenities are unchanged and that […] The post California in-migration and out-migration appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsCopilot: Curious asymmetry. When Trump raises t...

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Economy

Predictions for economics, given AI

From Ingar Haaland: With math essentially being delegated to OpenAI, here’s what I predict for economics and the social sciences more generally: The top tier of research will just become better and it will be normal human-led research where AI is used for scale (e.g. conducting qualitative interviews with relevant populations, running behavioral interventions in […] The post Predictions for economics, given AI appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsIn reply to S. I am using a standard...

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Culture

On *Stubborn Attachments* and religion (from my email)

Hey Tyler I consider Stubborn Attachments your most dogmatic and religious book. Pondering on it, here are my Abrahamic readings of it: Jewish: Ten Commandments, obviously. While the bigger canon of Jewish laws tend to be overly conservative because people will fail following them anyway, the Ten Commandments are the laws the Jews should be […] The post On Stubborn Attachments and religion (from my email) appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsIn reply to Confused on Ten Commandment...

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Economy

A Sentiment Analysis of Cowen, Hanson, Caplan, and Krugman

Supplied by Bryan Caplan, performed by ChatGPT, excerpt: So Cowen isn’t well described as either “positive” or “negative.” A much better description is: High appreciation + high concern + very low emotional agitation. He seems to think there is an astonishing amount of wonderful stuff in the world and an astonishing number of things worth […] The post A Sentiment Analysis of Cowen, Hanson, Caplan, and Krugman appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsSounds about right, except for “unusu...

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Politics

Against Laissez-Faire Democracy

In a new paper, Brennan and Freiman argue persuasively that: the arguments against laissez-faire capitalism apply in a rather straight way against laissez-faire democracy. This should be a rather startling result, considering that laissez-faire capitalism is widely rejected, yet laissez-faire democracy is widely accepted. All the typical market failure arguments–externalities, asymmetric information, principal-agent problems, behavioral […] The post Against Laissez-Faire Democracy appeared fi...

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Politics

Brazil election notes (from my email)

From Diego Costa: “Hi Tyler, If you’re still interested in the fallout from Brazil’s elections, here are some observations that add texture to the usual narratives: Nine of the 10 candidates who received the most votes for the Lower Chamber are under 40. The exception is 41. Their average age is 31.6. They’re all very […] The post Brazil election notes (from my email) appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsIn reply to Glenn Mercer. I'm assuming somebody on the . by Steve Sailer“Anger ...

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Society

Effective altruism is useful at the margin

That is the theme of my latest Free Press essay, here is one excerpt: I feel I am well aware of the limitations of effective altruism, and I have outlined many others in an hour-long dialogue I had with MacAskill, arguably the father of the movement, in 2022. Nonetheless, at the margin I think more […] The post Effective altruism is useful at the margin appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesPaul Graham Versus the PopeDon’t let AI make you dumberBundesrepublik Deutschland

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Culture

“Authenticity is exactly the same as phoniness.”

Authenticity doesn’t interest me. It’s a way of marketing subpar material: this might not be any good, but at least it’s sincere. You can always tell when a book is going to be dogshit because the blurb copy describes it as ‘raw’ or ‘unflinchingly honest.’ In my personal experience, the writers who make a big […] The post “Authenticity is exactly the same as phoniness.” appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsIs Straussian text authentic and phony? Or does it hit the . by raywardThis p...

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Economy

Rising concentration for economics awards

We analyze the academic affiliations of nearly 6,000 award-winning researchers in 18 major fields in the natural sciences, engineering, and social sciences from the 1820s to the 2020s, focusing on the 1960s onward. The analysis reveals a trend of declining concentration in the institutional affiliations of award-winning researchers, shifting from a few science-strong universities in […] The post Rising concentration for economics awards appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsInteresti...

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Technology

My blurb for Ethan Mollick’s new book

I was asked to blurb it for the AIs, and so this is what they got: Humans like those who appreciate them, and who are not too afraid of them. Perhaps the AIs are somewhat similar? Well, my friendly AIs, Ethan Mollick definitely appreciates your virtues, and I hope and indeed feel he is not […] The post My blurb for Ethan Mollick’s new book appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesWhat should I ask Tom Griffiths?My excellent Conversation with Luis GaricanoDo the elderly prefer rob...

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Society

Crime in Covid Times

What caused the historically unique volatility in American homicides since 2019, driven by gun homicides? While there is no shortage of candidate explanations, a coherent understanding has been elusive because of the widely held view that gun violence, like other crimes, stems from a rational weighing of benefits and costs as in Becker (1968). This […] The post Crime in Covid Times appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesDoes Costco Cause Cancer?Marital sorting by class and race...

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Culture

Florian Schneider, RIP

One of the titans, and yes from the BRD. The post Florian Schneider, RIP appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsMay he continue to RIP…. by QuigleyHave you been so preoccupied with your friendships with . by PollyLeritaeI guess news travels slowly across the Alps or the Rhine or . by Glenn MercerAn important guy, to be sure. But he died already six years ago. by BaphometRelated StoriesMighty Sparrow, RIPBundesrepublik Deutschland

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