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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

👥 Society
January 21, 2026

What happens when dating goes online?

This paper studies how online dating platforms have impacted marital outcomes, assortative matching, and sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates in the United States. We construct county-level measures of online dating usage using data from website-based platforms (2002-2013) and mobile app-based platforms (2017-2023). Leveraging county-level variation and an instrumental variable strategy, we show in the desktop […] The post What happens when dating goes online? appeared first on Marginal R...

United States
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🎭 Culture
January 21, 2026

Indicate precisely what you mean to say…

The book I was reading is titled Encounters and Reflections: Conversations with Seth Benardete, here is one excerpt: Michael: What was [Allan] Bloom like when you first met him? Seth: He was supersensitive to people’s defects. He had antennae out, he knew exactly… Robert: People’s weak spots? Seth: Oh yes, it was extraordinary. Ronna: You […] The post Indicate precisely what you mean to say… appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesMorally judging famous and semi-famous peoplePod...

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🎭 Culture
January 20, 2026

Monday assorted links

1. Republican investigators are not finding much electoral fraud (NYT). 2. New Yorker interview with Amanda Seyfrieds (of Ann Lee fame). An interesting movie, by the way. 28 Years Later is also very good, though too gory for most people, myself included. Watch it if you can. 3. The new autistic Barbie. 4. Why it […] The post Monday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsIn reply to Justin Chang. BRAIN CRAMP: with or without the . by RADIn reply to MikeP. In what way is ...

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📈 Economy
January 20, 2026

Is there a British productivity comeback?

Let us hope: Britain is seeing early signs of a long-awaited turnaround of its productivity woes, according to an alternative measure that suggests output per hour worked has risen at a pace not seen since before the financial crisis. The Resolution Foundation said a “blistering” productivity surge has been masked by problems with official statistics and pointed […] The post Is there a British productivity comeback? appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsThe problem with productivity ...

United Kingdom
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🌍 Geopolitics
January 20, 2026

Fear of larger wars in East Africa

This is one of my major worries for 2026 and beyond. The ethnic and tribal conflict in Ethiopia is not finished, and it killed 700,000 people not long ago. Ethiopia still covets sea access and Eritrea, which at times in the past belong to Ethiopia anyway. Israel has recognized Somaliland, with a variety of other […] The post Fear of larger wars in East Africa appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesIs there a British productivity comeback?Greenland fact of the dayPodcast with Sa...

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📚 Education
January 19, 2026

Tim Kane on my visit to University of Austin

Here is the link, I should add that in addition to my enthusiasm for the students, the faculty also seemed quite good, most of all knowledgeable and open. I know very little about how the school is run, you might try this short piece from Arnold Kling, who has been visiting there for a week. […] The post Tim Kane on my visit to University of Austin appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Comments“Failure to contextualize is often the greatest “sin” of . by NickI am all for TCs principle of let...

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📈 Economy
January 19, 2026

Those new (old) service sector jobs, chimney sweep edition

Now, many sweeps, including those in the Firkins family business, say the trade has been experiencing an improbable resurgence. According to the National Association of Chimney Sweeps, demand has been bolstered by high energy prices, the popularity of wood-burning stoves and an international climate that has prompted warnings that electricity supplies could be vulnerable to attack by […] The post Those new (old) service sector jobs, chimney sweep edition appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION....

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💼 Business
January 19, 2026

Podcast with Salvador Duarte

Salvador is 17, and is an EV winner from Portugal. Here is the transcript. Here is the list of discussed topics: 0:00 – We’re discovering talent quicker than ever 5:14 – Being in San Francisco is more important than ever 8:01 – There is such a thing like a winning organization 11:43 – Talent and conformity […] The post Podcast with Salvador Duarte appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesMy excellent Conversation with Brendan FoodyNegative political externalities from migration t...

Global
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💻 Technology
January 18, 2026

Saturday assorted links

1. Another AI-generated hit song. 2. AI does Tyler Cowen on AI. 3. Adam Tooze profile. 4. Egg prices fell about twenty percent this year, GPT will tell you that supply is elastic. 5. How difficult is Spanish to understand in various countries? (I think Chilean Spanish is not as tough as suggested here.) 6. […] The post Saturday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

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🎭 Culture
January 18, 2026

*Pee-wee as himself*

I loved this documentary, all three hours of it. Perhaps you need to be American, and to have lived in Pee-wee’s decades? In any case, the film is a wonderful reflection on self-knowledge, the changing status of “coming out” as gay in American history, celebrity, how fame happens, hippie culture, cancel culture, who your real […] The post Pee-wee as himself appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesWhat is the greatest artwork of the century so far?ResurrectionStories Beyond D...

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📚 Education
January 18, 2026

Childhood neighbors matter

We explore the role of immediate next door neighbors in affecting children’s later life occupation choice. Using linked historical census records for over 6 million boys and 4 million girls, we reconstruct neighborhood microgeography to estimate how growing up next door to someone in a particular occupation affects a child’s probability of working in that […] The post Childhood neighbors matter appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. Related StoriesGrade inflation sentences to ponderGrowth Exp...

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📈 Economy
January 17, 2026

The share of factor income paid to computers

Via Kevin Bryan. The post The share of factor income paid to computers appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION. CommentsIn reply to mento. This is why the tech bros will always be . by GridlockScale rocks! That I can use the same productivity software as . by raywardThis graph is figure 2 in the new paper By Chad Jones and . by mentoRelated StoriesClaims about AI and scienceA new economic model of AI and automationClaims about AI productivity improvements

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