Read : 2022-07-02

Articles for reading:

1. “Video interview: Olivier Blanchard on inflation” by Noah Smith (Noahpinion, 2022-06-27). 52m video interview with economist Olivier Blanchard, focusing on inflation.
2. “Milton Friedman speaks: Money and inflation” by Free to Choose Network (YouTube, 1978). 1h26m video talk by economist Milton Friedman, focusing on inflation.

   “People have a great misconception in this way: They think the way you solve things by electing the right people…but that isn’t the way you solve things. The way you solve things is by making it politically profitable for the wrong people to do the right things.
   —Milton Friedman (59m16s)

   Of course, on many issues, there is disagreement—even irreconcilable disagreement—over what things are “right”.

Articles for reference:

Abortion

1. “Dobbs v Jackson” by The Supreme Court of the United States (US Supreme Court, 2022-06-24).
2. “Remarks by President Biden on the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade” by Joe Biden (White House, 2022-06-24).
3. “The legal reasoning behind the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade” (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-06-27).
4. “The morning” by David Leonhardt (The New York Times, 2022-06-27). Subtitled, “After abortion, how is the Supreme Court likely to change American society next?” As Donald Trump repeatedly (and cringely) illustrated, calling someone or a group of people a name doesn’t mean that name is accurate or even relevant. Beware how it biases views and conversation.
5. “How Roe got to be Roe” by Liz Mineo (The Harvard Gazette, 2022-06-28).

Economics : Inflation

1. “Milton Friedman speaks: Money and inflation” by Free to Choose Network (YouTube, 1978). 1h26m video.
2. “The morning” by Jeanna Smialek (The New York Times, 2022-06-21). Subtitled, “The government’s plan to fight inflation could cost jobs and restrict wage growth.”
3. “Why is inflation relatively low in some places?” (The Economist, 2022-06-20).
4. “Recession probability soars as inflation worsens” by Harriet Torry, Anthony DeBarros (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-06-19).
5. “How can governments fight inflation?” (The Economist : The Economist Asks, 2022-06-23). 28m podcast with Paul Krugman.
6. “The truth about inflation: Why Milton Friedman was wrong, again” by Blair Fix (Evonomics, 2021-11-24). Just because someone calls something “truth” doesn’t make it so. Or, on the importance of examining hypotheses and arguments. See the comments to the article.
7. “The Cantillon effect: Why Wall Street gets a bailout and you don’t” by Matt Stoller (BIG, 2020-04-09).
8. “The strange art of asking people how much inflation they expect” by Josh Zumbrun (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-06-24). Reasons to question the relevance of inflation expectations as recorded by the University of Michigan’s Survey of Consumers, from a preference for round numbers to political bias. The graph of 1-year-ahead inflation expectations by political affiliation encapsulates these biases.
9. “Who is right about inflation?” by Brian Wallheimer (Chicago Booth Review, 2021-08-09).
10. “Too much money portends high inflation” by John Greenwood, Steve H. Hanke (The Wall Street Journal, 2021-07-20).
11. “Jerome Powell is wrong. Printing money causes inflation.” by Steve H. Hanke, Nicholas Hanlon (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-02-23).
12. “Inflation as a political power play gone wrong” by Yanis Varoufakis (Project Syndicate, 2022-06-22).
13. “The 1970s revisited?” by Jim O’Neill (Project Syndicate, 2022-06-24).
14. “How to fuel inflation and harm the environment” by Anne O. Krueger (Project Syndicate, 2022-06-21).
15. “Central banks should raise interest rates sharply or risk high-inflation era, BIS warns” by Tom Fairless (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-06-26). Larry Summers agrees: “I think the direction of their warnings this time is appropriate”.
16. “Video interview: Olivier Blanchard on inflation” by Noah Smith (Noahpinion, 2022-06-27). 52m video interview with economist Olivier Blanchard, focusing on inflation.
17. “Why inflation looks likely to stay above the pre-pandemic norm” (The Economist, 2022-06-26).
18. “Central bankers write requiem for low-inflation strategies” by Craig Torres, Carolynn Look (Bloomberg, 2022-06-29).
19. “Comparing past and present inflation” by Marijin A. Bolhuis, Judd N.L. Cramer, Lawrence H. Summers (NBER, 2022-06). Correcting for changes in the CPI measures over time.
20. “The inflation miscalculation” by Joseph Politano (Apricitas Economics, 2022-07-01).
21. “Disinflation begins” by Noah Smith (Noahpinion, 2022-07-01).

Economics : Investing and speculation

1. “How attractively are shares now priced?” (The Economist, 2022-06-21).
2. “More hedge funds are betting against Tether as crypto melts down” by Vicky Ge Huang (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-06-27).
3. “Is Tether a black swan?” by Bernhard Mueller (Medium, 2021-06-18).
4. “The Fed’s twin policy errors” by Dan Morehead (Pantera Capital, 2022-06-29).

Economics : Other

1. “What is the ‘doom loop’ in the euro zone?” (The Economist, 2022-06-22).
2. “Is recession inevitable? Economist says plenty of tools remain” by Christina Pazzanese (The Harvard Gazette, 2022-06-21). A Q&A with Betsey Stevenson, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan. Dr. Stevenson served as chief economist at the US Department of Labor (2010–2011) and on the Council of Economic Advisers (2013–2015). Compare with the Q&A with Jason Furman from 11 May 2022.
3. “Mapping Europe’s natural gas crisis” by Joseph Politano (Apricitas Economics, 2022-06-25).
4. “The vibecession: The self-fulfilling prophecy” by kyla scanlon (kyla’s Newsletter, 2022-06-30).
5. “Data versus reality” by kyla scanlon (kyla’s Newsletter, 2022-07-02).

Health

1. “Brain practices new tasks while we sleep” by MGH News and Public Affairs (The Harvard Gazette, 2022-06-22).

Henry George

1. “Your book review: Progress and poverty” by Lars Doucet (Astral Codex Ten, 2021-04-15). A review of (followed by many comments on) Henry George’s famous 1879 book.
2. “Does Georgism work? Part 1: Is land really a big deal?” by Lars Doucet (Astral Codex Ten, 2021-12-08). Part one in a three-part series of guest posts.

Maths and science

1. “The spooky quantum phenomenon you’ve never heard of” by Katie McCormick (Quanta Magazine, 2022-06-22).
2. “How Bell’s theorem proved ‘spooky action at a distance’ is real” by Ben Brubaker (Quanta Magazine, 2021-07-20).
3. “The sordid past of the cubic formula” by David S. Richeson (Quanta Magazine, 2022-06-30).

Politics

1. “The Biden administration has dropped the ball on vaccine development” by Noah Smith (Noahpinion, 2022-06-26). Wait, do you mean to argue that US presidents* and those in their administration are self-interested, calculating politicians?! (*Not to pick on President Biden in particular.)
2. “How to weigh truth with a balance scale” by Pradeep Mutalik (Quanta Magazine, 2022-06-27).

Technology

1. “Is web3 culture similar to Amway culture?” by Lars Doucet (Noahpinion, 2022-06-20). On multi-level marketing (MLM) in Amway and web3.
2. “By exploring virtual worlds, AI learns in new ways” by Allison Whitten (Quanta Magazine, 2022-06-24).

Other

1. “The consumer age turned Americans into gamblers” by David G. Schwartz (Zócalo, 2019-05-02). The title seems incongruous with the article. More apposite, perhaps, would be “Government need and corporate greed: How gambling got its groove back”.
2. “How mahjong laid tiles for Chinese Americans” by Annelise Heinz (Zócalo, 2022-06-30).

Read : 2022-05-02

Articles for reading:

1. “Has Harvard’s David Sinclair found the fountain of youth?” by Catherine Elton (Boston Magazine, 2019-10-29). Brings to mind Linus Pauling.
2. “Adams vs. Paine: A critical debate” by Jeff Conner (Journal of the American Revolution, 2015-07-14).
3. “Why the p-value is significant” (Tidsskriftet den Norske Legeforening, 2015-09-08).

Articles for reference:

1. “Elon Musk’s $43 billion bid for Twitter lacks ‘legal clout’, experts say” by Alexis Keenan (Yahoo Finance, 2022-04-15). Not two weeks later…
2. “Dr. Elon & Mr. Musk: Life inside Telsa’s production hell” by Charles Duhigg (WIRED, 2018-12-13).
3. “Researchers find first strong genetic risk factor for bipolar disorder” by Leah Eisenstadt (Broad Institute, 2022-04-06).
4. “Warren Buffett says markets have become a ‘gambling parlor’” by Akane Otani (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-04-30). Berkshire Hathaway invests in Activision Blizzard, Allgehany, Chevron, HP, and Occidental Petroleum.
5. “How do bubbles form? Tulips and GameStop can help explain” (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-05-02).
6. “Brain fog: Memory and attention after covid-19” by Tamara Fong (Harvard Health Publishing, 2022-03-17).

Literacy in early America:

1. “Literacy in colonial America” by Carla Gade (Colonial Quills, 2011-06-15).
2. “‘Every man able to read’: Literacy in early America” by Jack Lynch (Colonial Williamsburg Journal, 2011, Winter).
3. “A history of book ownership in the American colonies” by Brien Hoey (Books Tell You Why, 2016-11-24).
4. “Growth of literacy in colonial America: longitudinal patterns, economic models, and the direction of future research” by F.W. Grubb (Social Science History, 1990, Volume 14, Number 4, pages 451–482).

Noam Chomsky, by or about:

1. “Education for whom and for what?” by Noam Chomsky (The University of Arizona, 2012-02-17). 2h video: 75m talk, followed by question and answer.
2. “A disgraceful career” by Keith Windschuttle (The New Criterion, Vol 23, No 1, 2004-09). Article subtitled “A review of ‘The anti-Chomsky reader’ by Peter Collier”.
3. “The latter day critics of Noam Chomsky” by Wolfgang Sperlich (openDemocracy, 2018-10-15).

Editorials in Science magazine by then Editor-in-Chief Bruce Alberts. Some focused on education (alluded to in the Chomsky video above; for example, Albert discusses the kindergarten seed experiment in the editorial dated 2012-01-27):

1. “Considering science education” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2008-03-21).
2. “Making a science education” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2009-01-02).
3. “Redefining science education” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2009-01-23).
4. “On becoming a scientist” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2009-11-13).
5. “Prioritizing science education” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2010-04-23).
6. “Reframing science standards” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2010-07-30).
7. “An education that inspires” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2010-10-22).
8. “Getting education right” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2011-08-19).
9. “Trivializing science education” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2012-01-20).
10. “Teaching real science” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2012-01-27).
11. “Improving education standards” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2013-02-01).
12. “Am I wrong?” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2013-03-15).
13. “Prioritizing science education” by Bruce Alberts (Science, 2013-04-19).

Alberts also has a page titled “Redefining science education“.

Read : 2022-02-26

Articles for reading:

1. “Mr. Putin launches a sequel to the Cold War” by The Editorial Board (The NY Times, 2022-02-24).
2. “Avi Loeb: Aliens, black holes, and the mystery of the Oumuamua” by Lex Fridman (YouTube, 2021-01-13). 2h44m video.
3. “Understanding the Fed’s hawkish pivot” by Joseph Politano (Apricitas, 2022-02-19).
4. “The C.D.C. isn’t publishing large portions of the covid data it collects” by Apoorva Mandavilli (The NY Times, 2022-02-20).

   For more than a year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has collected data on hospitalizations for Covid-19 in the United States and broken it down by age, race and vaccination status. But it has not made most of the information public.

5. “Cryptographers achieve perfect secrecy with imperfect devices” by Mordechai Rorvig (Quanta Magazine, 2022-02-25).

Articles on Ukraine:

1. “Russian incursion into Ukraine ‘very likely’, says John B. Bellinger III ’86” by Rachel Reed (Harvard Law Today, 2022-02-10).
2. “Russian buildup near Ukraine features potent weapons systems, well-trained troops” by Michael R. Gordon, Max Rust (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-02-13).
3. “Biden speaks to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky as prospect of conflict looms” by Alex Leary, Laurence Norman (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-02-13).
4. “Would a war in Ukraine lead to a wider cyber-conflict?” (The Economist, 2022-02-23).
5. “A moment of clarity” by Noah Smith (Noahpinion, 2022-02-24). Subtitle: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine should wake us up.”
6. “Wide range of possible targets for Russian cyber strikes, from infrastructure to smartphones” by Colleen Walsh (The Harvard Gazette, 2022-02-24).
7. “How invasion may hit U.S., global economies” by Christina Pazzanese (The Harvard Gazette, 2022-02-24).
8. “What happens next in Ukraine?” by Alvin Powell (The Harvard Gazette, 2022-02-24).

Articles for reference:

1. “You’ve done self care. You’ve languished. Now try this.” by Brad Stulberg (The NY Times, 2022-02-13).
2. “Can democrats see what’s coming?” by Ezra Klein (The NY Times, 2022-02-12).
3. “What would happen if financial markets crashed?” (The Economist, 2022-02-12).
4. “Cathie Wood’s ARK stays the course, betting big on innovation” by Michael Wursthorn (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-02-13).
5. “Are we all narcissists?” by Jackie Mansky (Zócalo, 2022-02-11).
6. “The sects that rejected 19th-century sex” by Stewart Davenport (Zócalo, 2022-02-14).
7. “A poem that would not let me go” by Drea Brown (Zócalo, 2020-05-31).
8. “High-flying inflation—are central banks still in control?” (The Economist, 2022-02-16). 38m podcast.
9. “Machine learning becomes a mathematical collaborator” by Kelsey Houston-Edwards (Quanta Magazine, 2022-02-15).
10. “What happens when you do—or don’t—identify with your achievement” by Brad Stulberg (The Growth Equation, 2022-02).
11. “The rejection of Bidenomics” by Noah Smith (Noahpinion, 2022-02-19).
12. “The professor who beat roulette” by Zachary Crockett (The Hustle, 2019-05-11).
13. “Stock market got you worried? Write a D-Day note” by Jason Zweig (The Wall Street Journal, 2022-02-18).
14. “UC Berkeley and American stagnation” by Joseph Politano (Apricitas, 2022-02-21).
15. “Interview: Emi Nakamura, macroeconomist” by Noah Smith (Noahpinion, 2022-02-21).
16. “How to be perfect” by Colleen Walsh (The Harvard Gazette, 2022-02-18). A short interview with Michael Schur, creator of the TV comedy “The good place”.