1. Claims about how to cook the perfect dosa.
2. The Supreme Court will not wreck Obamacare.
3. Some guy something to do with golf something or other something.
4. New survey on pre-existing immunity. And yet some additional results.
5. NYT on cases vs. deaths in Europe. And the FT on the Finnish success. And FT on the Madrid second wave, and a contrast with NYC. Doesn’t settle the key issues, but a good overview.
The post Thursday assorted links appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Walter Scheidel: A Comparative Perspective on the Determinants of the Scale and productivity of Maritime Trade in the Roman Mediterranean: "The scale and productivity of maritime trade is a function of environmental conditions, political processes and economic development that determine demand, and more specifically of trading costs. Trading costs are the sum of transportation costs (comprised of the cost of carriage and the cost of risk, most notably predation), transaction costs and financing costs. Comparative evidence from the medieval and early modern periods shows that the cost of predation (caused by war, privateering, piracy, and tolls) and commercial organization (which profoundly affects transaction and financing costs as well as the cost of carriage) have long been the most important determinants of overall trading costs. This suggests that conditions in the Roman period were unusually favorable for maritime trade. Technological innovation, by contrast, was primarily an endogenous function of broader political and economic developments and should not be viewed as a major factor in the expansion of commerce in this period...
#noted
Mike Konczal (2013): Reinhart-Rogoff A Week Later: Why Does This Matter?: "We are seeing subtle distancing by conservative writers on the Reinhart/Rogoff thesis.... Holtz-Eakin writes about Reinhart and Rogoff in National Review, but drops the 'canonical' status. Now they are just two random people with some common sense the left is beating up: 'In order to distract from the dismal state of analytic and actual economic affairs, the latest tactic is to blame... two researchers, Carmen Reinhardt and Kenneth Rogoff, who made the reasonable observation that ever-larger amounts of debt must eventually be associated with bad economic news...' That's not actually what they said, and if you read Holtz-Eakin in February Reinhart-Rogoff is sufficient evidence to enact the specific plans he wants. Now there's no defense of the 'danger zone' argument, just the idea that the stimulus failed. Retreat!... One thing about the 'cliff' metaphor is that there's no tradeoff that would make it acceptable.... There were numerous other ways of describing this scenario, either the technical 'nonlinearities' or the 'danger zone' of Holtz-Eakin just a few months ago. With the danger zone metaphor now out of play, perhaps economists can see the relevant trade-offs more clearly...
#noted
Beginning today (May 10), Spotify users will no longer be able to find R. Kelly‘s music on any of the streaming service’s editorial or algorithmic playlists. Under the terms of a new public hate content and hateful conduct policy Spotify is putting into effect, the company will no longer promote the R&B singer’s music in any way, removing his songs from flagship playlists like RapCaviar, Discover Weekly or New Music Friday, for example, as well as its other genre- or mood-based playlists.
“We are removing R. Kelly’s music from all Spotify owned and operated playlists and algorithmic recommendations such as Discover Weekly,” Spotify told Billboardin a statement. “His music will still be available on the service, but Spotify will not actively promote it. We don’t censor content because of an artist’s or creator’s behavior, but we want our editorial decisions — what we choose to program — to reflect our values. When an artist or creator does something that is especially harmful or hateful, it may affect the ways we work with or support that artist or creator.”
Over the past several years, Kelly has been accused by multiple women of sexual violence, coercion and running a “sex cult,” including two additional women who came forward to Buzzfeed this week. Though he has never been convicted of a crime, he has come under increasing scrutiny over the past several weeks, particularly with the launch of the #MuteRKelly movement at the end of April. Kelly has vociferously defended himself, saying those accusing him are an “attempt to distort my character and to destroy my legacy.” And while RCA Records has thus far not dropped Kelly from his recording contract, Spotify has distanced itself from promoting his music.
Here is the full article. Chuck Berry? John Lennon? Michael Jackson?
The post Entartete Kunst appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
Notes of the Interim Committee Meeting:
PRESENT:
Members of Committee : Dr. Vannevar Bush, Dr. Karl T. Compton, Dr. James B. Conant, Mr. George L. Harrison, Acting Chairman
By Invitation : Maj. Gen. Leslie R. Groves , Brig. Gen Kenneth C. Royall, Mr. William L. Marbury, Lt. George S. Allan, Lt. George M. Duff, Jr.
I. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM SCIENTIFIC PANEL:
The Committee considered a memorandum... [that] requested the [Scientific] Panel to study in some detail the future program of research and development in this field with particular reference to the scale of effort that should be planned for in terms of scientific and technical personnel and financial outlay... so that the Committee might gain a more specific understanding of the dimensions of this subject and its implications to the scientific resources of the nation....
II. BUSH-CONANT MEMORANDUM CONCERNING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS:
Drs. Bush and Conant placed... the question of establishing in the United Nations organization some mechanism for international control.... The committee felt... this question should be deferred until after the Potsdam Conference....
III. EXCHANGE OF CABLES WITH THE SECRETARY OF WAR....
Mr. Harriso... raised the question whether a letter of congratulations should be sent on behalf of the Secretary of War to Dr. Oppenheimer. The Committee unanimously agreed this should be done.
IV. LEGISLATION:
Dr. Bush reported that Senator Magnuson of Washington was that day introducing a bill which followed closely the recommendations made to the President in Dr. Bush's report 'Science--The Endless Frontier.'... It was agreed that the organization established by legislation should be known as the 'Commission on Atomic Energy.'... With regard to the members of the Commission it was felt that they should not receive a salary but rather a per diem so as to avoid making the positions susceptible to political pressure.... Some divergence of view developed concerning the provision in the draft for two Army and two Navy officers out of a total of nine members.... Dr. Conant expressed concern about the sweeping powers given to the commission over research.... Bush strongly urged that the bill should contain a positive statement of intent to the effect that the Commission whould normally depend on the universities to carry forward the basic research program.... Dr. Bush felt that the censorship and security provisions of the bill were too broad.... It was generally agreed that the section of patents should empower the Commission to impose secrecy orders on patents...
