This is where the truly dystopian applications of AI-powered surveillance technologies meet economics 101.
Tuesday, July 1, 2025
Russia and Ukraine Trade Drone Strikes on Energy Facilities
Ukraine has increased attacks on Russian energy assets as Russia continues its campaign against the Ukraine grid. Who is doing more damage?
Affordable Home Ownership Can Lead to Stronger Marital Relationships and Higher Birthrates
Quelle surprise! High home purchase costs are denting household formation and thus birthrates. But will policymakers do anything?
2:00PM Water Cooler 6/20/2024
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, syndemics; early voting and October surprises; Trump and the Latino vote; Biden and the Latino vote; mask warriors ~
Project 2025: The US Far-Right Plan to Undermine Democracy and Rights Globally
The Heritage Project 2025 plan is a program for the next president to roll back rights in US and abroad – including draft policies
Are Extreme Stunt Climate Activists Like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil Actually Fossil Fuel Industry Stooges? They Might as Well Be
Why deliberately offensive and therefore counterproductive climate change activism looks like a feature, not a bug.
Musk and Tesla: Compensation or Control?
The Elon Musk $48 Billion stock-option package and its implications for the EV transition
Courage or Hope? Facing the Climate Future
Yet another round of (nicely) trying to shake some sense into climate change remedy optimists.
Trump 2024 (Vegas) vs. Trump 2016 (Bangor): Rhetoric and Cognition
Trump’s mental acuity, voter appeal, and policies.
2:00PM Water Cooler 6/19/2024
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, pandemics; Democrat plotting; RFK doens’t make the cut for the debates; how a serious country (Finland) handled bird flu; The physics of knitting. ~
Power in Sovereign Debt Markets: Explaining the Uneven Debtor–Creditor Landscape and Its Implications
A long time ago, the US intervened on the side of underwater sovereign borrowers. Private creditors now extract even more than back then.
Inside Big Oil’s Business as Usual: Failure on Climate and Profits from War
A new report shows oil majors fall short of meeting Paris Agreement targets while fueling global military conflicts.
Bird Flu and Biomedicine, An Essay on What We Might Expect
Bird flu as a case study in the category error of libertarian medicine, the misuse of preprints, and resulting poor public health policy.
