If I had one thing to do over again I would not have talked so much about green,“ Immelt said at an event sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Even though I believe in global warming and I believe in the science … it just took on a connotation that was too elitist From… Continue reading GE’s Immelt wishes he had soft-pedaled green talk | Reuters
Who Benefits From Bubbles?
in several years during the last decade the top 400 accounted for more than 10 percent of all capital gains income in America. Just 400 people! Conservatives often try to sell the notion that reducing the capital gains tax is about helping small business people. But you really want to think of the fact that… Continue reading Who Benefits From Bubbles?
Bill Nye Boo’d In Texas For Saying The Moon Reflects The Sun
Bill Nye, the harmless children’s edu-tainer known as “The Science Guy,” managed to offend a select group of adults in Waco, Texas at a presentation, when he suggested that the moon does not emit light, but instead reflects the light of the sun. As even most elementary-school graduates know, the moon reflects the light of… Continue reading Bill Nye Boo’d In Texas For Saying The Moon Reflects The Sun
This Generation’s Low-Hanging Fruit
Timothy B Lee challenges Tyler Cowen’s thesis. Lee argues that we are not in the middle of an economic stagnation but that we’ve gotten worse at measuring progress: Every time the software industry displaces a special purpose device, our standard of living improves but measured GDP falls. If what you care about is government revenue,… Continue reading This Generation’s Low-Hanging Fruit
End the monarchy already.
Now that the royals and their supporters are all distracted by a lavish wedding, this would be the perfect time to finally overthrow the monarchy. Rise up allready.
An Insurance Company With An Army
When you talk about federal spending, you’re overwhelmingly talking about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and defense. And the bulk of the insurance — all of Social Security and Medicare, about 2/3 of Medicaid — is for the elderly and disabled. … Put it this way: Whenever someone talks about making government smaller, he should be… Continue reading An Insurance Company With An Army
Motivated Reasoning : The Science of Why We Don’t Believe Science
The theory of motivated reasoning builds on a key insight of modern neuroscience [7] (PDF): Reasoning is actually suffused with emotion (or what researchers often call “affect”). Not only are the two inseparable, but our positive or negative feelings about people, things, and ideas arise much more rapidly than our conscious thoughts, in a matter… Continue reading Motivated Reasoning : The Science of Why We Don’t Believe Science
Reducing Health Costs With Voluntary Death Panels
If you’re 77 years old and receive a medical diagnosis that implies you have eighteen months to live without treatment, the government will spend large sums of money on trying to extent your life twelve months further. The government won’t pay for you to take a trip to visit the Church of the Nativity in… Continue reading Reducing Health Costs With Voluntary Death Panels
A working robot controlled by a slime mould, Dalek anyone?
A working robot controlled by a slime mould, and designed and built in ECS-Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, will play a starring role in a major BBC4/Discovery Channel feature to be aired in the autumn. A production team from BBC Scotland spent a whole day in ECS this week, filming with… Continue reading A working robot controlled by a slime mould, Dalek anyone?
European and US Employment
Lots of people have an image of Europe as an economic pit of doom, with millions of prime-age workers sitting idle thanks to the welfare state. And there was some truth to that image 15 years ago. But things got better over there even as they got worse here: Even before the Great Recession struck,… Continue reading European and US Employment