April 2011
97 posts
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“We are not a perfect opportunity society in the United States. But if we want to...”
– Arthur Brooks - President of the American Enterprise Institute
Well put. The logic doesn’t hold all of the time, but enough to warrant serious consideration of the statement regardless of your feelings about AEI. In my mind, it’s very hard to argue against the merits of a meritocratic...
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“Leaders must invoke an alchemy of great vision.”
– Henry Kissinger
Yes.
J N O M I C S
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“We’re not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by...”
– President Obama on the need to end debate over his place of birth. Thank you, sir.
J N O M I C S
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Rethinking Music: A Briefing Book →
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Radio Berkman Rethink Music Podcast Six →
A worthwhile listen. Interesting stuff as always from the folks at the Berkman Center.
J N O M I C S
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“Here’s my question: How did it become normal, or for that matter even...”
– Paul Krugman - Patients Are Not Consumers
So if patients are not consumers, then should they not be afforded basic consumer protections, the protections availed to them by their health insurers, or should doctors be offering their services at no cost since don’t have a consumer population to...
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Diagnosing Krugman (via The Economist) →
Let us ask this, instead: What has gone wrong with this celebrated economist such that he has come to believe that something “has gone wrong with us” if we have come to conceive of those who buy medical services from those who sell them as “consumers”, which is what they are?
Agreed.
J N O M I C S
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Strong Demand Revs Up Ford Profit (via WSJ) →
It earned $2.55 billion, or 61 cents a share, compared with $2.09 billion, or 50 cents a share, during the same time period a year earlier. It was the company’s highest first-quarter profit since 1998. Excluding some one-time charges, the company earned 62 cents a share, exceeding analyst expectations of 50 cents a share, according to a Thomson Reuters survey. Revenue rose 18% to $33.1...
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IMF bombshell: Age of America nears end (via... →
But they’re miscounting. They’re only comparing the gross domestic products of the two countries using current exchange rates.
That’s a largely meaningless comparison in real terms. Exchange rates change quickly. And China’s exchange rates are phony. China artificially undervalues its currency, the renminbi, through massive intervention in the markets.
The comparison that really matters
...
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The Effect of Billboards within the Gaming... →
Players from all demographic groups are spending more and more of their leisure time playing multiplayer online games. As such, the gaming environment may be a more suitable vehicle to reach target markets. This study assessed whether advertising in the form of embedded billboards has an impact on the online gamer. Even though they could recall passing the billboards many of the players could...
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Stimulus by Fed Is Disappointing, Economists Say →
The Fed limited the program to $600 billion under considerable political pressure. While that sounds like a lot of money, the purchases have not even kept pace with the government’s issuance of new debt, so in a sense the effort has amounted to treading water. And a growing body of research suggests that the Fed could have had a larger impact by spending more money on a broader range of debt,...
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The Great Automatic Grammatizator: Some Words on... →
A much appreciated take on Easter celebrations.
J N O M I C S
amcafee:
I went to a Catholic high school. The religion didn’t stick to me, but Christ’s teachings did. It’s hard to imagine more radical ideas coming out of a subjugated people in the Middle East two thousand years ago, or more important ones for humankind.
Turn the other cheek. Let us love one…
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“A shockingly large number of people, including Obama, seem to believe that had...”
– Reihan Salam - via National Review
Always enjoy a intelligible remark from the mind of a contrarian.
J N O M I C S
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Apple, Google Collect User Data (via WSJ) →
Apple Inc.’s iPhones and Google Inc.’s Android smartphones regularly transmit their locations back to Apple and Google, respectively, according to data and documents analyzed by The Wall Street Journal—intensifying concerns over privacy and the widening trade in personal data.
Google and Apple are gathering location information as part of their race to build massive databases...
nettra asked: Yes it is Hermes -- very good eye!
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New York Times: Ai Weiwei and the Artist's Role in... →
hyperallergic:
The New York Times presents four perspectives from different scholars — from art history to political science — on Ai Weiwei and his relationship to what’s going on in current Chinese politics.
An interesting read and well structured debate. Question though: Practically speaking, is it the case that artists have the ability to impact political change or are they simply...
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Is the Art Market Dissing Elizabeth Taylor? (via... →
The most important works of art are those that announce the most influential innovations. Pablo Picasso declared the Cubist revolution in 1907, and Andy Warhol launched the Pop revolution in 1962. Liz #5 was part of Warhol’s revolution, but it was made a year too late to have been among the first shots fired. Phillips de Pury has estimated that the one-year lag reduces the value of Liz...
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Ages and Prices in the Art Market: Is the New York... →
For the past 15 years, I have been publishing research that has demonstrated the strong statistical relationships that typically exist between the auction prices of paintings and the ages of artists when the paintings were executed. These relationships are of more than simply economic interest, for they closely track the art historical importance of the art: some great artists make their...
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Hedge Funds Bounce (via WSJ)
Total hedge-fund assets are approaching $2 trillion and are soon expected to surpass their peak in early 2008, according to industry analysts. Even start-ups and smaller funds, which were shunned by many investors in the wake of the crisis, are benefiting. (via WSJ)
We are not a democracy. We are a meritocracy ruled by those with the highest valuations. Not saying it’s bad. Not...
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“There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is the...”
– Victor Hugo
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WatchEconomist Noreena Hertz, TED Talk: How to Use Experts, and When Not to
Interesting mention of Best Buy’s use of prediction markets as a means to harness the collective power of their staff.
J N O M I C S
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WatchPresident Obama’s Weekly Address: America’s Fiscal Future
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Google's Next Mission: Fighting Violent Extremism... →
Neo-Nazi groups and al Qaeda might not seem to have much in common, but they do in one key respect: their recruits tend to be very young. The head of Google’s new think tank, Jared Cohen, believes there might be some common reasons why young people are drawn to violent extremist groups, no matter their ideological or philosophical bent. So this summer, Cohen is spearheading a conference, in...
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“Wealth begets power, which begets more wealth.”
– Economist Joseph Stiglitz (via Vanity Fair)
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The 1% solution (via The Economist) →
To sum up the basic thrust of what I agree with in Mr Stiglitz’s piece: I think the rich are getting much, much richer, while regular people (in the developed world, which is what we’re talking about here) are at best treading water. I think that wealth brings power, and the fact that the rich are getting much, much richer relative to everyone else means that the rich also exert...
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Why We're No. 1 →
infoneer-pulse:
If we had our choice, Sarah Lawrence would never be listed among the most expensive colleges in America. Since we are, though, and in the premier position with tuition, fees, room, and board set at $58,716 for 2011-2012, it’s important that our colleagues in higher education – as well as the general public – understand exactly what goes into the price, why that investment yields...
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Buildings Made with a Printer (via MIT Tech... →
In conventional construction, workers piece together buildings from mass-produced, prefabricated bricks, I-beams, concrete columns, plates of glass and so on. Neri Oxman, an architect and a professor at MIT’s Media Lab, intends to print them instead—essentially using concrete, polymers, and other materials in the place of ink. Oxman is developing a new way of designing buildings to...
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“Perhaps we’re all writing the Great American Novel, each in our own way.”
– Peter Matthiessen (via theparisreview)
Yes.
J N O M I C S
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A world of connections (via The Economist) →
Online social networks are changing the way people communicate, work and play, and mostly for the better, says Martin Giles (interviewed here)
J N O M I C S
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David Kelley on Designing Curious Employees (via... →
Design thinking is a process of empathizing with the end user. Its principal guru is David Kelley, founder of IDEO and the Stanford design school, who takes a similar approach to managing people. He believes leadership is a matter of empathizing with employees. In this interview, he explains why leaders should seek understanding rather than blind obedience, why it’s better to be a coach...
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“If you want the people you work with to do extraordinary things, you really have...”
– David Kelley (via Fast Company) - founder of Ideo and the Stanford Design School
Truth. Importantly, I think this principle applies to organizational development and business far beyond creative industry. The networked, information economy is teaching us to value openness of communication,...
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“The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you’re trying...”
– David Kelley (via Fast Company) - IDEO founder and the Stanford Design School
Dig.
J N O M I C S
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“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at...”
– Henry David Thoreau
Yes.
J N O M I C S
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“Paradoxically, education has become a way to avoid thinking about your future....”
– Peter Thiel (via pegobry)
There is no try, only do.
(via tedr)
Truth.
J N O M I C S