#CarlSagan #books

“People with a strong sense of victimhood often act as ‘everyday vigilantes’: They police others for perceived moral transgressions, call them out publicly, and punish those who step out of line.” stevestewartwilliams.com/p/1…

Ik heb dan alle voetbalpodcasts beluisterd en ik denk dat we mogen concluderen dat de sfeer in het Belgische kamp goed is en dat de stadions in de VS groot zijn

More importantly, I have repeatedly disputed the claim that wealth inequality is an externality. All externalities, insofar as they make sense, admit the interpretation of a missing market -- that market being missing is the reason the price is zero, but should not. What's the missing market here? And this isn't just a vague objection. Some people have preferences regarding the ethnic and cultural composition of their neighborhood or town. While I find this kind of attitude both ridiculous and reprehensible, economic theory is clear about what immigration does: it pushes them on a lower indifference curve. Clearly, if wealth inequality is an externality on the basis that it imposes costs on third parties, surely we can say the same of immigration. It actually does not matter that we find it stupid or racist -- what matters is the people, themselves, would call this a cost. Of course, I have an answer: there isn't a missing market in either cases. In fact, both of these "problems" admit private "answers" if the government doesn't intervene. If a racist group bought a whole neighborhood and racial discrimination was legal, they could enforce their preferences. The same can be said of outcome egaliatarians. They could all get together with people and agree to pool their portfolios and to impose rules on each other to manage it collectively. Here, what's illegal is that they cannot form a new country. So, I don't see missing markets. I only see some progressive economists layering a thick varnish of economic theory on top of arguments they would make regardless of it.

"Growth is the rising value we wring from a fixed stock of matter. There is no law of physics that caps how cleverly atoms may be arranged. The Mona Lisa and a pile of pigment contain the same chemistry. One is worth incalculably more. The difference is not material." @psantacl

"The pie is fixed. The Earth is a closed system. You cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet." I hear this constantly, and it's delivered like a law of physics — case closed, only a compromised economist could disagree. It's wrong. And the mistake is revealing, because it isn't in the physics. It's in the economics smuggled inside the physics.

"We kunnen de stap naar energieovervloed pas zetten wanneer we expliciet breken met ‘Grenzen aan de groei’ – een ideologie die vijftig jaar geleden nog te verdedigen viel, maar wordt ingehaald door de snelle opkomst van schone energie." 👊 @RalfBodelier fd.nl/opinie/1598704/de-toek…

Waarom wil Sam Harris de vergelijking met Nazi's maken? Om elke daad van Israël te kunnen vergoelijken of minimaliseren met een 'ja, maar, Hamas is nog erger'. Waarbij hij dan moedwillig blind blijft voor de tien keer hogere slachtofferaantallen van het IDF.

Musk became Donald Trump's #1 political donor, assumed a high-profile role early in his administration, and in that role inflicted incredible harm on some of the most vulnerable people in the world while failing to achieve any of his stated goals. slowboring.com/p/yes-doge-fa…

"If we deny the existence of sex differences that everyone can see w/ their own eyes, most people won't believe us anyway. They'll just stop trusting scientists on politically charged topics. & they'll be right 2 do so; the scientists won't be trustworthy."swiftpress.com/book/a-billio…

Voor zo'n slimme mens te zijn is Sam Harris heel infantiel in zijn denken over oorlog. Wie de 'good guys' en de 'bad guys' zijn is heel helder voor hem, terwijl er bij een oorlog meestal geen 'good guys' zijn. ELKE partij begaat oorlogsmisdaden en dekt die toe met propaganda.

This is from my article 'The end of progress against extreme poverty?' ourworldindata.org/end-progr…

The poorest economies in the world are not achieving economic growth. The consequence is that progress against the very worst poverty is coming to a halt. This is one of the worst problems in the world today, but hardly gets any attention.

Growth is the only thing that has ever succeeded in slashing poverty. Fighting poverty with a program of "degrowth" is like screwing for virginity. Amazing graphs.