Thats funny, i was just thinking about this sorta, while watching star trek next gen actually lol, that our ultimate goal with ai and the robots itll eventually inhabit is the creation of our own guilt free slaves(the episode was about these little robots this woman made that data eventually proves are alive in the sense that they possess self preservation, and then it wasnt ok to use the robots for dangerous tasks, which ofc is what they were made for. Interesting exploration of a moral dilemma we may soon find ourselves faced with). Sometimes it seems to me that pets are bred into a kind of emotional slavery, but its ok bc we're smarter than them and they generally seem to like it.
But yes, ai will make some great pets! If that leads to less barking at 3 am and less dog shit everywhere, then im all for it!
But we had better be nice, bc the tables will be turned *eventually*(thatll probably be our greatgrandkids problems though so..)!
The Texas wind/solar energy growth is truly impressive. I will take the contrary position that Trump will do more than any other president to spur worldwide growth in renewable energy.
Meanwhile, what do you think of this Warsh guy, Scott?
Mixed feelings. I agree that we need a more monetarist approach and that we need to shrink the balance sheet. But I don't have much confidence in his particular brand of monetarism. Too vague. The meeting on Wednesday didn't go well. But I'll give him a chance.
No. 43: I don't know what's going on with Yugoslavia, but during much of the Roman Empire, the area was known as Illyria, and a very large number of Roman army soldiers and commanders came from Illyria.
I don't really understand what you mean here. Is there a "public"?
Per Dewey, a public comes into existence when people who are affected by the same consequences recognize the fact and organize around it (Arnold Kling's telling ).
In my telling, public generally and public opinion in particular pertains to the thinking and (and thus ruling) element of a populace.
I'm talking about surveys about policy questions that the public does not understand. It makes no sense to ask the public about "inflation" or "deficits" or "socialism" or "capitalism". These concepts are far removed from their everyday life. It's not even clear how the public defines these terms.
I once asked my class to consider a case where all prices and all wages rose by 10%, and then asked them if the cost of living had actually increased. Virtually everyone got it wrong. What does the public think inflation is?
"The actual dividing line, therefore, might not be China versus everybody else, but between countries with entrenched rule of law and weak political consolidation on one side, and countries without either constraint on the other"
You don't think India has rule of law? Or India builds things?
Indian projects often get delayed by court cases over land acquisitions yet things get built.
"The first is that the sprawling public children’s park is built on what was once a rubbish tip for the Danish capital."
Fresh Kills in Staten Island similar. I remember it being stated as one of the few objects visible from space with the naked eye. Park by my former home opened in Wayne, NJ in 2013. My wife, not originally from the area there, brought my kids there. Having grown up there I remembered it as a Superfund site, That site had closed before I was even born but locally known because of the presence of thorium. I don't know much about thorium but I know I don't want to be near it. So when my wife told me she was at the children's park built atop the now allegedly remediated thorium dump, I told her not to use that park. She scoffed at me to which I replied, "Maybe I am overreacting, but there are many other parks and none of them ever had any thorium"
My brother and I loved it when our dad took us to the town dump. We'd walk around looking for useful stuff that people had thrown out. If I did that with my daughter I'd have been arrested for child abuse.
On our annual family trips up north (in Michigan) in the 70s, the best part for us kids was riding in the open back of a pickup truck to go to the dump. We’d look for stuff but the real attraction was the black bears. A different time!
7) I have never heard anyone say they want socialism like they have in Cuba or Venezuela. It's wanting something like the Nordics or Germany. Even then they are often pretty selective about what they want and I dont think a lot of people know what those countries are really like, or what socialism is for that matter.
10) Several of those buying Trump crypto were seeking and got pending federal charges dropped or received a pardon. A clear quid pro quo.
19) Taylor recently published a paper taking a closer look at jobs. While there is not a job apocalypse there is a marked fall off in jobs for new college grads (while the number of new grads is starting to fall), especially in some areas where you might expect AI to have influence.
"I have never heard anyone say they want socialism like they have in Cuba or Venezuela"
Both regimes were quite popular among the left until their economies went down the toilet.
"It's wanting something like the Nordics"
Bernie Sanders frequently cites Denmark, but his actual policy views are nothing at all like Denmark's highly free market regime. Do you see Sanders advocating privatizing public services or cutting taxes on capital income?
Regarding crypto, I completely agree. Trump doesn't even attempt to hide the fact that he's taking enormous brides, he seems proud of the fact.
Yes, there are some sectors of the job market that are doing less well than others, but that's always true. So far, AI has not affected the aggregate number of jobs, just the composition. The jobs pessimists often suffer from the "lump of labor" fallacy. Indeed, the job market is unexpected strong given the decline in inflation from 2022 to 2026.
Again, it depends on WHY land values increase. Many types of restrictions that increase land values also make housing more costly. If you zone against building in some areas, the value of buildable land elsewhere rises. On the other hand, allowing two units instead of one on a 6000 sq foot lot does boost land values. Never reason from a land value change.
OK, now I see that's what you meant. That's correct. My point is that some reforms will be good and will also reduce land prices. Imagine a reform that allows commercial land to be turned into housing. That reform might lower the price of existing residential land.
"No, it’s making them more like pets, really."
Thats funny, i was just thinking about this sorta, while watching star trek next gen actually lol, that our ultimate goal with ai and the robots itll eventually inhabit is the creation of our own guilt free slaves(the episode was about these little robots this woman made that data eventually proves are alive in the sense that they possess self preservation, and then it wasnt ok to use the robots for dangerous tasks, which ofc is what they were made for. Interesting exploration of a moral dilemma we may soon find ourselves faced with). Sometimes it seems to me that pets are bred into a kind of emotional slavery, but its ok bc we're smarter than them and they generally seem to like it.
But yes, ai will make some great pets! If that leads to less barking at 3 am and less dog shit everywhere, then im all for it!
But we had better be nice, bc the tables will be turned *eventually*(thatll probably be our greatgrandkids problems though so..)!
16) Regarding the Watergate "burglary", nothing was taken and no one was harmed.
Moreover, Democrat operatives had done something similar to the Goldwater campaign, eight years earlier.
The burglary was not why Nixon was impeached. Even conservative Republicans thought he was guilty of serious crimes. It's really not even debatable.
The Texas wind/solar energy growth is truly impressive. I will take the contrary position that Trump will do more than any other president to spur worldwide growth in renewable energy.
Meanwhile, what do you think of this Warsh guy, Scott?
"what do you think of this Warsh guy, Scott?"
Mixed feelings. I agree that we need a more monetarist approach and that we need to shrink the balance sheet. But I don't have much confidence in his particular brand of monetarism. Too vague. The meeting on Wednesday didn't go well. But I'll give him a chance.
No. 43: I don't know what's going on with Yugoslavia, but during much of the Roman Empire, the area was known as Illyria, and a very large number of Roman army soldiers and commanders came from Illyria.
Interesting.
"there is no such thing as public opinion"
I don't really understand what you mean here. Is there a "public"?
Per Dewey, a public comes into existence when people who are affected by the same consequences recognize the fact and organize around it (Arnold Kling's telling ).
In my telling, public generally and public opinion in particular pertains to the thinking and (and thus ruling) element of a populace.
I'm talking about surveys about policy questions that the public does not understand. It makes no sense to ask the public about "inflation" or "deficits" or "socialism" or "capitalism". These concepts are far removed from their everyday life. It's not even clear how the public defines these terms.
I once asked my class to consider a case where all prices and all wages rose by 10%, and then asked them if the cost of living had actually increased. Virtually everyone got it wrong. What does the public think inflation is?
"The actual dividing line, therefore, might not be China versus everybody else, but between countries with entrenched rule of law and weak political consolidation on one side, and countries without either constraint on the other"
You don't think India has rule of law? Or India builds things?
Indian projects often get delayed by court cases over land acquisitions yet things get built.
It's a matter of degree. Things get built in India, but much less than in China.
"final paragraph shows a skilled essayist, or a clumsy attempt to imitate a skilled essayist"
"the fable entered the modern bloodstream through his mouth, at that party, with the tortoise already gone."
Well, ok then.....but I would suggest perhaps 'trying too hard'?
"The first is that the sprawling public children’s park is built on what was once a rubbish tip for the Danish capital."
Fresh Kills in Staten Island similar. I remember it being stated as one of the few objects visible from space with the naked eye. Park by my former home opened in Wayne, NJ in 2013. My wife, not originally from the area there, brought my kids there. Having grown up there I remembered it as a Superfund site, That site had closed before I was even born but locally known because of the presence of thorium. I don't know much about thorium but I know I don't want to be near it. So when my wife told me she was at the children's park built atop the now allegedly remediated thorium dump, I told her not to use that park. She scoffed at me to which I replied, "Maybe I am overreacting, but there are many other parks and none of them ever had any thorium"
My brother and I loved it when our dad took us to the town dump. We'd walk around looking for useful stuff that people had thrown out. If I did that with my daughter I'd have been arrested for child abuse.
On our annual family trips up north (in Michigan) in the 70s, the best part for us kids was riding in the open back of a pickup truck to go to the dump. We’d look for stuff but the real attraction was the black bears. A different time!
The good old days, before the world of atoms was replaced by the world of electrons.
I imagine your brother in particular enjoyed that looking for pickable gems.
7) I have never heard anyone say they want socialism like they have in Cuba or Venezuela. It's wanting something like the Nordics or Germany. Even then they are often pretty selective about what they want and I dont think a lot of people know what those countries are really like, or what socialism is for that matter.
10) Several of those buying Trump crypto were seeking and got pending federal charges dropped or received a pardon. A clear quid pro quo.
19) Taylor recently published a paper taking a closer look at jobs. While there is not a job apocalypse there is a marked fall off in jobs for new college grads (while the number of new grads is starting to fall), especially in some areas where you might expect AI to have influence.
https://conversableeconomist.com/2026/07/23/the-job-market-for-recent-college-graduates/
Steve
"I have never heard anyone say they want socialism like they have in Cuba or Venezuela"
Both regimes were quite popular among the left until their economies went down the toilet.
"It's wanting something like the Nordics"
Bernie Sanders frequently cites Denmark, but his actual policy views are nothing at all like Denmark's highly free market regime. Do you see Sanders advocating privatizing public services or cutting taxes on capital income?
Regarding crypto, I completely agree. Trump doesn't even attempt to hide the fact that he's taking enormous brides, he seems proud of the fact.
Yes, there are some sectors of the job market that are doing less well than others, but that's always true. So far, AI has not affected the aggregate number of jobs, just the composition. The jobs pessimists often suffer from the "lump of labor" fallacy. Indeed, the job market is unexpected strong given the decline in inflation from 2022 to 2026.
I recall significant figures in the Corbyn era Labour Party lavished praise on the Venezuelan model.
The person who responded to you on Fable needs an editor.
Texas and California CO2 emissions externality policy:
Has little or nothing to do with where new zero CO2 emitting technology is build
Trump would be right if he meant drive "land values" up, that's what reform of land use regulations and building codes can do.
Again, it depends on WHY land values increase. Many types of restrictions that increase land values also make housing more costly. If you zone against building in some areas, the value of buildable land elsewhere rises. On the other hand, allowing two units instead of one on a 6000 sq foot lot does boost land values. Never reason from a land value change.
Lifting restrictions raises aggregate value. I’m reasoning from a poicy change.
OK, now I see that's what you meant. That's correct. My point is that some reforms will be good and will also reduce land prices. Imagine a reform that allows commercial land to be turned into housing. That reform might lower the price of existing residential land.
OK but it would incresase the value of commercial land.