Tyler Cowen's Blog, page 462
August 31, 2012
Assorted links
1. What Marilyn Manson apologizes for (NB: the link uses a cuss word).
3. “High-speed chases look like fun because they are.” Hat tip The Browser, remarkably still the best site on the web.
4. Most homeless youth use social networks.
5. Sumner responds again to Balding (toward the end).
Background on Assam
A local publicist wryly observed, “Even if it was British rule, ordinary people called it rather the time of the Bangals [from Bengal].”
That is from Jayeeta Sharma’s Empire’s Garden: Assam and the Making of India, a book which I am finding very useful for background on current troubles concerning Assam.
New edition of Ethnic Dining Guide
You will find it on my home page, local link here. The blog version is here, note that if you follow the blog the html does not have new information. It is simply easier to print out.
Solve for the equilibrium
The job categories projected to grow over the next decade include nursing, home health care and child care. Of the 15 categories projected to grow the fastest by 2016 — among them sales, teaching, accounting, custodial services and customer service — 12 are dominated by women. These are not necessarily the most desirable or highest-paying jobs. But they do provide a reliable source of employment and a ladder up to the middle class. It used to be that in working-class America, men earned significantly more than women. Now in that segment of the population, the gap between men and women is shrinking faster than in any other, according to June Carbone, an author of “Red Families v. Blue Families.”
From Hanna Rosin, here is more. And:
More important than the particular jobs available, which are always in flux, is a person’s willingness to adapt to a changing economy. These days that usually requires going to college or getting some job retraining, which women are generally more willing to do. Two-thirds of the students at the local community college are women, which is fairly typical of the gender breakdown in community colleges throughout the country.
Here is a description of one equilibrium:
The former Russell [a now-closed manufacturing firm] men are sometimes categorized by people in town as one of three types: the “transients,” who drive as far as three hours to Montgomery for work and never make it home for dinner; the “domestics,” who idle at the house during the day, looking for work; and the “gophers,” who drive their wives to and from work, spending the hours in between hunting or fishing.
The article is interesting throughout. The new Hanna Rosin book is here.
August 30, 2012
Facts about India
Even after accounting for the wastage, only 41 percent of the food set aside for feeding the poor reached households nationwide in 2005, according to a World Bank study commissioned by the government and released last year.
In Uttar Pradesh, where the minister of food stands charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and electoral fraud, the diversion was more than 80 percent in 2005, the World Bank report said.
Fully 100 percent of the food meant for the poor in Kishen’s home district was stolen during a three-year period, according to India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, the country’s leading anti-corruption agency.
Here is more. I thank several loyal MR readers for the pointer.
*The Federal Prison Guidebook*
Read about it here, buy it here. Here is one excerpt from the summary:
Advance agreement. “When you meet with the probation officer, find out his or her “dictation date.” This is the date by which he or she must dictate the first draft of the PSR. When possible, it is extremely helpful to have the probation officer and the assistant U.S. attorney buy into what you believe is your client’s offense behavior, role in the offense, and any grounds for downward departure before the dictation date. Remember that probation officers often have a psychological investment in their original draft PSR. Since getting them to change a PSR can be difficult, put your effort into trying to get a good initial draft. That way, you won’t have to file that many objections.” §4:10.2.
Interesting throughout!
For the pointer I thank Eapen Thampy.
*Government Policies and the Delayed Economic Recovery*
Edited by John B. Taylor, Lee E. Ohanian, and Ian J. Wright, Amazon link here. For the pointer I thank Rich Berger.
The next transformational technology?
Noah Smith writes:
Addendum: I seem to be the only person talking about Desire Modification as a transformational technology. Greg Egan and Vernor Vinge have written books in which this technology plays a central role. In my “spare time” I’m writing a couple of sci-fi short stories based on the idea. It’s a really big deal, and I’ll write a post about it soon.
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