Tyler Cowen's Blog, page 608
February 8, 2011
Creative style and achievement in ADHD adults
Here is the abstract:
Previous research has suggested that adults with ADHD perform better on some measures of creativity than non-ADHD adults. The present study replicated previous findings using a standardized measure of creativity (the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults, Goff & Torrance, 2002) and extended previous research by investigating real-world creative achievement among adults with ADHD. Results indicated that adults with ADHD showed higher levels of original creative thinking on the verbal task of the ATTA and higher levels of real-world creative achievement, compared to adults without ADHD. In addition, comparison of creative styles using the FourSight Thinking Profile (Puccio 2002) found that preference for idea generation was higher among ADHD participants, whereas preference for problem clarification and idea development was greater among non-ADHD participants. These findings have implications for real-world application of the creative styles of adults with and without ADHD.
The paper, by Holly A. White and Priti Shah, is here. Note that ADHD individuals score high on "verbal originality." Here is a previous White paper on ADHD and creativity.
It's also worth repeating the more general point that many (most?) ADHD individuals have a high variance of focus abilities, not a complete inability to focus on something. They can be some of the world's best focusers, under the right circumstances.
The Living Constitution
Laurence Tribe writes in today's New York Times regarding the health care law:
Since the New Deal, the court has consistently held that Congress has broad constitutional power to regulate interstate commerce. This includes authority over not just goods moving across state lines, but also the economic choices of individuals within states that have significant effects on interstate markets. By that standard, this law's constitutionality is open and shut.
Quite so; but what Tribe forgets is that the constitution is a living document. The constitution's meaning is not fixed by the New Deal. The constitution evolves to meet the needs of the people in the here and now. Tribe's interpretation of the commerce clause, which may have been appropriate for the age of steel and iron, is not necessarily right for the age of genes and bytes. We are fortunate, the constitution lives.
*Endgame*, and the rationality of Bobby Fischer
The author is Frank Brady and the subtitle is Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall -- from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness. It is sure to make my list of the best books of 2011 and it requires no real knowledge of chess. Here is an excerpt on the rationality of the young Fischer:
While they were waiting for the results, Bisguier asked Bobby why he's offered the draw to Shipman when he had a slight advantage and the outcome wasn't certain. If Bobby had won that game, he would have been the tournament's clear winner, a half point ahead of Bisguier. Bobby replied that he had more to gain than lose by the decision. He'd assumed that Bisguier would either win or draw his own game, and if so, Bobby would have at least a tie for first place. That meant a payday of $750 for each player, a virtual gold mine for Fischer. Recognizing Bobby's greater need for money than the capture of a title, however prestigious, Bisguier noted: "Evidently, his mature judgment is not solely confined to the chessboard."
Much later in Fischer's life:
...Bobby and Miyoko attended a screening [in Japan] of the American film Pearl Harbor. When the Japanese Zeroes began bombing the ships in Battleship Row and destroyed the USS Arizona, Bobby began clapping loudly. He was the only one in the theater to do do -- much to the embarrassment of the Japanese. He said that he was shocked that no one else joined in.
There are many revelations in this book, including that Bobby turned to Catholicism in the last period of his life.
February 7, 2011
China fashion fact of the day
Men represent 45% of the $1.2-billion market for all luxury handbags in China, according to Victor Luis, president of Coach Retail International. That figure is just 7% in the U.S...
"It's crucial for business," said Zhang, who chose the chocolate-colored bag because he thought it was stylish without being flashy. "It shows I have good taste."
That's debatable, considering Zhang wore his hair in a cotton candy pouf. What's clear is that the designer handbag, long a fashion staple for stylish women worldwide, has become a status symbol for upwardly mobile men in China.
At business meetings and social events across China these days, many of the Prada, Louis Vuitton and Burberry bags are being toted by the fellows in the crowd.
Wang Zhongzhu, a 42-year-old insurance executive, wouldn't dream of networking without his $1,000 leather Dunhill slung over his shoulder. He said the creamy brown mini-messenger bag sends a message that he appreciates — and can afford — fine accessories.
According to the article, in China this is a sign that you are an alpha male. Here is more, and for the pointer I thank Daniel Lippman.
European sentences to ponder
It is surely not an attractive proposition for, say Spain, to have labour laws coming from Berlin, a currency from Frankfurt, but debts remaining in Spain.
And, in a nod to political business cycle theory:
Outsiders are often amazed to hear that all the bail-outs so far – the loan to Greece last year and the set-up of the European Financial Stability Facility last May – have not yet cost the taxpayer a penny. These are loans backed by guarantees. Once we start resolving the crisis for real, it will get expensive.
Both are from Wolfgang Münchau, in a very good piece. His bottom line:
I am not sure which crisis Ms Merkel's resolution mechanism is going to resolve. The one I have been observing for the past year will carry on.
The culture that is Sweden
In recent decades, successive waves of immigrants have been coming to Sweden, and many avail themselves of the laws and take Swedish-sounding names to hasten their integration.
Mr. Ekengren recalled a case a few years ago in which an immigrant family requested permission to be called Mohammedsson.
"Permission was granted," he said.
The article is interesting throughout.
Assorted links
1. Are these positive or negative graveyard externalities?
2. Mark Steckbeck on TGS, and Steve Horwitz. And Steve Sailer. More from Bryan.
3. The mud brick architecture of Yemen.
4. What are the bestsellers in the Netherlands? I just ordered book #1, which leads by a long way.
6. Prophets of the Marginal Revolution (hat tip to Bryan Caplan, who oddly implies I predicted incorrectly).
A License to Kill Shampoo
The WSJ has a good piece on licensing, with the usual amusing stories.
Texas, for instance, requires hair-salon "shampoo specialists" to take 150 hours of classes, 100 of them on the "theory and practice" of shampooing, before they can sit for a licensing exam...
A shampoo specialist in Texas, for instance, learns about neck anatomy and must practice skills such as regulating water temperature. "There's a lot of different things that go into it," says Elizabeth Perez, the state's cosmetology program manager.
Morris Kleiner offers the economist's interpretation:
"Occupations prefer to be licensed because they can restrict competition and obtain higher wages,"....
Mr. Kleiner estimates that across the U.S. economy, occupational licensing adds at least $116 billion a year to the cost of services, which amounts to about 0.1% of total consumer spending. In a look at dentistry, Mr. Kleiner found that the average price of dental services rose 11% when a state made it more difficult to get a dental license.
Does licensing improve quality?
But whether licensing guarantees better-quality work is an open question. Several academic studies in the 1970s and '80s found that licensure boosted quality in professions such as dentistry, optometry, plumbing and real-estate sales. More recent studies have found no evidence that licensing improves the quality of teachers or mortgage brokers.
I love that last sentence. The WSJ does offer some interesting tests:
...a look at consumer complaints about manicurists suggests licensing doesn't necessarily correlate with quality.
Alabama has perhaps the strictest licensing requirements in the nation: 750 hours of schooling and a written and practical exam. The state gets, on average, four public complaints a year about poor service, according to the Alabama Board of Cosmetology.
Connecticut, which doesn't require manicurists to get licenses, has averaged just six complaints a year to the state over the past five years. Two-thirds of those complaints are about gift certificates that aren't honored, according to data from the consumer protection division of the state attorney general's office.
Certification can serve many of the legitimate roles of licensing without the anti-competitive effects of licensing. I hope that is OK with you.
How do Maryland and Virginia differ?
From Jared Sylvester, a loyal TCEDG reader:
I was reading through your dining guide, looking for a place to go with my father this weekend. In your write up of Crisfields [http://tylercowensethnicdiningguide.com/?p=561] you said "The accompanying visit to Silver Spring is an object lesson in how Maryland and Virginia differ." I was wondering if you would mind blogging on that topic.
Let's restrict (most of) this to the adjacent parts of each state. The food says a lot: Maryland has kosher food and Caribbean food. Virginia has better Bolivian, Vietnamese, Korean, Afghan, Ethiopian, and Persian food. (Here is a new piece on minorities in Virginia.) Both have excellent Sichuan food. Both have very good El Salvadoran and Thai food. Neither has real barbecue. Maryland used to have better Indian food, now Virginia has much better Indian food, including dosas. Apart from Bethesda, Maryland has virtually no "fine dining." Maryland has many more Russians, albeit without a decent restaurant.
Virginia has Tysons Corner, Tysons Mall I and II, The Palm, and a Ritz-Carlton, or in other words a lot of tacky, revenue-generating corporate assets. Virginia has better and more consistent school systems. Virginia has better Beltway on- and off-ramps.
Bethesda is better integrated into DC than is any part of Virginia, with Arlington playing catch-up. Virginia has the airports, the Pentagon, a better business climate, and lower taxes.
The Pentagon and the military are central to my theory of why Virginia is such a well-run state. Virginia has a major cash cow, to provide employment and taxable incomes, yet unlike Alaska's oil revenue, it is not one that the state government can get its hands on beyond general sources of tax revenue. The Pentagon, as a natural asset, does not foster corruption or complacency in the Virginia state government. It is politically untouchable. It makes Virginia a conservative yet interventionist and technocratic state. Maryland has more inherited blight.
Virginia has more ugly colonial houses, and more arches and pillars, Maryland has more tacky old American box houses. I dislike ugly colonial.
Virginia feels more like an assortment of minorities working within an essentially Protestant framework. Maryland was originally founded as a Catholic colony.
Looking to the state as a whole, Virginia doesn't have a proper city at all; Norfolk and Virginia Beach are agglomerations based around what are traditionally non-urban rationales. I bet people in California, or for that matter Shenzhen, don't even know they are cities at all. The third largest city, Chesapeake, no one has heard of, or cares about, if not for the nearby Bay. Other parts of Maryland, such as you find along the Susquehanna, were long integrated into more northerly and westerly trade routes. Virginia's major waterways lead to the sea.
I've long lived in Virginia, and never wanted to live in Maryland, even if I could equalize the commute.
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