In October, 2017, the Washington Post published a very strange series of articles about the recipients of disability benefits in the United States. The entire series is worth reading for various reasons, but I want to direct your attention to one particular entry: After the check is gone. The principal character in the article, Donna Jean Dempsey, collects aluminum cans … [Read more...] about Means-testing and Appalachian roots
Learning to love Baumol’s cost disease
Baumol's cost disease is one of the simplest ideas in economic theory, but I experience it as a kind of brain worm: once you know about it, you see evidence of it virtually everywhere. You can read the Wikipedia page as well as I can, but this is how I think about Baumol's cost disease: If productivity is increasing economy-wide, labor costs have to rise in sectors where … [Read more...] about Learning to love Baumol’s cost disease
Quick hit: use Kanopy to stream films for free
I just found out about this service and thought I'd pass it along in case readers weren't aware of it. Kanopy lets you stream 6 movies per calendar month for free Setting up an account is straightforward: Navigate to https://www.kanopy.com/ and click "Watch Now" Search for your local public or university library Create an account and connect your library … [Read more...] about Quick hit: use Kanopy to stream films for free
Why have capitalists lost faith in capitalism?
I've been following with interest the evolving crisis over the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, not because it affects me in any way but because it's less depressing than the American political system which I still have to rely on for my health insurance, retirement security, food safety, and environmental hygiene. However, the Brexit crisis has led me to … [Read more...] about Why have capitalists lost faith in capitalism?
Robinhood 3-year anniversary review: I love it, but it’s terrible
I just glanced at my Robinhood app and realized that I joined on January 8, 2016, which made yesterday my third anniversary of using the app. That seems like as good an opportunity as ever to take stock and share my overall impressions so far. The company seems perfectly scrupulous Robinhood attracted a lot of damaging, well-deserved publicity last month for the botched … [Read more...] about Robinhood 3-year anniversary review: I love it, but it’s terrible