Category Archives: Economics

“…LITTLE BOXES MADE OF TICKY TACKY….”

“…LITTLE BOXES MADE OF TICKY TACKY….” I posted here about “Little Boxes”, a song from 1962 which attacked conformity. The “Little Boxes” were standardized houses which were poorly made. Here are the lyrics, whose first stanza was: “Little boxes on … Continue reading

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BIG DATA AND ROTATOR CUFF INJURIES.

BIG DATA AND ROTATOR CUFF INJURIES. The data collection program also identified that a frequent injury for ramp workers was a rotator cuff tear in the left shoulder. A focus on these injuries showed that workers were holding their baggage … Continue reading

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BIG DATA AND REDUCING AIRLINE ACCIDENTS ON THE GROUND.

BIG DATA AND REDUCING AIRLINE ACCIDENTS ON THE GROUND. Susan Carey had an article in the Wall Street Journal (September 30) about how United Airlines has been using interns from college criminal justice programs to collect and load massive amounts … Continue reading

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WELLS FARGO—OVER 1.5 MILLION UNAUTHORIZED ACCOUNTS.

WELLS FARGO—OVER 1.5 MILLION UNAUTHORIZED ACCOUNTS. Here is a report by Matt Egan at the CNN Money website about a settlement (amounting to over $180 million in fines) with Wells Fargo by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: “Wells Fargo employees … Continue reading

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LOOKING BACK AT THE SIXTIES—-“NATURE DOESN’T RUN VERY GOOD EXPERIMENTS.”

LOOKING BACK AT THE SIXTIES—“NATURE DOESN’T RUN VERY GOOD EXPERIMENTS.” A second factor underlying the shift away from articles about theory is what Fox refers to as “disillusionment with theory”. Noah Smith says: “in recent years, many economists have been … Continue reading

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ECONOMIC RESEARCH IN THE LAST 30 YEARS—-MORE DATA; LESS THEORY.

ECONOMIC RESEARCH IN THE LAST 30 YEARS—MORE DATA, LESS THEORY. Noah Smith and Justin Fox have articles on the Bloomberg site about a dramatic shift in the kinds of articles in economics that are published. (Smith’s article is here and … Continue reading

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CHICAGO—FIRST IN SKYSCRAPERS.

CHICAGO—FIRST IN SKYSCRAPERS. The review—perhaps understandably because, after all, the book is about New York skyscrapers—asks “Why is Manhattan synonymous with skyscrapers?”. It then describes New York’s first skyscraper, the “11-storey” Tower Building on Broadway.as “a technological breakthrough”. The breakthrough … Continue reading

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A MYTH ABOUT NEW YORK SKYSCRAPERS?

A MYTH ABOUT NEW YORK SKYSCRAPERS? The Economist (August 20) had a review of Jason Barr’s BUILDING THE SKYLINE: THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF MANHATTAN’S SKYSCRAPERS which punctures a myth that I have been passing on to people for quite … Continue reading

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LOOKING BACK AT CAT BONDS AND BLACK SWANS.

CAT BONDS AND BLACK SWANS. About nine years ago I posted on two new developments—cat bonds and the phrase “black swan”. I posted here in August 2007 about “cat bonds”—catastrophe bonds—which were a relatively new financial instrument at the time. … Continue reading

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BAYESIAN STATISTICS AND DENTAL FLOSS.

BAYESIAN STATISTICS AND DENTAL FLOSS. Fumento raises another serious objection to excluding evidence of the usefulness of flossing. Excluding everything but randomized tests excludes “biological plausibility.” There isn’t much statistical evidence because “very few people have researched what is so … Continue reading

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