Category Archives: Economics

HOW DID THE VIKINGS GET TO AUSTRALIA?

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Philip

HOW DID THE VIKINGS GET TO AUSTRALIA? This find is the first time that any trace of a Viking presence has been found in the Indian Ocean. Professor Fletcher thinks it most likely that the route they took was around … Continue reading →

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DID THE VIKINGS SPREAD CIVILIZATION TO AUSTRALIA?

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Philip

DID THE VIKINGS SPREAD CIVILIZATION TO AUSTRALIA? I have posted a number of times on the issue of whether the Vikings were raiders or traders. Although I have told the kids that the Vikings were engaged in spreading civilization, I … Continue reading →

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THE WRIGHT BROTHERS SOLVING THE SCIENTIFIC PROBLEMS OF HOW TO FLY.

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Philip

THE WRIGHT BROTHERS SOLVING THE SCIENTIFIC PROBLEMS OF HOW TO FLY. James Salter has a review of David McCullough’s new book THE WRIGHT BROTHERS in the New York Review of Books (August 13). McCullough is a very good story teller, … Continue reading →

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WEDGWOOD—A BUSINESSMAN DOING SCIENCE.

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Philip

WEDGWOOD—A BUSINESSMAN DOING SCIENCE. I posted here five years ago about how THE WESTERN INTELLECTUAL TRADITION by J. Bronowski and Bruce Mazlish treated the accomplishments in applied science of manufacturers as being of equal intellectual importance with those of the … Continue reading →

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TIME AND MOTION STUDY COMES TO BANK ROBBERY.

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Philip

TIME AND MOTION STUDY COMES TO BANK ROBBERY. Shortly after I referred in this post to the time and motion studies of the Gilbreths, I came across another example of time and motion study which comes from the period around … Continue reading →

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BIG DATA AND MEDICINES.

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Philip

BIG DATA AND MEDICINES. The Economist article seems to assume that the only interesting source of information about the effectiveness of drugs is a clinical trial. I will take Tamiflu as a hypothetical. The article points out that the British … Continue reading →

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PUBLISHING THE RESULTS OF ALL CLINICAL TRIALS.

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Philip

PUBLISHING THE RESULTS OF ALL CLINICAL TRIALS. I have posted a number of times about the need for publishing replications studies and negative results. For example, I said here: “If more papers are published, more dull but important negative results … Continue reading →

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WHY DECENTRALIZED STATES ARE MORE STABLE.

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Philip

WHY DECENTRALIZED STATES ARE MORE STABLE. Taleb’s principle that reducing small risks can increase the severity of low probability events explains why decentralized states are more stable. The Zero Hedge post quotes him: “Although centralization reduces deviations from the norm, … Continue reading →

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WHY ITALY IS A STABLE STATE.

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Philip

WHY ITALY IS A STABLE STATE. I have posted a number of times—for example, here—-about the ideas of Nassim Taleb, the author of THE BLACK SWAN. “GoldCore” has a summary on the Zero Hedge site of an article by Taleb … Continue reading →

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LETTING CONSUMERS VALUE IMPROVEMENTS.

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Philip

LETTING CONSUMERS VALUE IMPROVEMENTS. Kids, do not take lightly improvements that you think are frivolous (such as the improvement of Grand Theft Auto V over Grand Theft Auto IV cited by the Goldman Sachs economists in yesterday’s post). When Meyer … Continue reading →

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