Tuesday, November 29

It makes no sense

Some people fret that China will reap the green jobs of the future, but no economically viable green-energy product exists. It makes no sense for the U.S. to try to dominate a money-losing industry, especially by guaranteeing profits to inefficient power plants for 30 years.

Sunday, November 27

zodiac signs as job criteria

It appears that zodiac signs – what most people would agree to be an arbitrary aspect of an applicant’s profile – have in fact become significant criteria for many companies.
In China, at least.

Megan Mcardle reviews Shiny Objects

Megan Mcardle reviews Shiny Objects
Here are some of the things that upset [James A. Roberts] and that "document our preoccupation with status consumption": Lucky Jeans, bling, Hummers, iPhones, 52-inch plasma televisions, purebred lapdogs, McMansions, expensive rims for your tires, couture, Gulfstream jets and Abercrombie & Fitch. This is a fairly accurate list of the aspirational consumption patterns of a class of folks that my Upper West Side neighbors used to refer to as "these people," usually while discussing their voting habits or taste in talk radio. As with most such books, considerably less space is devoted to the extravagant excesses of European travel, arts-enrichment programs or collecting first editions.

One of the running themes of the economist Robin Hanson's excellent blog is that arguments like the ones found in these books are actually an elite-status proxy war. They denigrate the one measure of high-visibility achievement—income—that public intellectuals don't do very well on. Reading "Shiny Objects," you get the feeling that he is onto something.

Share the Wealth!


Wednesday, November 9

FishBarrel

A chrome extension for reporting misleading health claims found on the web to the FDA. (The link is for the British version, but it works for some other countries, too). I'm wondering if Lifehacker will promote this.