Favorites August 21st 2022

San Diego, June 2022

Armand Domalewski @ArmandDoma

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I had no idea Wiener was so popular in SF, apparently he's very responsive to constituents? Also amusing that to BoS is more popular than it's members.

Jordan Schneider @jordanschnyc

TSMC’s annual capex is twice what Taiwan spends on its military

Gerard DiPippo @gdp1985

This is a great thread. But we should describe TWN as *choosing* not to spend on defense, not as facing budgetary constraints. TWN's revenues and debts are low. TWN could easily afford to double (or triple) defense spending. Too many Western commentators give TWN a pass on this. https://t.co/cQMLS8LVF6 https://t.co/g9UiUf8Ode

It's hardly comparable, but Intel's capex is a bit less than 3% of US military spending.

Ethan Mollick @emollick

Good middle managers matter a lot! Who the plant manager is in car factory explains more of the productivity difference between plants than who the CEO of the company is. Replacing a bottom quartile manager with a top quartile one decreases hours needed to build a car by 30%.

The thread goes on to have some more interesting stuff, including that a study indicated that 30% of US productivity advantage is better management.

The New York Times @nytimes

Half a century in the making, the artist Michael Heizer’s astonishing megasculpture in a remote Nevada valley is finally opening to visitors. "I am not here to tell people what it all means. You can figure it out for yourself," he said. nyti.ms/3AwB0sC

@RogueWPA imagines archeologists millenia from now: "fuck, I dunno, maybe a religious site"

Threads

• Thread of aggregate statistics about how movies have changed over time.