Favorites January 29th 2022

Jan 30, 2022

Why did it take so long to invent seemingly simple mechanical devices, such as the printing press? In part because the devil is in the details, and everything is harder than it looks:

Heh, I don't even know how you'd overcome that problem... I guess you just try to ensure that the letters are all the same height, but I imagine it doing that must have been really hard. And now I'm considering reading a book about the invention of books.

Timothy B. Lee @binarybits

This week marks the 25th anniversary of my all-time favorite essay on economics: Paul Krugman's brilliant meditation on the importance of theory to understanding the economy. web.mit.edu/krugman/www/ho…

I really enjoyed the sudden gearshift in this, the whole article is worth checking out.

Gamarad @SGamarad

From the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force recommendations. You love to see it. pub-oakville.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ash…

You may recall that I posted a link to the Slate article on this subject back when it was published. When I speak to city officials these days, I always try to get a plug in for the article.

Nat Bullard @NatBullard

Car fires by powertrain: Hybrid: 3,475 per 100,000 sold Gasoline: 1,530 Electric vehicles: 25 kbb.com/car-news/study…

So, the obvious comparison is Gasoline vs Electric, but wow, those hybrid numbers ar wild! More complicated system leads to more chances for fires maybe?

Noah Smith 🌐+🧦=🐇 @Noahpinion

People are going to rush to say this was a base effect (i.e. recovery from a deep hole), but in the fourth quarter we had 3.9% unemployment and grew at 6.9%. That's just amazing.

President Biden @POTUS

This didn’t happen by accident. Because of the actions we took, last year we achieved the fastest economic growth in nearly four decades. https://t.co/s0jdy8FiWM

(3.9% unemployment is pretty darn good in a historical context.)

Ryan Burge 📊 @ryanburge

This may be the most revealing statistic about religion and politics over the last fifteen years. Among white, self-identified evangelicals: Never attenders in 2008: 45% Democrats, 36% Republicans. Never attenders in 2020: 18% Democrats, 65% Republicans

If you're wondering, he goes on to mention that people change their religious practices to match their partisanship.