Favorites July 31 2021

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias

Taxing the rich to massively reduce child poverty sounded good to me but then I learned of the negative consequences for millionaire landlords. https://t.co/48CdgMW2CT

Rachel Louise Ensign @RachelEnsignWSJ

NEW: One-time millionaires--people who make a bunch of money in one year selling a business or property--will be hit hard by Biden's tax plan. I visited one Kentucky landlord who now worries he won't be able to retire if the law passes. https://t.co/XM91zggoB7

Similar energy to opposition to Prop 13 repeal in CA.

Joseph Allen @j_g_allen

SCHOOLS. It’s not too late, it’s not too hard, and it’s not too expensive to improve air quality in your classroom —> portable air cleaner with HEPA filter —> size it right for your room —> place close to center as possible —> turn it on EASY details in thread

Given everything we're learning about dangers of PM2.5, getting good air filtration is just an all around good idea, although you don't have to go as far as is described in this thread if you're just worried about particulates.

Lionel Page @page_eco

Another fascinating mind-bending illusion. There is no yellow in the circle below (!). Instead, our brain very confidently fills the gap of the colour scheme. by @AkiyoshiKitaoka

Note, the blue lines become black, in the circle, but it's still crazy.

Ethan Mollick @emollick

Take it from a Gen Xer: this is a useful debunking of the myths of generation labels, showing why they are not often based on good science. Using them in business settings ("We've got to appeal to Gen Z workers!") can lead you astray and introduce biases. semanticscholar.org/paper/Generati…

This is a long table, but the core idea: that generations don't add anything meaningful beyond the concept of age, seems well supported.

Darrell Owens @IDoTheThinking

Its not twice as much, its five or six times as much. Its because years of consultants are hired to waste time, enviormental studies must be conducted for obvious emission reducers like public transit, NIMBYs delay projects and or demand they're worse.

Chris Murphy @ChrisMurphyCT

It’s time to ask why it costs so much to build rail in America. We deserve high speed rail but we shouldn’t have to pay twice what it costs for other high income nations. https://t.co/kr0a0EhwG8

The problem also builds upon itself because we don't have many people with experience in these large rail projects because we do so few of them. Because they're expensive.

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

I had speculated that those who argue for a more accommodative approach toward China (which could easily veer into appeasement) would use the threat of domestic racism as a lever to force the Biden administration to adopt this approach.

Jessica J. Lee @JessLee_DC

One way for President Biden to reduce anti-Asian violence at home is by bringing in personnel with diverse opinions on U.S.-Chinese relations, including those who do not believe that the only course forward is extreme competition. (8/9)

Noah Smith 🐇 @Noahpinion

Essentially, the Biden administration has been pretty hawkish toward China. Now the doves, who have been losing the policy debate, are raising the specter of racism as a way to force themselves back in.

Jessica J. Lee @JessLee_DC

Without a conscious effort to diversify internal deliberation on China policy, Washington’s behavior will continue to foster anti-Asian racism, just as it did during the Trump era. (9/9)

China policy is such a mess. If you want to read more on this, Noah's article on the subject was excellent. It even has memes:

Anyway, I got a bunch more photos today in the city:

Salesforce Tower 2021