Favorites November 13th 2021

Jason Furman @jasonfurman

Two models for inflation: 1. MACRO: inflation is determined in aggregate (e.g., total stimulus). 2. MICRO: developments in individual markets (e.g., cars) determine inflation. The later approach isn't entirely irrelevant but vastly overblown in analyzing inflation. A 🧵

Maybe this stuff is obvious to others, but I found this very informative, especially the difficulties of removing sectors from the basket of items can have unexpected side effects.

Julia Galef @juliagalef

I'm biased of course, but this is my all-time favorite wedding centerpiece idea (from my brother @JesseGalef & @donovanable): Instead of flowers, each table had a little bookshelf of books that are special to the bride & groom, with bookmarks explaining why they picked each one

Low-key bragging about how many books you've read, love it.

SpaceX @SpaceX

First 6-engine static fire test of Starship

I really like how the sky is dark to get the exposure low enough to capture the exhaust

James Medlock @jdcmedlock

Making school lunch universal decreased food insecurity and increased diet quality *for kids who were already eligible* for means-tested school lunch

NBER @nberpubs

Universal free school meals reduce household food purchases, improve diet quality, and reduce food insecurity for already eligible low-income families, suggesting reduced stigma from universal access, from @mimimmarcus and @kgyewell https://t.co/Avw6Ewvdzh https://t.co/2zB8XcCkcW

Means-testing is the worst!

Adam Tooze @adam_tooze

"One of weird paradoxes of pandemic is that we’re generally a lot richer than we were before. U.S. household net worth is up by $25 trn.” And this is true even for bottom 60%. @M_C_Klein breaks down the numbers. His substack is essential reading. theovershoot.co/p/whats-happen…

Wow, that's... a lot

Wesley Yang @wesyang

We should all encourage the Chinese to save the world to own the West

futurism.comChinese Scientists Say They’ve Discovered Cheap New Way to Do Nuclear FusionA team of scientists in China say they’ve discovered a cost-effective method of creating fusion energy that could rival much more expensive counterparts.

Competition is how we accomplish great things.

Mack, yes, That Mack @that_mc

Every bus has a fire extinguisher, and we check every day before we pull out of the yard. It is intended for exactly these situations.

Now that Shang-Chi is available on Disney+, this kind of frame-by-frame SF Transit commentary is finally possible! Check out the full thread for a hilarious amount of detail.

Heavy Fog this morning

Unfortunately, my understanding is that the same weather pattern that causes fog here also causes worse air quality.