CategoryEconomics
Sloppy Science is a Statistical Sin
Evidence of sloppy science encourages readers to wonder if the entire research project is compromised
COSM: Ethernet Inventor Asks, Are We Ready for New IT Technology?
Bob Metcalfe will talk about new technologies like electromagnetic waves from the “dead zone” of the spectrum that are slowly becoming economically viable
The Government-Debt Tipping Point Is Nonsense
There are serious problems with the economics paper by Reinhart and Rogoff, whose recommendations were widely followed
How can someone who fails be faulted when everyone else is failing?
Market turbulence can cause endowment fund managers to travel with the herd — sacrifice returns in order to reduce annual volatility
What We Can Learn From the Crowdstrike Fiasco
A lot of things that we try to do to remove risk actually make the problem worse — but also less visible
Tech Industry: Are the Unicorns an Endangered Species?
The canaries are cheeping loudly that new tech startup funding is fading
LLMs Can’t Be Trusted for Financial Advice
The LLM responses demonstrated that they do not have the common sense needed to recognize when their answers are obviously wrong
Why Are Some Retail Stores Ditching Self-Checkout?
Rising theft rates are a key motivator but other problems have arisen, like preventing alcohol sales to minors
Economics Assumes Human Beings Have Free Will
Every waking moment we humans live out a constant fact underlying all economic science: we act.“Free will denial is a cornerstone of materialist–determinist ideology,” wrote Dr. Michael Egnor here in February 2024. The deniers say we are “purely physical machines, meat robots.” Dr. Egnor cited well-known people who have prominently denied humans have free will. Dr. Egnor challenged deniers to demonstrate through their own actions that they truly have no free will. They will fail for Dr. Egnor’s stated reasons, plus one more: economics. The science of economics describes the behaviors of individual humans as they pursue their lives. Economics has discovered certainties, such as the Law of Supply and Demand, that describe how people produce, consume, trade, save, invest, and anticipate the future. Economics succeeds because it grasps certain universal truths about free-will, non-material, Read More ›
Retracted Paper Is a Compelling Case for Reform
The credibility of science is being undermined by misuse of the tools created by scientists. Here's an example from an economics paper I was asked to comment on
How Data Can Appear in Science Papers — Out of Thin Air!
At Retraction Watch, Gary Smith explains how one author team apparently copy pasted missing data about green innovation in various countriesRecently, Retraction Watch, a site that helps keeps science honest, noted some statistical peculiarities about a paper last September in the Journal of Clean Energy, “Green innovations and patents in OECD countries.” The site was tipped off by a PhD student in economics that “For several countries, observations for some of the variables the study tracked were completely absent.” But that wasn’t the big surprise. The big surprise was when the student wrote to one of the authors: In email correspondence seen by Retraction Watch and a follow-up Zoom call, [Almas] Heshmati told the student he had used Excel’s autofill function to mend the data. He had marked anywhere from two to four observations before or after the missing values Read More ›
Full-Time: Why We Need More Creative Productivity, Not Less
A new book shows how we lost the meaning of work and the ways we can get back on track.
If Information Is Wealth, Are Deepfakes a Form of Counterfeiting?
The current tech media overdose on panic over deepfakes. They could be drowning out practical ways of fighting back
Artists Strike Back!: New Tool “Poisons” Images Pirated by AI
Nightshade, developed by University of Chicago computer science prof Ben Zhao, makes the AI generator keep giving you a cat when you ask for a dog
Industry Pro: No, AI Is NOT Driving the Mass Big Tech Layoffs!
“It may explain the loss of some content generation and customer support positions — but doesn’t explain the layoffs of software developers.”
Is New AI Driving the Mass Big Tech layoffs?
The jury’s out on whether that’s really what’s happening and, if so, whether it will improve profitability
What Will the New Media Landscape Look Like?
Billionaires have been “scooping up” publishers in recent years but that has not stopped the bleed of red ink
Business Media Report That 2023 Was a Bad Year for Tech Startups
