The failure of economicsThe best you can say about economic policy in this slump is that we have for the most part avoided a full repeat of the Great Depression. I say “for the most part” because we actually are seeing a Depression-level slump in Greece, and very bad slumps elsewhere in the European periphery. Still, the overall downturn hasn’t been a full 1930s replay. But all of that, I think, can be attributed to the financial rescue of 2008-2009 and automatic stabilizers. Deliberate policy to offset the crash in private spending has been largely absent.And I blame economists, who were incoherent in our hour of need. Far from contributing useful guidance, many members of my profession threw up dust, fostered confusion, and actually degraded the quality of the discussion. And this mattered. The political scientist Henry Farrell has carefully studied policy responses in the crisis, and has found that the near-consensus of economists that the banks must be rescued, and the semi-consensus in favor of stimulus in the initial months mainly because the freshwater economists were caught by surprise, and took time to mobilize was crucial in driving initial policy. The profession’s descent into uninformed quarreling undid all that, and left us where we are today.And this is a terrible thing for those who want to think of economics as useful. This kind of situation is what we’re here for. In normal times, when things are going pretty well, the world can function reasonably well without professional economic advice. It’s in times of crisis, when practical experience suddenly proves useless and events are beyond anyone’s normal experience, that we need professors with their models to light the path forward. And when the moment came, we failed.
via Economics in the Crisis – NYTimes.com.
rePost::What are the best sources on how to be a good teacher? — Marginal Revolution
1. Give a damn.
2. Get to the point when you speak.
3. Expect something from them.
4. Teach to the students who are interested in learning.
5. At all levels, do not overestimate the attention span of your audience.
6. Do not be afraid to be idiosyncratic, provided you adhere strictly to #2.
via What are the best sources on how to be a good teacher? — Marginal Revolution.
Quote:: Seems to me .. that OSB successfully implements just two patterns::The Emperor’s New Service Bus – Transentia
Seems to me (cynic that I am) that OSB successfully implements just two patterns: the “sell copies of Weblogic” pattern and the “extract lots of money from customers” pattern.
Praise for Effort::James Cameron Completes Record-Breaking Mariana Trench Dive
Andy Bowen, project manager and principal developer of the Nereus, an ROV that explored Challenger Deep in 2009, said a manned mission also has the potential to inspire public imagination in a way a robot can’t.
“It’s difficult to anthropomorphize machines in a way that engages everyone’s imagination—not in the same way that having boots on the ground, so to speak, can do,” said Bowen, who’s not an expedition member.
Biological oceanographer Lisa Levin, also at Scripps, said that the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE program’s potential for generating public interest in deep-ocean science is as important as any new species Cameron might have discovered.
“I consider Cameron to be doing for the trenches what Jacques Cousteau did for the ocean many decades ago,” said Levin, who’s part of the team but did not participate in the seagoing expedition.
At a time of fast-shrinking funds for undersea research, “what scientists need is the public support to be able to continue exploration and research of the deep ocean,” Levin said.
(Video: Cameron Dive First Attempt in Over 50 Years.)
Perhaps referring to his friend’s most recent movie, expedition physician MacInnis called Cameron a real-world “avatar.”
“He’s down there on behalf of everybody else on this planet,” he said. “There are seven billion people who can’t go, and he can. And he’s aware of that.”
For his part, Cameron seems sure that the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER will be exploring the depths for a long time to come. In fact, he’s so confident in his star vehicle, he started mulling sequels even before today’s trench dive.
Phase two might include adding a thin fiber-optic tether to the ship, which “would allow science observers at the surface to see the images in real time,” said Cameron, a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence.
via James Cameron Completes Record-Breaking Mariana Trench Dive.
rePost::No green light for Carlos Celdran’s last performative tour in Art Dubai « mARTching thoughts
It was without a doubt, a drama worth telling. Carlos Celdran was questioned of his performative tour and was distanced to the Art Dubai hallway in order to finish his on-going tour. With everyone’s amazement, the content of his tour was scrutinized. He was ordered to do his act in front of five men in a close door room where they justify if Carlos somehow talks of Arab nations. As he was released he was told to alter any religious and political content of his tour.
I remember in one of his stop, Carlos talked about the Tripoli Peace Agreement between former Libya leader Ghaddafi and Mrs. Imelda Marcos. In that particular context Carlos told his audience that Mrs. Marcos held a Koran with her as she spoke these words to Ghadafi “Islam is all about peace, but if you are funding a war in my country you are turning Filipino to fight against Filipino, you are also turning Muslim to fight against Muslim. If you are doing this, how then are you following Mohammed?”
via No green light for Carlos Celdran’s last performative tour in Art Dubai « mARTching thoughts.
One Simple Question to Test Dating Compatability | Ben Casnocha
All dating compatability tests end up testing for a simple question: “Will we laugh at the same shit?”
via One Simple Question to Test Dating Compatability | Ben Casnocha.
Scripting News: Rediscovering the Beatles
But the thing that Im left with is rather mundane, but I wanted to say it anyway. Paul McCartney was, of all the Beatles, the pure songman. He wrote music because he loved music. He really didnt want to do anything else. For him, being a Beatle was the best deal in the world.
via Scripting News: Rediscovering the Beatles.
rePost::How Companies Learn Your Secrets – NYTimes.com
Once I figured out all the parts of the loop, it seemed fairly easy to change my habit. But the psychologists and neuroscientists warned me that, for my new behavior to stick, I needed to abide by the same principle that guided Procter & Gamble in selling Febreze: To shift the routine — to socialize, rather than eat a cookie — I needed to piggyback on an existing habit. So now, every day around 3:30, I stand up, look around the newsroom for someone to talk to, spend 10 minutes gossiping, then go back to my desk. The cue and reward have stayed the same. Only the routine has shifted. It doesn’t feel like a decision, any more than the M.I.T. rats made a decision to run through the maze. It’s now a habit. I’ve lost 21 pounds since then (12 of them from changing my cookie ritual).
via How Companies Learn Your Secrets – NYTimes.com.
rePost::10 Lessons from Einstein — Paulo Coelho's Blog
10 Lessons from Einstein
by PAULO COELHO on MARCH 16, 2012
1. Follow Your Curiosity “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
2. Perseverance is Priceless “It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”
3. Focus on the Present “Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.”
4. The Imagination is Powerful “Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions. Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
5. Make Mistakes “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”
6. Live in the Moment “I never think of the future – it comes soon enough.”
7. Create Value “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.”
8. Don’t be repetitive “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
9. Knowledge Comes From Experience “Information is not knowledge. The only source of knowledge is experience.”
10. Learn the Rules and Then Play Better “You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.”
via 10 Lessons from Einstein — Paulo Coelho’s Blog.
rePost::Genius
Genius
There is usually an inverse relationship between quality and quantity. Start speeding up that production line, and Lucy can’t keep up with the chocolates on the conveyor. Stuff starts to go sideways.
Telling your top thinkers to think harder, isn’t going to get you better thoughts, it’s just going to piss them off and probably get the opposite result.
On the other hand, if you know that you can turn the dial up at most sausage factories, and get well, more sausage.
Advice to those people who manage geniuses: Careful about fiddling with the knobs.
via.