Now, I get the appeal to authority, and the arguments against it. Obviously they wanted the cachet of the Nobel name for their economics prize, but economists often worry about the wrong thing. Yes, stagnant capital is bad for the economy, and a stagnant economy is bad for society, but having a vibrant economy doesn’t necessarily mean society is benefiting. Most economists don’t worry too much about that, and many businesses don’t, either. And that’s where the problems come in.

While companies are going about making profits, they rarely worry about the world or society they operate in. This is why they will happily pollute the planet, underpay their employees, or produce goods and services that maximize profits rather than better suit their customers’, and society’s, needs. Hence, fossil fuel companies desperately hanging onto their current profit model while storms rage and cities flood, or light bulbs being made to burn out (or, in the case of LEDs, just a certain component so they can be easily ‘recycled’). And this is where society needs to have strong government to step in and curb the ravenous hunger of capitalism and direct that energy in ways that help society.

So, for good or ill, more housing needs to be built, even if that means housing prices are stagnant or even drop. Food has to be affordable, or people with less income need to be supported so they aren’t starving. People need to be educated well, so they don’t make imprudent choices and have better opportunities in life. Healthcare needs to be accessible, so society is happier, healthier, and can also further drive that economy.

Keep capitalism for what it is good for (or find a way to replace it with something better, preferably without burning civilization down), which is finding innovative ways to get things done, and looking for new and interesting things to make society better. And use government to set limits and direction, such as incentivizing needed housing that isn’t profitable.

Nothing says self-sufficient like having to bring in troops from other countries.

Hungary is no longer listed as a member of the IDU. There appears to be no press release about that change. Whatever the reason, this puts a spotlight on their motives or competence.

Land of the free and all that. Free from paid healthcare, a decent public education, a strong voice in government, an impartial justice system, employee rights… With all this freedom, it’s hard to imagine wanting to be anywhere else.

I’m pretty sure you can’t live to retirement eating boiled steak and kidney pie. Remember, even fish and chips is an imported food. Their national beverage comes from halfway across the world. I’m pretty sure the only reason the British did so much conquering is because anything was better than staying home. And, of course, eating any of these things doesn’t preclude you from being a bigot. Bigots aren’t often known for their critical thinking skills.

The picture’s been updated, I guess they realized their mistake.

I stumbled across this link on .world one time, and your comment made me think of it. Hopefully it’s entertaining if nothing else.

From a lot of what I’ve seen, strong literalism and very little intuition is a pretty common trait with autism. You have a picture with a bunch of people at the beach, we’ll, you have a bunch of people at the beach. The lifeguard isn’t on vacation, some people could be there on a day trip, so why would you say vacation. Take the same picture, add a sign that says “Beachside Resort” and you might be more likely to say vacation.

I think this ties into how people with autism respond to open-ended and closed questions. What’s 2+2? Well, 4, obviously. What’s your favorite color? Shouldn’t be too hard. What’s the best color? Now it gets confusing. If I’m hunting, neon orange is great. If I’m painting the outside of my house, probably not neon orange. I probably want a different color than either of those for my bedroom, my clothes, my car. And now you’ve been staring at the evaluator for 30 seconds like they just asked you the meaning of life and how that is going to direct your goals for the next 20 years, when what a more neurotypical person would say is, “Blue, because it brings out my eyes.”

So if you look at those questions in that context, they may be very helpful for the evaluator to make a diagnosis, simply because there is no obvious answer.

The punishment was easy, so the intent wasn’t as great. You know, the difference between a bullet to the head and repeated bashing with a rock. I’m sure in all these instances, the lack of effort was a relief to the target of the action.

And there are some gays and lesbians who have a problem with bi people because they can pass as straight if their partner is the opposite gender. 🤷‍♂️

I’m not sure which president you’re referring to. Trump made a pretty big excuse when Khashoggi was killed for why he wasn’t even going to wag his finger at Saudi Arabia. Or we could talk about his excuse for why he couldn’t reform the ACA.

I honestly think you and I are on pretty close to the same page as far as American politics are concerned, with the exception of the value of activist votes in the presidential election. I do hope your system gets updated to the point where the will of the people becomes or returns to being relevant, depending on your opinions about American history, and I hope mine gets fixed before that is no longer the case.

It really is amazing what one can do when the obstructionists are on your side.

The last time Trump was in power, he passed a tax bill that is estimated to have had a net negative impact on the 72% lowest earning people in America. Some of those changes stay in effect until 2028. I don’t imagine he will have less of an impact this time around.

There are two valid reasons that tariffs are normally applied. The first is to protect the local economy. This usually makes sense where there are marked differences in the cost of living in two regions, giving a financial advantage to the region with the lower CoL. The second is to counteract subsidies in one region allowing a lower sale price in another region. The idea here is to remove the unfair advantage the subsidized companies are enjoying.

There are other reasons, such as simple protectionism, where relative competitiveness is ignored and is more broadly applied to restrict foreign goods and services from flooding a market.

The reason for not applying tariffs for locally-made products is pretty straightforward. Employees are local, goods produced are local, business taxes (if actually paid) are local. Profits will undoubtedly be siphoned off to China, but that’s the case for any foreign owned business.

Aluminum is in antiperspirants, not deodorants (usually).

I’m not the best guy to ask for sensitive responses, but try to take my blunt and possibly obnoxious response in a positive light.

There are a lot of people saying terrible things on the internet, to the point where only the more aggregious ones stand out. Most things will be ignored or forgotten by most people, whether they were good or bad, but I appreciated this post, and you for putting it out there.

I was trying to make a lewdly suggestive comment about vintage balls leaving them hanging. Apparently it wasn’t done very well, but it did have unintended and appreciated consequences.

And he just leaves them hanging.

I’m referring to the users asking the questions.

I think if enough people did it, Anubis would grow to like cheese.

That was testing a new missile, so not exactly the same thing. It still doesn’t inspire confidence, and the maintenance levels of the rest of their military doesn’t inspire confidence in the readiness of their existing nuclear arsenal.