A Place to Stand; or, A DriverlessCrocodile Worldview
Some foundational assumptions:
social justice
“If it was easy for them to have made a meaningful improvement, they would have done so already.”: Megan Stevenson on social change and constraints
(Still) recommended. Perhaps there is something unique about the people studied by RCTs in the criminal legal space that could limit generalizability. For instance, the… Read More »“If it was easy for them to have made a meaningful improvement, they would have done so already.”: Megan Stevenson on social change and constraints
Cascades, tides and shifting stars in social interventions: Megan Stevenson on cause, effect and the limits of RCTs
Recommended. A wide-lens view on more than fifty years of RCTs in the criminal legal space reveals a few common themes: most interventions don’t work,… Read More »Cascades, tides and shifting stars in social interventions: Megan Stevenson on cause, effect and the limits of RCTs
Remember the name: Persistence of wealth through China’s revolutions
via MR Can efforts to eradicate inequality in wealth and education eliminate intergenerational persistence of socioeconomic status? Or would the rich and powerful be able… Read More »Remember the name: Persistence of wealth through China’s revolutions
Schumpeter on primitive accumulation and Marx’s guffaw
Joseph Schumpeter’s Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy is (apparently) “the third most cited book in the social sciences published before 1950, behind Marx’s Capital and The… Read More »Schumpeter on primitive accumulation and Marx’s guffaw
Will and Ariel Durant on Inequality, Redistribution, Revolution and the Nature of Society’s Wealth
On The Inevitability of Inequality Since practical ability differs from person to person, the majority of such abilities, in nearly all societies, is gathered in… Read More »Will and Ariel Durant on Inequality, Redistribution, Revolution and the Nature of Society’s Wealth
Not long ago; or, Little by little (5): Tyler Cowen on progress in living standards since 1900
More links below [Even since 1990] the U.S. standard of living has increased by a factor of five to seven, estimated conservatively, and possibly much… Read More »Not long ago; or, Little by little (5): Tyler Cowen on progress in living standards since 1900
Michael Sandel and Sam Harris on meritocracy
This podcast is well worth listening too – Sandel and Harris frame the problems with meritocracy well even of they don’t quite get to a… Read More »Michael Sandel and Sam Harris on meritocracy
Privilege: other people’s eyes
In the space between finishing university and starting my first proper job I had a minor revelation. With my bank account running low and a… Read More »Privilege: other people’s eyes
Time and money
I’ve been spending quite a few of my mornings running through the centre of Cambridge. A lot of it is beautiful – especially the colleges.… Read More »Time and money