- Read: It’s 2021! Time to tidy your digital life and start some good micro-habits. (I usually delete articles like these, but there’s some good info here.)
- Read: Big data may not be very good for medical patients
- Read: Much as I suspected, COVID has changed dating… for the better.
- Read: As discussed in Jive Talking #88, the savings boom in the US (fed by the CARES act and reductions in spending) has played a big role in boosting asset prices: “This combination of soaring personal income and falling spending pushed Americans’ savings rate through the roof. From March through November, personal savings was $1.56 trillion higher than in 2019, a rise of 173 percent. Normally the savings rate bounces around in a narrow range, around 7 percent just before the pandemic. It spiked to 33.7 percent in April, its highest level on record dating to 1959.” Additional thoughts: Share prices are ALSO rising because monetary inflation (JPow’s money printer goes “brrrr”) is channeling into assets that have returns only slightly higher than 0% (or negative) returns on bonds. So the P/E ratios can climb way higher. What will cause a crash? Government budget surpluses or a cut in money supply, both of which are politically unpopular.
- Read: Global food prices are up 18%, to 6-year highs due to climate and politics. Next up food riots?
- Read: Applied game theory: Coordination
- Read: Humans created “social reality” to augment physical reality
- Listen: Why generalists (and “late starters”) are more successful than specialists
- Listen: A really interesting discussion of how economists over-emphasise “homo economicus” selfishness over our more generous natures.
- Watch (a few times): “A white guy drops a wicked freestyle rap“