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Medical Ad Bask

I want to write a post on how the regulations concerning disclosure of health risks for medical products are actually counterproductive, because the announcer on TV or radio ends up rushing through an absurd list of nightmare possibilities such that people no longer even listen. Does anyone have any good examples of this? Like, do […]

A Question on Computer Chess

My son and I were discussing how computers can play certain games. I explained that a computer can easily “solve” Tic Tac Toe–meaning it can consider every possible future state of the board before making a move, and hence will never make a mistake. However, with chess this is not possible (at least yet). I […]

An Honest Comment

From Daniel Usher’s comments on a paper by Kenneth Arrow (both contained in the 1982 Resources for the Future collection, Discounting for Time and Risk in Energy Policy): “I should confess at once that I do not follow Arrow’s mathematics in detail. Though I think I understand what Arrow is doing, I cannot check his […]

Murphy Potpourri

Since I’ve been traveling so much, I’ve been remiss in keeping you up to speed with my machine-like output: ==> What could kill Bitcoin? ==> First Derivatives Are a Tough Knut for Krugman to Crack. ==> Tom Woods and I jerk-shame our libertarian peers. ==> Economic growth isn’t just about technology, it’s also about saving […]

The Legendary Pat Murphy

My dad had back-to-back gigs while I visit for the holiday, so I made a medley.

Uncle Samta Fundraiser

Sorry for the radio silence everyone… I’m at the Porcupine Freedom Festival (aka “PorcFest”) in New Hampshire all this week. But check out this “Uncle Samta” campaign. In the explanatory video, there are a few minutes sampling the movie, which is really professional. I told one of the creators I would pass along the link […]

Did Paulson Warn of the Financial Bubble?

I know there are a jillion YouTube clips of Ben Bernanke telling people not to worry, up until the world collapsed in September 2008, but did Henry Paulson say anything comparable? Written statements OK, but YouTube clips preferable.

The Universe Is Beautiful–Unless You Think Someone Designed It

Unfortunately I can’t find it, but on Facebook recently I saw a poster saying something like, “If the universe were created by an intelligent being, why would he leave 99.9999999% of it empty?” Somewhat apropos, when I took my son to the Smithsonian’s planetarium last week, the show opened and the whole place (filled with […]