A morning links roundup:
- Easterly on some problems in mosquito net distribution: resale of subsidized net for use as fabric
- More problems with fMRI studies (note Glenn Harrison's prior take-down of neuroeconomics)
- Brad Taylor on the massive costs of regulatory impediments to development of anti-aging treatments.
- Gary Becker on the problems of maintaining central bank independence. New Zealand under the prior government provides a nice case in point (not discussed by Becker): regardless of any signed policy targets agreement, Finance Minister Cullen effectively gave Reserve Bank Governor Bollard the nod to operate well outside the inflation band for extended periods: Sept2005-Sept2006 and Dec2007-Dec2008 inclusive had inflation outcomes above 3%). It took the global financial meltdown to get inflation back to hitting the target band.
Saw Dennis on the Colbert Report earlier in the year. I think he'll talk about his book and the imaginative advantage man has over other animals.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't seem all that fresh or impressive to me!
Except for that so many folks in cultural studies insisted for so long on pure cultural relativism: that we can never understand another culture's art, that there's no common basis for aesthetic appreciation, etc. Denis shows that not to be the case.
ReplyDelete