Category Archives: science

Jacobin both good and bad

Posted on October 13, 2015 by tokugawa98

I guess that I should really get a subscription, given how often I read JacobinMag nowadays. This morning, for instance, I read a piece where they point towards the role of the Netherlands as vanguard of everything that’s wrong in … Continue reading →

Posted in belief systems, deficit spending, developed countries, health care policy, human rights, MMT, public debt | Leave a comment

Of the idiocy of turning algorithms into law

Posted on August 21, 2014 by tokugawa98

Lambert is writing at Naked Capitalism about Algorithmic Regulation, “Code is Law,” and the Case of Ferguson. It’s a good deconstruction and should definitely be read but I had my facepalm-moment at the start of the piece when he quotes … Continue reading →

Posted in belief systems, machine learning and data mining, techno utopianism | Leave a comment

Taxing consumers reduces growth – still!

Posted on August 13, 2014 by tokugawa98

So, the Japanese prime minister Abe proposed a bastard-Keynesian program for getting Japan out of its stagflation, nick-named Abenomics. But because he still effectively thinks neo-liberally, the program included a consumption tax increase to “balance the budget” (while at the … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, belief systems, economic policy, macroeconomics, MMT, neo-liberalism | Leave a comment

The vegan myth of a B12 Eden

Posted on August 7, 2014 by tokugawa98

I am currently in the process of transitioning to a vegan life style. My reasons are ethical and environmental and those reasons have firmed themselves due to the advocacy of my wife. Nutrition-wise there’s almost no problem with being vegan: … Continue reading →

Posted in environmental sustainability, evolution, pseudo-science | Leave a comment

Lots of salt need to be added to scientific results

Posted on April 30, 2014 by tokugawa98

As Ars Technica reports: Someone in a lab that studies pain perception noted that “Our laboratory personnel have reported anecdotally that pain behavior appears to be blunted while experimenters are present.” At some point, they decided to see if this … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Leave a comment

“Animal spirits” still rule speculation

Posted on April 18, 2014 by tokugawa98

VoxEU offers academica macroeconomic analyses that are a bit more nuanced than the bleating in the MSM. But often this nuance is not very impressive. Currently, there’s write-up of a paper online, titled Watch the indices! Derivatives and the Eurozone … Continue reading →

Posted in eurocrisis, macroeconomics, MMT, public debt | Leave a comment

The Eurocrisis concisely laid out

Posted on April 10, 2014 by tokugawa98

Jörg Bibow does a great job under the heading “On the alleged pains of the strong Euro. He discusses the current predicament: ECB president Mario Draghi recently argued that the strengthening of the euro was partly responsible for the bank’s … Continue reading →

Posted in austerity, deflation, economic policy, eurocrisis, macroeconomics | Leave a comment

Valls engages in make-belief

Posted on April 9, 2014 by tokugawa98

So Valls is yet another one who proposes to square the circle: If one ignores for the moment that there is no empirical evidence at all that companies invest more if they pay lower taxes – quite contrary, at current … Continue reading →

Posted in belief systems, macroeconomics, neo-liberalism | Leave a comment

Moving stories vs true stories

Posted on February 11, 2014 by tokugawa98

Watched “Dallas Buyers Club” last night: Jared Leto is very impressive! The story itself, however: when one looks at the facts, this is a story of how FDA procedures worked, getting a drug approved rather quickly that is still used … Continue reading →

Posted in health benefits, health care, media, science-based medicine | Leave a comment

Not the robots are coming for your jobs but the capitalists (but what else is new?)

Posted on January 26, 2014 by tokugawa98

The Economist posted a piece called “The future of jobs: The onrushing wave”, and Naked Capitalism cross-posted a comment from MacroBusiness – uncommented. Which is a shame because coming from The Economist, the original piece is expectedly bullshitty. The main … Continue reading →

Posted in machine learning and data mining, Predictive Modeling, science, techno utopianism | 2 Comments