Morning Ed: Economics {2016.06.23.Th}
Alex Tabarrok argues that European labor laws are making it harder for Muslim immigrants to integrate, thereby fueling terrorism.
Careful about that redesign, it could cost you half of your business.
Cool: A London startup is helping Mongolian nomads get their mail. {More}
Noah Smith is worried about Canada becoming a petrostate. Well, diversification is good, but oil per se isn’t precisely Russia’s or Nigeria’s problem, and the fact that the only other liberal democracy that is a petrostate is just fine, I suspect that’s where you would look for the good and the bad.
As Uber and Lyft pull out of Austin, others move in and drunk driving may be going up.
The alcohol industry really, really needs its alcoholics.
Ever wonder why hard cover books have those blank pages? Well, here you go.
Can we determine credit trustworthiness by looking at smartphone usage? (WSJ $$)
“What is best in life?”
“To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and get the new Land’s End catalog before the 35% off coupon deal expires.”Report
Oh FFS, Canada makes somewhere between 15-20% of it’s GDP from oil extraction. That is not chump change granted but it does not a petrostate make. Now the departed and unlamented Harper may have been intent on pushing that % higher but he’s out on his ass and the new administration (and the current oil climate) is definitely not going to be doubling down on those policies.Report
I would differentiate between a “state with major petroleum resources” and a “petrostate” – similar to the distinction between a “country with a lot of banana farming” and a “banana republic”.
That is, I would understand a petrostate to be one where the petroleum industry is not just a major source of revenue and employment, but also of corruption, regulatory capture, and violent oppression, particularly of anyone with the misfortune of living atop oil reserves. Which, there are some warning signs of in Canada, IMO.
(Man, I can’t read “petrostate” without seeing “prostate” and having to re-parse the word.)Report
Tell me more about the benefits of overly restrictive & protectionist labor markets.Report
@oscar-gordon
Again, I think it can be a balance. Does Europe go too far with labour protections for employees and workers? Maybe but there are some worthwhile things in it:
1. Recognitions of work-life balance and it is not the end of the world if e-mails don’t get answered to the following morning. I never understood why or how so many American bosses seem able to send all their e-mails at 2 in the morning.
2. Freelancing is uncertain and draining. I was working on a project. We sort of finished last Thursday but received an end of the day e-mail saying it would start up. Last Friday, we received an e-mail that today would be the start date. On Tuesday, I heard the 6/23 start up date again. Yesterday they told me that we were “unlikely” to start up again today but “likely” to start up again on Friday. I am not just waiting for this project either but have numerous projects that are waiting for start dates. This might be great for the owners but horrible for everyone else and is a psychic drain.
3. Right now the US seems to be at worst of all possible worlds with very protections for labour but lots of power with the employer who can assert non-compete clauses and non-disparagement clauses in contracts. Even if states would not enforce either, there is still a value to the employer to insert them for intimidation purposes because most employees don’t have the funds to litigate against either.Report
Blank pages and kerning… Back when CK was redesigning things, there was a discussion about changing fonts. I pointed out the visual difference that shrinking the inter-letter spacing very slightly — -1.5% is what I use in my code that reformats the Web for me — could make. He expressed considerable surprise at just how much of a difference in appearance that tiny change made when applied to a whole page of text.Report
The Supreme Court decision in Fisher is out — UT-Austin’s race-conscious affirmative action program is upheld. One of the longer-time SCOTUS watchers needs to explain the new Anthony Kennedy to me — pro-CO2 regulation, pro-same sex marriage, pro-citizen initiatives, now pro-affirmative action (within limits).Report
The guys who whacked Scalia made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.Report
That makes as much sense as my hypothesis that he’s planning to retire back to California and wants people there to talk to him rather than spitting at him.Report
You know, my son went to the same high school that he did. Also, Joan Didion and the Deftones.Report
And I was just wondreing about that too!Report
After his opinion today, I am considering taking small wagers that he will be the deciding vote in striking down the Texas statute in Whole Women’s Health next week.Report
I read Jeffrey Toobin’s The Nine and The Oath last summer.
Toobin attributes the evolution of Kennedy to greater international contact.
When the Iron Curtain fell, the former Eastern Bloc states were scrambling to write new constitutions. Kennedy goes to some retreat, and I believe, at times, teaches, in Austria. He found himself in great demand for consultations regarding this new round of constitutions through those contacts, and became very much aware of how the U.S. is viewed internationally.
Less than a year later, it was Kennedy who first cited international law in a SCOTUS opinion.
One man’s view. Makes sense to me. Hope that helps.Report
Freddie Gray Van Driver Found Not Guilty On All Charges
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2016/06/23/officer-charged-with-murder-in-freddie-gray-case-learns-his-fate-today/Report
I think (though I’m not sure) that’s the first ever link by someone I know personally. Cool.Report
Which one?Report
The one about startups filling the vacuum left by Uber and Lyft here in Austin.Report
Automation makes human labor more valuable:
http://www.vox.com/a/new-economy-future/manual-labor-luxury-goodReport
So does murdering half of humanity.
I know which one’s cheaper.Report
@kim :
That is actually fairly profound.Report
For a long time I have liked the idea of starting a micro distillery. But one thing that really give me pause (aside from the whole financial instability thing) is figures like the ones in that article.
No matter how I set up the business, how I priced and targeted the product, some percentage of my customers would be harming themselves with drink, and I’d be entering an industry that heavily depends on self-harming drinking.Report
I really don’t think the crowd that swills Trappist ales are the ones behind the mass bloodlettings of the inebriated.
For all we know, the shooting in Orlando could well have been caused by Coors Light, and the guy made up the muslim thing to cover.Report