FT: “The OECD [recently] released the results of a vast exercise: in-person assessments of the literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills of 160,000 adults aged 16-65 in 31 different countries and economies. Compared with the last set of assessments a decade earlier, the trends in literacy skills were striking. Proficiency improved significantly in only two countries (Finland and Denmark), remained stable in 14, and declined significantly in 11, with the biggest deterioration in Korea, Lithuania, New Zealand and Poland. Among adults with tertiary-level education (such as university graduates), literacy proficiency fell in 13 countries and only increased in Finland, while nearly all countries and economies experienced declines in literacy proficiency among adults with below upper secondary education. Singapore and the US had the biggest inequalities in both literacy and numeracy…Without solid skills of your own, it is only a few short steps from being supported by the machine, to finding yourself dependent on it, or subject to it.”
Thomas Sowell: “There is no question that doing all the things that urgently need doing will require huge amounts of additional government spending. The key question is: Where will the government get this money?…There are…additional billions of dollars that could be tapped, from a source that not many people think about. That is the vast—almost unbelievable—amount of land owned by the federal government. Some of that land—such as military bases—is used to house the government’s own operations. But the great majority of that land is not. The idea of selling huge amounts of government-owned land is not new. Before the federal income tax was created in the early 20th century, land sales were sometimes a significant source of federal government income in the preceding two centuries…As of 2015, government-owned lands were valued at $1.8 trillion by the Commerce Department. This is the kind of money that can make a real contribution to the government’s fiscal balance, at a time when so many government operations are urgently in need of support.”
Pierre Lemieux: “You gave orders to your suppliers, not the other way around. A producer could not order you to buy from him. Only public producers—governments or suppliers backed by governments—can do this. French philosopher Raymond Ruyer, in his 1969 book Éloge de la société de consommation (In Praise of the Consumer Society), described the difference between a market economy, where the consumer is sovereign, and a planned economy, where the producer runs the show (under government’s control): “In a market economy, demand is imperative and supply is supplicant … In a planned economy, supply is imperative and demand is supplicant.””
Andy Kessler: “Think of saying to yourself, “Let it be.” Yes, words of wisdom. Or as billion-view podcaster Mel Robbins suggests, say “Let them.” She describes it as a “life-changing mindset hack.” Hey, who doesn’t want that? I watched (briefly), and her theory is best summed as “stop trying to force other people to do what you want them to do, and so much more peace will come into your life.” Peace out. When disagreeing, the impulse is to say something else besides “let” before “them.” But as long as you’re not threatened, not competing on a woman’s swim team or being told what to do, let them talk. Let them use up their hot air. Let them wallow in their own BS. If you’re right (of course you are) it will only take time for your brilliance to be exposed. Then you always have the age-old “Toldja!” in your back pocket. You’ll be itching to use it, but don’t. It’s less divisive and way more effective if left unspoken.”
NYTimes: “A.I. hallucinations are reinvigorating the creative side of science. They speed the process by which scientists and inventors dream up new ideas and test them to see if reality concurs. It’s the scientific method — only supercharged. What once took years can now be done in days, hours and minutes. In some cases, the accelerated cycles of inquiry help scientists open new frontiers.”
