Author Archive | Tyler Cowen

Maybe not, read this article. Here is one provocative bit of several: “Figures of eight million French Muslims are regularly tossed around, based, it seems, on panicked fears of high Muslim immigration and a high Muslim birth rate. These figures are vastly overestimated, though. Figures on religious affiliation and ethnic background aren’t kept by the […]

When you talk with this woman in person, she refers to asymmetric information, not “asymmetrical” information. My dictionary lists the choice as optional, she could have called her blog Asymmetrous Information as well, though that is archaic. Here is her excellent post on health care, from a few days ago.

No, that is not the name of a Jamaican dub album; rather it describes my next three days. I am organizing a Liberty Fund conference in Washington and I have invited some leading bloggers to attend. Discussants will include Daniel Drezner, Megan McArdle (JaneGalt.net), Randall Parker (Futurepundit.com), Alex Tabarrok (MarginalRevolution.com), and David Nishimura (Cronaca.com). We […]

“The visual environment for the young, in short, has become confused, fragmented, and unstable. Students now understand moving but not still images. The long, dreamy, contemplative takes of classic Hollywood studio movies or postwar European art films are long gone. Today’s rapid-fire editing descends from Jean-Luc Godard, with his hand-held camera, and more directly from […]

Are you surprised? Here is an update (follow the links if you are fuzzy on the background) over our exchange on my VC post on immigration and liberalism.

“I don’t want to hear anyone complaining about the deficit unless they immediately begin to list ways of taking things away from old people and making them work harder and longer. Otherwise you aren’t really bothered by the deficit at all.” Here is the link. As phrased the quotation is overstated and oversimplified, but it […]

Here is the link, courtesy of the electricity goddess, Lynne Kiesling. Don’t forget that the director is Mexican Alfred Cuaron, who also did the underrated and Freudian Little Princess, the failed but interesting Great Expectations, and the sublime Y Tu Mama Tambien. I have high hopes.

It’s not turning out to be so simple. Read this story. Not being a lawyer, I’m not even sure what the ruling means. I do know it favored the sued users and upset the big music companies. And this article explains why the indies are not nearly so upset.

It is commonly noted that Hollywood prefers movies that fit into standard categories, such as “action movie,” “romantic comedy,” etc. If you prefer something unusual, I’ll recommend Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Jim Carrey (not a standard Carrey movie), Kate Winslet, and Kirsten Dunst. The core story line concerns a couple who split […]

I often ask myself this question when I read Matthew Yglesias or Brad DeLong, two of the smartest liberals in the blogosphere. I can think of a few reasons why I am not a liberal, but here is arguably the most fundamental. Immigration is a better anti-poverty program than is welfare spending. At the relevant […]

The following article might stimulate your thoughts in several different directions. It asks whether you should give away or invest your money. How much you should leave for your heirs. Whether religion is needed to stimulate more charity. And whether you should target the poorest people with your aid or seek to build up institutions […]

“In an analysis of American box-office receipts for 250 movies released last year, the Christian Film & Television Commission (CFTVC) found that films that stressed “strong moral content” made an average $92,546,413 — six times the revenue of those that focused on “immoral, negative content.” Those movies brought in an average $14,626,234. On a broader […]

This is not my field, but I sent this set of blog references along to my lawyer wife. (Mainly I wanted to show her that blogging and reading blogs isn’t a waste of time.) Why shouldn’t you get the material too? The links help lawyers keep current with the field of corporate law and SEC […]

“Charles Saatchi, by far the most influential figure on the contemporary British art scene, has been reported to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) for allegedly monopolising the art market. Charles Thomson, a gallery owner who has made it his mission to burst the BritArt bubble, has now taken the extraordinary step of submitting a […]

“One of the greatest artworks of all time is scattered in fragments across Europe. But there is now a way to view the surviving Parthenon sculptures together for the first time – a virtual reconstruction. They’re still magnificent nearly 2,500 years after being carved, but the sculptures of the Parthenon are a bit like sad […]