Today's links

Debts that can't be paid, won't be paid: The first David Graeber Foundation meetup, between Thomas Piketty and Michael Hudson.
"Are you calling me a racist?": The libertarian case for racism.
Wells Fargo can't stop criming: The nation's third-biggest bank is a criminal enterprise.
This day in history: 2001, 2011, 2016, 2020
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 29 Sep 2021"

Today's links

Charter schools are money laundries: "The hidden world of charter schools operated for financial gain."
Disney parks and aggregate demand management: My ongoing series on Medium, for an age of supply shocks.
Oregon's carbon offsets go up in smoke: The Bootleg Fire is more evidence that markets can't solve the climate emergency.
Surge pricing violates antitrust law: Even the weaksauce version pushed by the econ establishment.
This day in history: 2011, 2016, 2020
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 26 Jul 2021"

A Monopoly Isn’t the Same as Legitimate Greatness

Competent monopolists aren’t good monopolists

If you do much reading about antitrust, you’re sure to come across Ida Tarbell, the campaigning investigative journalist whose masterful 1904 book, The History of the Standard Oil Company (free ebook, free audiobook), brought down John D. Rockefeller and his monopolistic Standard Oil Company, which was broken up in 1911. It split into seven companies, many of which are still with us—or were, until recent mergers (think: Exxon, Mobil, Esso, Chevron, Texaco, and Amoco).

Continue reading "A Monopoly Isn’t the Same as Legitimate Greatness"

Pluralistic: 13 Feb 2021

Today's links

Privacy Without Monopoly: A new EFF white paper, co-authored with Bennett Cyphers.
Broad Band: Claire L Evans's magesterial history of women in computing.
$50T moved from America's 90% to the 1%: The hereditary meritocracy is in crisis.
This day in history: 2006, 2011, 2016
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 13 Feb 2021"

Pluralistic: 13 Jan 2021

Today's links

20 years a blogger: Reflections on a lifetime of reflecting.
Will Biden bust trusts?: Obama's third term would be a disaster for antitrust.
This day in history: 2011, 2016, 2020
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 13 Jan 2021"

Pluralistic: 03 Nov 2020

Today's links

Deep Reckonings: Using deepfakes to conjure a contrafactual reality in which monsters confront their legacies.
Past Performance is Not Indicative of Future Results: The limits of theory-free statistical inference.
How Audible robs indie audiobook creators: I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further.
Get an extra vote: Reminders from friends and family to vote have a bigger effect on turnout than anything campaigns do.
A hopeful future: Optimism and pessimism are both fatalism.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 03 Nov 2020"

Pluralistic: 08 Oct 2020

Today's links

Good Intentions, Bad Inventions: Busting four myths about "healthy tech."
Visualizing the Gartner Hype Cycle: The history of predictions.
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 08 Oct 2020"

Pluralistic: 28 Sep 2020

Today's links

Belarus's online/offline uprising: The evolution of tactics, from ice cream to doxing.
Newsletters' glorious history: An Antidote for Falsehood in the Daily Press.
Zombie banks: Why everyone loves to help banks hide their losses.
The Trump financial method: A quick and informative tldr on Trump's tax-returns.
Attack Surface excerpt: Read chapter one of the third Little Brother book.
This day in history: 2005, 2010, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 28 Sep 2020"

Pluralistic: 27 Aug 2020

Today's links

Principles for platform regulation: User control, algorithmic transparency, accountable governance and anonymity.
Hagoromo, mathematicians' cult chalk: The Blackwing pencil of chalkboards.
Gender and the Hugo Awards: It's still wildly skewed.
Outdoor education beat TB in 1907: A brisk precedent for in-person schooling.
This day in history: 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 27 Aug 2020"

Pluralistic: 19 Aug 2020

Today's links

Amazon's Monopoly Tollbooth: Quantifying the market-power abuses of Amazon's platform.
Thomas Hawk's Talking Heads: Judy's in the bedroom inventing situations.
Orwell prize winner trapped in orwellian nightmare: Jessica Johnson's predicament puts the "kafkaesque" in "orwellian."
Spikey: Infering key geometry from the sound of lock-entry.
Hedge fund won't return Citi's accidental $175m deposit: No backsies.
Yale admin: "Prepare for death": It's not quite "boola boola."
Austerity breeds Nazis: Analyzing Weimar election data.
This day in history: 2005, 2015, 2019
Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming appearances, current writing projects, current reading

Continue reading "Pluralistic: 19 Aug 2020"