prior probability

Via Reuters: “Inflation [in Venezuela] hit 82,700 percent in July as the country’s socialist economic model continues to unravel, meaning purchases of basic items such as a bar of soap or a kilo of tomatoes require piles of cash ...” (Hat tip: Alex Tabarrok, via Marginal Revolution.) Hey, but at least everyone is equal … equally poor, that is!

A bar of soap = 3,500,000 bolivars, or the equivalent of 0.53 USD.

This visualization of daily bus and rail rides in London is based on research conducted by Jay Gordon (MIT). Below the fold is a summary of Gordon’s methodology: Continue reading →

Here is what we are reading–or will be reading soon–as our blissful summer break comes to a close:

1. “On truth” by English philosopher Simon Blackburn. Truth is one of our most essential ordering principles, but how should we define such a concept? (In the future, we also hope to explore the relation between truth and beauty.)
2. “The age of questions” by historian Holly Case. The subtitle of this book is “Or, a first attempt at an aggregate history of the Eastern, social, woman, American, Jewish, Polish, bullion, tuberculosis, and many other questions over the 19th Century and beyond.” Suffice it to say we are going to read this book on the strength of Tyler Cowen’s glowing recommendation.
3. “A matter of justice: Eisenhower and the beginning of the civil rights revolution” by historian David A. Nichols. We are currently researching President Eisenhower’s pivotal decision (memorialized in Executive Order 10730) to send the U.S. Army into Little Rock in the fall of 1957 to enforce a federal court desegregation order, so Dr Nichols’s tome is a must-read for us.

Maybe the bride and groom should consider drafting a “grammar prenup” to address this question! (Bonus question: could the Coase Theorem apply here?)

Hat tip to my former student: Andrew C. Sherwood (@Senator_Andy)

As we begin the new academic year, it’s time for us to revisit the syllabus for our survey course in law and ethics. With this task in mind, we wish to link to this pithy tweet by Jeanne Dyche, reminding us that syllabi are texts too! In addition, we have assembled our previous posts featuring the following fun and innovative syllabi below:

1. Kieran Healy: “Social Theory through Complaining.”
2. Chia-Hua Li: “Genetic Engineering and Future Society.”
3. Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin West: “Calling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data.”

Lastly (for now), something new: Professor Elizabeth Sherowski explains the evolution of her Legal Analysis and Writing syllabus.