Links 6/x
Mother Jones article on journalism, in the wake of their long investigative piece on private prisons. Key quote:
“Conservatively, counting just the biggest chunks of staff time that went into it, the prison story cost roughly $350,000. The banner ads that appeared on the article brought in $5,000, give or take. Had we been really in your face with ads, we could have doubled or tripled that figure — but it would have been a pain for you, and still only a drop in the bucket for us.”
More on prisons: ramen is the new tobacco.
A more positive vision about Brexit from the Guardian’s economics editor, who voted for it and doesn’t regret it.
I started reading this assuming there was going to be some sort of reason…
Is passive investing worse than Marxism? Or are investment firms just getting desperate.
“To adapt a line from a Coen brothers classic: Say what you will about the tenets of Marxism, Dude, at least it’s a formal attempt to direct capital to achieve a desired end.”
EpiPens have been in the news in the US, with the price having risen by 400% since 2007. As with so many things, I agree with Scott Alexander’s take on the subject. In defense of the Vox take which Scott criticizes, it does seem like the US health care system is in a worst- of-both-worlds system in which they don’t have a functioning market in pharmaceuticals to keep prices low, but also don’t have strong government price controls like most western countries, meaning that when conditions are right, companies can price gouge. One thing that seems like a good step for just about all developed nations would be reciprocal approvals, which Alex Tabarrok also writes about here and here.
Also via Tabarrok: damn it Excel!! And an impressive energy visualization, which I haven’t explored much but seems very cool.
Trump softens on immigration (or does he?), and Ann Coulter releases a book.
