An Open Market on Economics

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Mongrel
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Mongrel » Tue Sep 08, 2015 12:47 pm

Fortune: The advertising industry is poised to try and go all RIAA/MPAA in response to ad blocking software, and can expect to be even less successful than their inglorious predecessors were.

This really is a hoot:

But that’s not all. The IAB is also exploring the idea of suing ad-blocking software companies, according to Moore.

The ad blockers “are interfering with websites’ ability to display all the pixels that are part of that website, arguably there’s some sort of law that prohibits that,” Mr. Moore said. “I’m not by any means a lawyer, but there is work being done to explore whether in fact that may be the case."


HYUK HYUK. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT, CHUMPS.
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Grath » Tue Sep 08, 2015 1:13 pm

Mongrel wrote:Fortune: The advertising industry is poised to try and go all RIAA/MPAA in response to ad blocking software, and can expect to be even less successful than their inglorious predecessors were.

This really is a hoot:

But that’s not all. The IAB is also exploring the idea of suing ad-blocking software companies, according to Moore.

The ad blockers “are interfering with websites’ ability to display all the pixels that are part of that website, arguably there’s some sort of law that prohibits that,” Mr. Moore said. “I’m not by any means a lawyer, but there is work being done to explore whether in fact that may be the case."


HYUK HYUK. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT, CHUMPS.

Question: Does this hypothetical nonsense law mean that web developers could sue over Internet Explorer because it doesn't render websites properly? Because I'm kinda down with that.

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MarsDragon
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby MarsDragon » Tue Sep 08, 2015 2:00 pm

If a website fails to load correctly, for instance because of a slow or interrupted connection, you can sue your ISP.

Text-only browsers are against the law.

Hell yeah, let's get on this.

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Classic
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Classic » Tue Sep 08, 2015 2:06 pm

EDIT: Assuming this madness ever, ever came to pass...
Why are any of us even pretending this will be any different than the DMCA where big IP holders basically get carte blanche to abuse claims and small-time IP holders are treated as criminals interested in abusing the system?

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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Mongrel » Thu Oct 22, 2015 11:09 am

NYT: This seems like a fairly big deal

The EU has decided to bust Starbucks's scheme of funnelling profits through an EU subsidiary in a low-tax jurisdiction and is slamming Starbucks with a fat back-taxes bill as a result. Obviously this has been a popular gimmick for large American corporations, (Ireland, anyone?) so it's possible we're about to see the same happen to a lot of other companies with similar arrangements.

Rather than targeting Starbucks and others directly, Ms. Vestager is employing a little-used legal route to go after countries that might be providing state aid to companies through special tax rulings. The rulings, known as “comfort letters,” often help the companies find the lowest tax jurisdiction where they can set up.

“Tax rulings that artificially reduce a company’s tax burden are not in line with E.U. state aid rules,” Mrs. Vestager said in a statement. “They are illegal.”

In a parallel inquiry, the commission said on Wednesday that Luxembourg struck an illegal tax deal with a unit of the auto giant Fiat Chrysler, and ordered the government to collect up to €30 million in unpaid tax to level the playing field. Fiat said its financing unit had not received any state aid from Luxembourg.

European authorities are also investigating Luxembourg’s low-tax arrangement with Amazon, and Apple’s business in Ireland.
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Mongrel » Tue Dec 08, 2015 2:28 pm

NYbooks: Krugman does a book review of Reich's new book, Saving Capitalism

Basically, Krugman gives you the Coles' Notes version here.
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Mongrel » Sat Jan 23, 2016 12:24 am

NYT: Meanwhile, in a Russia fast on it's way to becoming destitute...

The last time oil prices dropped so low and stayed there, in the 1980s, the Soviet Union disintegrated.
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Thad » Thu Jul 07, 2016 1:41 am


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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Sharkey » Thu Jul 07, 2016 1:10 pm

Good point from what I could stomach watching, but Bill Maher is up there with David Spade on the punchable smarmy twat list. I'm agreeing with him here and I still want to cave his face in.
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Mongrel » Thu Jul 07, 2016 1:44 pm

Sharkey wrote:Good point from what I could stomach watching, but Bill Maher is up there with David Spade on the punchable smarmy twat list. I'm agreeing with him here and I still want to cave his face in.

Right or wrong, Maher is basically the poster child for the semi-true right-wing meme about "liberal smugness".
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby IGNORE ME » Thu Jul 07, 2016 2:47 pm

So are most of us.

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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Mothra » Thu Jul 07, 2016 2:56 pm

Oh my god, that woman's laugh.

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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Mongrel » Mon Aug 01, 2016 6:33 pm

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The saddest chart.
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Büge » Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:22 pm

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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Mongrel » Mon Aug 01, 2016 9:45 pm

You'll notice a consistent, um, failing of those predictions. Economists have - on average - been predicting a return to 1995 ever since 1995 while the real line goes down and down and...
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Thad » Wed Dec 21, 2016 11:53 am

Another Marketplace report on UBI: On the Canadian prairie, a basic income experiment

Sarah Gardner wrote:Forty years ago, in Manitoba, the Canadians conducted a five-year experiment in the little prairie town of Dauphin. The results, which didn’t come to light until fairly recently, suggest the safety net could carry social benefits that save money long term.

The experiment was called Mincome, for “minimum income.” The impetus came from Canada’s political Left, under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Manitoba Premier Edward Schreyer. Evelyn Forget, an economist at the University of Manitoba who has studied the Mincome data, said the experiment was widely known in social science circles, but most Canadians weren't aware of it.

[...]

When the Mincome study ended, a new conservative government was in power. It had little interest in funding an analysis of its predecessor’s project. “The researchers were told to archive the data for future analysis,” said Evelyn Forget. “And as far as I can tell that meant empty the filing cabinets into cardboard boxes and lock the door on the way out.”

Those boxes, full of mimeographed surveys and handwritten assessments, sat in a government warehouse for decades, largely forgotten. Around 2008, Forget discovered them and has been analyzing the results since.

The initial results are striking: the vast majority of Mincome participants kept working.

Primary wage earners worked a little less, but only slightly.

Married women backed off too, but mostly to take longer maternity leaves.

There was a drop in work by teenage boys, but Forget says many simply were able to stay in high school longer. Their families weren’t as desperate for another breadwinner.


That...seems like kind of a big deal. I hope people keep talking about this.

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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Mongrel » Wed Dec 21, 2016 12:18 pm

Sarah Gardner wrote:most Canadians weren't aware of it.


Shit! Can confirm! And I'm FROM Manitoba, and still have plenty of family not too far from Dauphin.

Really interesting.

It really is a sort of bittersweet find though, given that it again reinforces the fact that modern progressivism still remains so critically dependent on foresighted work done by leftists so many years ago. It's similar to Sanders originally stating that he ran simply because he didn't see anybody from the younger crowd stepping up to do so. It's really amazing and good news that this was found, but it doesn't actually make me feel so great about the future.

Also, obligatory song reference
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Friday » Wed Dec 21, 2016 4:12 pm

I'm for Minimum Income because I'm both a humanitarian (I don't like to see people suffer and there is plenty to go around) and a pragmatist (it helps everyone long term) but I have zero hope for it ever occurring, ever.

Why? Because people are bastards? Nope!

Remember that study where they put two monkeys in a glass cages next to each other and made the first one perform some task while the other watched and then gave monkey no 1 a nice tasty fruit upon completion, and then made monkey no 2 perform the same task but gave it a less tasty food reward and then monkey 2 lost it's shit and they were like ANIMALS CAN UNDERSTAND "FAIR" TOO

My theory is that a lot of really terrible shit happens because of the "fair reflex". No, seriously. I think we're so fucking obsessed with being "fair" that we condemn a lot of people to suffering and then pat ourselves on the back because it's only fair.

Shit, remember that case where the guy didn't pay for fire insurance in a rural area and his house caught on fire and the fire department showed up but just stood there and let it burn down and the guy's dogs died? (and they also put the neighbor's house in danger)

And then a bunch of fucking dudes got online and said the fire department did the right thing and that they were showing "strong christian values"

I mean, fair's fair right, he didn't pay so now his house has to burn down and his dogs gotta die despite the fact we could stop it because fair is more important than compassion

That's it, right there. 'Fair' is more important to people than compassion. That is the true human condition.

I'm not kidding. Suicide bombing children? They killed mine, fair's fair.
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby Joxam » Wed Dec 21, 2016 5:53 pm

I served jury duty for a medical malpractice case, and despite the majority of the people on the jury being fairly hardcore conservatives (it was during the Walker recall and I live in very red Wisconsin, for the most part they ALL bitched about people recalling him) but by the end it was very obvious that the midwife was at fault and her inaction had at least contributed to fairly severe brain damage to the baby. Still there was exactly one hold out on the jury (we didn't have to return a unanimous verdict but they would have preferred if we did (apparently it helps to limit appeals)). The only reason the guy was holding out was because his brother was mental handicapped and "no one ever gave his mom any handouts." It was the most surreal thing I've ever faced, the one dude who should have known better than any of us the cost of raising a handicapped child was the least willing to compromise on the issue.
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Re: An Open Market on Economics

Postby IGNORE ME » Wed Dec 21, 2016 6:21 pm

Good job, Stanley. Everyone thinks you are very powerful.

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