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Conversable Economist
Personal blog · conversableeconomist.comeconomicspolitics
Conversable Economist is a personal blog at conversableeconomist.com about economics and politics. Since 2022, 23 different Hacker News readers have linked it 34 times. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-30, and you can follow it by feed.
In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of conversation fit for the entertainment of rational creatures.” In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of c
Most-linked posts?
- /2025/10/31/the-silicon-valley-no-poach-conspiracy-recap-and-reminder/3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2026-05-21
What Hacker News says?
I dunno, parent claimed he can't find good people. He could hire them away from his competitors by doubling their salary if he needs them that badly. Remember how competition was supposed to work? (psst https://conversableeconomist.com/2025/10/31/the-silicon-vall... )
Comment linking /2025/10/31/the-silicon-valley-no-poach-conspiracy-recap-and-reminder/
on “Trump administration is suspending Microsoft from a green card program”Submitted I would like the value of my home to rise, while my property taxes fall as a story · 278 points
HN discussionThere was not any particular discontinuity in GDP per capita growth during the post WWII period compared to previous periods: https://conversableeconomist.com/2023/09/14/the-remarkable-s... .
Comment linking /2023/09/14/the-remarkable-steadiness-of-us-economic-growth/
on “U.S. State Department pauses immigrant visa applications”Submitted The Double Irish Dutch Sandwich: End of a Tax Evasion Strategy as a story · 241 points
HN discussionThe number of bank tellers did not drop after ATMs starting in use. https://conversableeconomist.com/2015/03/03/atms-and-a-risin... That said, yes, what about them? These are people with real skin the the game - people who spent years learning their craft expecting it will be their life-long career. Do we simply exclaim "sucks to be you!"? Do we tell out-of-work coal miners to switch to a career in programming with…
Comment linking /2015/03/03/atms-and-a-rising-number-of-bank-tellers/
on “The Rise of Whatever”Submitted A Prescription for Fixing the US Healthcare System as a story · 11 points
HN discussion> State capacity has collapsed across many government functions that are essential for a functioning economy. Critical network industries, including electricity, transport infrastructure and services, security, and water and sanitation have experienced major deteriorations over the last 15 years [1] > While the racial composition of wealth at the top has changed, wealth concentration in South Africa has not and rema…
Comment linking /2023/11/20/south-africas-economy-30-years-since-apartheid/
on “Puerto Rico's Solar Microgrids Beat Blackout”Submitted How Much Are US Firms Using AI Tools? as a story · 3 points
HN discussionQueue theory suggests the more nodes you add to handle your queue then the longer your queue can survive (facing rising traffic) but the faster it will collapse when it finally runs out of capacity. Zach Tellman went over this in one of his talks and he had a nice graphic to demonstrate what this looks like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bNOO3xxMc0 I suppose any complex system has dynamics like that, more capacit…
Comment linking /2015/01/17/the-hemingway-law-of-motion-gradually-then-suddenly/
on “Complex systems collapse faster”Submitted Private Credit: Replacing Banks for Business Loans? as a story · 3 points
HN discussionThe finance sector contributes only 7% of GDP, correct. One of the sources I had in mind [0] cites 31%, but that was revenue as a proportion of GDP, which doesn't really make sense. However, the financial sector takes about 30% of US profits [1]. With respect to trading only once a day, I don't think your ad absurdum counterarguments hold water. The HK stock exchange used to trade 4.5 hours a day, from 10 to 12, and…
Comment linking /2022/09/13/financial-services-share-of-profits/
on “Finding Signal in the Noise: Machine Learning and the Markets (Jane Street)”Submitted Are American Jobs All That Bad? as a story · 3 points
HN discussionCopyright and patents are very different things. Lumping them under the disingenuous umbrella term "IP" only serves to muddle the waters and create FUD. They are not property rights. It's best to criticize each precisely and surgically. Know the terms, know the rules, the exceptions, etc. Know the history, know the original purpose of these laws. That kind of broader knowledge in broader society is what can help. Th…
Comment linking /2013/03/29/is-intellectual-property-a-misnomer/
on “Rick Beato is right to rant about music copyright strikes”Submitted Some Stock Market Benchmarks as a story · 3 points
HN discussionThe story of why it is called dynamic programming is pretty great: https://conversableeconomist.com/2022/08/24/why-is-it-called...
Comment linking /2022/08/24/why-is-it-called-dynamic-programming/
on “The Beautiful Math of Bloom Filters”Submitted Are US Fertility Rates Starting to Decline? as a story · 3 points
HN discussion"Colligan attached an email he sent to Jobs in Aug. 2007, in which he told the late Apple exec that his idea was "likely illegal."" https://www.pcmag.com/news/steve-jobs-threatened-palm-with-p... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust_L... https://conversableeconomist.com/2025/10/31/the-silicon-vall...
Comment linking /2025/10/31/the-silicon-valley-no-poach-conspiracy-recap-and-reminder/
on “Apple CEO Tim Cook's Legacy Is Dull Products and Spineless Capitulation”Submitted The Challenge of US Rural Development as a story · 2 points
HN discussion> I believe the user is referring to the iPhone here. The author of the book in a 2016 interview: > Q. As you note in your book, many of the inventions in the special century took as long as five decades to reach their full potential. Since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, isn't it too early to say that smartphones aren't transformative? > A. I think the potential of smartphones has played out very rapidly. We're…
Comment linking /2021/02/24/robert-j-gordon-thoughts-on-long-run-us-productivity-growth/
on “From the Bretton Woods system to global stagnation [pdf]”Submitted StatGPT: The Dangers of Asking AI about Statistics as a story · 2 points
HN discussion> Unions exist to benefit the median and bring up the floor, but it stifles competition among those who really do desire to be at the top. And in doing so while it brings up the floor, it also brings down the ceiling because people who would normally be motivated enough to move up would not have much incentive to do so anymore. I think people tend to fixate on the worker-to-worker differences inside of unions. Yes,…
Comment linking /2025/10/31/the-silicon-valley-no-poach-conspiracy-recap-and-reminder/
on “US employers spend more than $1.5B a year to fight labor unions, report finds”Submitted Going Cashless: Benefits and Costs as a story · 2 points
HN discussion(Almost) all Europeans take a long vacation in the summer, even if it only to some other point in Europe, either on the train or on intra-European air travel which is cheaper than domestic air travel in the US and the US and infinitely more humane. Many Americans take no vacations at all. See also https://conversableeconomist.com/2023/10/27/comparing-eu-to-...
Comment linking /2023/10/27/comparing-eu-to-us-output-per-hour/
on “US citizens can afford a vacation in Europe but Europeans can't afford US”Submitted The Case for Housing First as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Rising Coffee Prices: A Story of Supply Shocks as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Globalization Evolves, Not Reverses as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Telemedicine Arrives as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Inaccuracy of Inflation Expectations as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSubmitted Economics of the Attention Economy as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted US Capital Is Depreciating Faster as a story · 1 points
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