edgar von baptiste

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

Why don't you address the actual source of opposition to Indian immigration: importing India's elites substantially erodes the political/institutional/cultural power of whites in the U.S., especially given that Indians are tight knit, have their own distinctive cultural/group interests, and overwhelmingly vote left-wing (and desire more immigration). Call that bigoted or racist, but it would be suicidal for any group to welcome additional competition for their own elites and ultimately the erosion of their own political power.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

@MurrayHillGuy1 much of the difference is just based on preset age filters. the younger women would probably swipe on 31, even 41, if they say them, but they're setting their filter to <30 or <40...would be interesting to check

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

This theory has largely been discredited in the literature. The drop in lead exposure explains a small fraction of the drop in crime, and it cannot explain the persistent racial gap. If it did, then the gap wouldn't have persisted because the gap in lead exposure has largely disappeared, and we would have seen substantially higher homicide rates among non-Hispanic whites in the past (when blood levels were much higher), but we do not.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

@SashaGusevPosts For the most part, but “teen takeovers”, which are mostly comprised of black teens, are rising and have a significant negative impact on civil life.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

@demosthenes_km @SashaGusevPosts No, the simplest explanation is that there is a common environmental component and a persistent racial component. Improvements in the common environmental component reduce overall murder over time but do not eliminate the gap.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

@JamesSurowiecki This is atrocious logic. The existence of a lawful, easier, or objectively superior means of achieving the same end does not negate the motive. This is well known and often applies to spousal/family murder, or any murder for that matter.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

@AlexNowrasteh @NickyPerks I should hope so. The government wouldn't be needed if it was.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

The most reliable evidence--RCTs of MRNA vaccines--show zero statistical impact on all-cause mortality.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

What is certainly true is that measles deaths had plummeted to 0.2 deaths per 100K before the vaccine in 1963, down from 13.3 per 100K in 1900.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

@SashaGusevPosts @2nd_Harvest @sentientist There is no cognitive or iq information in that data.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

@alz_zyd_ I assume this is trolling, but for others, there's this thing called increasing returns to scale (see Krugman or Baumol and Gomory).

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

Most of the problems that accompany lower IQ are not due to fewer skills. Lower impulse control, higher propensity to commit crime, and the general inability to cooperate socially are what prevents many countries from building the institutions that would produce substantial growth. Chatbots do not solve this.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

@SashaGusevPosts Apparently you’re not familiar with work showing that the Flynn effect is primarily driven by a violation of measurement invariance

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

The dude has been banned and censored on every platform, debanked, put on the no-fly list, is slandered and defamed continuously, been harassed at his home, and had someone come to murder him. And you cannot wait to see more negative energy…what else is there. His perseverance is what’s impressive and your whining is pathetic.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

This entirely depends on the how the money supply is doubled. You're using an extremely simplified accounting mindset. If the money supply was increased in a specific sector this would not be neutral in terms of distribution. It would induce, at a minimum, a short-term redistribution of wealth (from who didn't get the money to who got the money first). You note that money is just a signal or medium of exchange, which is true. However, although the existing supply goods have not yet changed when the money is injected, *who* is able to purchase them does change, irrespective of what they produced in real terms in the past. Over a long enough period of time, things will sort out and re-equilibrate, but there could still be lasting, path-dependent changes to the system. This is easy to simulate with a model.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

@JamesSurowiecki @ToujoursToubon Who would have thought James is against DEI quotas.

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

Let’s try to engage our brains in a hypothetical:

Policy A: status quo (saves additional 20 million African life years)

Policy B: hold spending fixed, reallocate to U.S. R&D or subsidize high return private health research (saves additional 5 million US life years but only additional 5 million African life years through spillovers)

Policy C: cut spending entirely, putting more dollars in taxpayer pockets (US private surplus gain valued at $20 billion, but no additional African life)

For each policy, evaluate the marginal value of public funds (MVPF)—ie, how much value/surplus is generated per dollar of public spending in each scenario. If any life is your priority, A is the clear choice but if you prioritize American life, B is the clear choice. If you think the positive externalities are vastly overstated (lives saved), C is the choice. Any is defensible given your value system.

The argument that A is obviously right rests on the normative position that a country’s own government should put similar value on foreign life in conducting a cost benefit analysis. This type of value system would be catastrophic to the long term success of any organized group

[edgar von baptiste @keyah_regnem]

@JamesSurowiecki @LauraPowellEsq This is an econ 101 counterfactual. Are you claiming that there is no way to save additional U.S. lives with extra federal dollars? Sounds like something an extreme libertarian would claim