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Will more open trade between Taiwan and China lead to improved relations? See here. As the saying goes, “If goods don’t cross broders, soldiers will.” It’s not democracy that leads to peace, but trade. As far as I know, communist dictatorships did not go to war with each other, but they did “trade”. Charles Murray argues that payroll taxes should be folded into income taxes and that the government should end tax witholding so that Americans have a better understanding of the true cost of government: Both of those simple changes scare politicians. Payroll taxes are politically useful because low-income and middle-income taxpayers don’t complain about what they believe [...] From today’s Wall Street Journal: Some of America’s biggest food companies say the U.S. could “virtually run out of sugar” if the Obama administration doesn’t ease import restrictions amid soaring prices for the key commodity. In a letter to Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack, the big brands — including Kraft Foods Inc., General Mills Inc., Hershey Co. and [...] My friend Joel Lewis makes an interesting point here regarding why compensation in the financial industry won’t change. Some skills in finance, such as money management, scale very easily. The cost of managing $1 billion is not much more than the cost of managing $100 million. Hence, if you can convince people to give you [...] Is Putin preparing for a run in 2012? It sure seems so based on his recent activities and their media coverage. Also, see this video used as propaganda by Putin. I doubt politicians would ever get away with this in the US! According to this article, by 2014, we should have wireless chargers that, using supercapacitors, fully charge batteries in a matter of seconds. More on supercapacitor-based batteries here. From the UK’s Daily Express: The Children’s Secretary set out £400million plans to put 20,000 problem families under 24-hour CCTV super-vision in their own homes. They will be monitored to ensure that children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals. Private security guards will also be sent round to carry out home checks, while [...] According to CNN, Bellevue, WA, is the best place in the US to live and launch a new business. As far as Seattle is concerned, I have heard only good things (except for the rain, which I hear is overblown, anyway). I can’t wait to move out there! See here. I wonder what this means for the future of quantum computing. As the article indicates, probably not a whole lot. Proposed adiabatic quantum computers do not fall under the class of quantum computers the research addresses. The New York Times had an article yesterday about the increasing value of statisticians in the world. It seems as though I chose the right field! Hat tip: Chris. More about this from Hal Varian, Chief Economist at Google and professor at Berkeley. |
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Copyright © 2012 Amol Kapila - All Rights Reserved |
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