13 thoughts on “Snap!”

  1. It’s not the Nobel laureates themselves but the people’s perception of them. So Stiglitz did some extraordinary work on information asymmetry… does this mean he has more toes that other people? Is he wiser regarding international trade?

    Are the people who get these awards more capable that those that didn’t get them but have spent far more time on the issue at hand?

    Nobel laureates are the new Michael Jackson :)

  2. It’s not the Nobel laureates themselves but the people’s perception of them. So Stiglitz did some extraordinary work on information asymmetry… does this mean he has more toes that other people? Is he wiser regarding international trade?

    Are the people who get these awards more capable that those that didn’t get them but have spent far more time on the issue at hand?

    Nobel laureates are the new Michael Jackson :)

  3. Hey, nice “auto-shill” popup links. I personally never click through to an Amazon link, so I tend to miss half the conversation.

  4. Hey, nice “auto-shill” popup links. I personally never click through to an Amazon link, so I tend to miss half the conversation.

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  8. Here’s an excerpt from my review of Richard Florida’s last book in the Washington Examiner (2/14/05):

    Dr. Florida’s much publicized theory, which he developed during the Internet Bubble of the late 1990s, is that an urban region’s economic success depends on its tolerance level. He argues, “Diverse, inclusive communities that welcome unconventional people—gays, immigrants, artists, and free-thinking ‘bohemians’—are ideal for nurturing the creativity and innovation that characterize the knowledge economy…”

    Unfortunately, as a theory of economic development, this book suffers from the same combination of obviousness and obtuseness that plagued Dr. Florida’s first paean to “Talent, Technology, and Tolerance,” 2002′s The Rise of the Creative Class.

    Sure, regions with smarter people tend to enjoy higher incomes. But, most high tech centers, such as the Dulles Corridor, develop far out in the suburbs away from the hip parts of town. The nerds who invent the new gizmos and the golf-playing business people who sell them tend to be relatively monogamous and family-oriented, and thus soon wind up in the ‘burbs, with their backyards and quality public schools.

    And, sure, booms and bohemians tend to correlate, but who really attracts whom to a metroplex? Do the engineers and salesguys actually pursue the gay art dealers and immigrant restaurateurs, or are Dr. Florida’s footloose favorites more likely to follow the money generated by the pocket-protector boys?

    In the 1970s, for example, Houston suddenly became one of the gayest cities in America, even though Houston was not famously tolerant. No, Houston got (briefly) hip because gays, immigrants, and artistes flocked there because OPEC had raised prices, making Houston’s unhip oil companies rich for a decade.

    In contrast, famously tolerant New Orleans and Las Vegas (“Sin City”) rank today near the bottom of Dr. Florida’s talent tables because his kind of folks can’t make much money in either. So, he appears to have gotten the arrow of causality mostly backwards.

    ————————
    Steve Sailer (iSteve.com) is the film critic for The American Conservative and the Monday columnist for VDARE.com.

  9. Here’s an excerpt from my review of Richard Florida’s last book in the Washington Examiner (2/14/05):

    Dr. Florida’s much publicized theory, which he developed during the Internet Bubble of the late 1990s, is that an urban region’s economic success depends on its tolerance level. He argues, “Diverse, inclusive communities that welcome unconventional people—gays, immigrants, artists, and free-thinking ‘bohemians’—are ideal for nurturing the creativity and innovation that characterize the knowledge economy…”

    Unfortunately, as a theory of economic development, this book suffers from the same combination of obviousness and obtuseness that plagued Dr. Florida’s first paean to “Talent, Technology, and Tolerance,” 2002′s The Rise of the Creative Class.

    Sure, regions with smarter people tend to enjoy higher incomes. But, most high tech centers, such as the Dulles Corridor, develop far out in the suburbs away from the hip parts of town. The nerds who invent the new gizmos and the golf-playing business people who sell them tend to be relatively monogamous and family-oriented, and thus soon wind up in the ‘burbs, with their backyards and quality public schools.

    And, sure, booms and bohemians tend to correlate, but who really attracts whom to a metroplex? Do the engineers and salesguys actually pursue the gay art dealers and immigrant restaurateurs, or are Dr. Florida’s footloose favorites more likely to follow the money generated by the pocket-protector boys?

    In the 1970s, for example, Houston suddenly became one of the gayest cities in America, even though Houston was not famously tolerant. No, Houston got (briefly) hip because gays, immigrants, and artistes flocked there because OPEC had raised prices, making Houston’s unhip oil companies rich for a decade.

    In contrast, famously tolerant New Orleans and Las Vegas (“Sin City”) rank today near the bottom of Dr. Florida’s talent tables because his kind of folks can’t make much money in either. So, he appears to have gotten the arrow of causality mostly backwards.

    ————————
    Steve Sailer (iSteve.com) is the film critic for The American Conservative and the Monday columnist for VDARE.com.

  12. Good stuff Steve.

    Since I first heard of Florida he seemed like a Snake Oil salesman for urban development schemes.

  13. Good stuff Steve.

    Since I first heard of Florida he seemed like a Snake Oil salesman for urban development schemes.