Sick humor from TwitterX; quits as a labor-market thermometer; trying to convince characters in simulations þt þey are living in simulations; & Wright, Krugman, Potter, & Mollick on politicians...
Your comment about titanium reminds me of a piece I wrote about how the US government created supersonic flight in the 1950s. Here's an excerpt:
The F-100 was the first beneficiary of an industry-government alliance that provided more money for more basic aerodynamic research and advanced machine tool development than had been spent in all the previous years of flight since the Wright Brothers, in the quest to create operational supersonic flight. Only a country which in 1950 produced 52 percent of the planetary Gross Economic Product could have done it while at the same time taking the German autobahns to their penultimate development in the Interstate Highway System while also creating the modern American middle class through the G.I. Bill.
The Super Sabre could not have been created without the development of the physical industrial wherewithal to build supersonic airplanes. The development of what came to be known as “The Century Series” called for advances in structures, materials and techniques, propulsion, systems, and aerodynamics that eclipsed everything that had gone before. The bill for aerodynamic research alone for these aircraft was $375 million in 1950s dollars, which included the cost of the X-1 series, the X-2, X-3 and Skyrocket.
The cost of engine research and development was $280 million, again in 1950s dollars. Between 1950-54, the Air Force spent $397 million on a heavy-press program for squeezing large light-alloy forgings that would have been otherwise constructed from many separate parts or sculptured from a solid slab by “hogging.” The result was lightweight single-piece aircraft skins that were popped out in minutes. The money spent on radical new machine tools included $180 million for machines that could remove vast amounts of metal at high speed with extreme precision. Automatic precision machinery for drilling, countersinking, dimpling, riveting, reaming, bolting and sealing, often doing five of these operations in sequence, was created - and all before computers.
At the same time, an brand-new industry to create 500-600 tons of wrought titanium a month was created, since supersonic fighters used this metal in considerable amounts. Beyond that, hundreds of millions were spent on the development of electrical and hydraulic systems that could operate reliably after soaking at up to 300 degrees Celsius, along with a range of reliable miniaturized electronic devices that still used vacuum tubes (this being before the transistor revolution).
All in all, between 1950-55, the United States spent $2 billion (in contemporary dollars, remember), just to acquire the capability of producing supersonic fighters. Overall, in contemporary 2007 dollars, the creation of supersonic flight cost approximately $250 billion. The only other program more expensive was the Manhattan Project.
Yes, he made some jocular remarks about the Fed needing to promise to be "irresponsible," but how much time did he spend trying to educate NYT readers of the need for the FED to get and keep inflation at least at if not temporarily above target as it is required BY LAW to do? Instead, we got futile blathering about the size of the "stimulus."
And Krugman was among the best of the newspaper pundits.
Lauck: An interesting counterfactual history to be written of US running persistent fiscal surpluses and consequent undervaluation of the dollar, supplying capital for a more rapidly developing world.
Your comment about titanium reminds me of a piece I wrote about how the US government created supersonic flight in the 1950s. Here's an excerpt:
The F-100 was the first beneficiary of an industry-government alliance that provided more money for more basic aerodynamic research and advanced machine tool development than had been spent in all the previous years of flight since the Wright Brothers, in the quest to create operational supersonic flight. Only a country which in 1950 produced 52 percent of the planetary Gross Economic Product could have done it while at the same time taking the German autobahns to their penultimate development in the Interstate Highway System while also creating the modern American middle class through the G.I. Bill.
The Super Sabre could not have been created without the development of the physical industrial wherewithal to build supersonic airplanes. The development of what came to be known as “The Century Series” called for advances in structures, materials and techniques, propulsion, systems, and aerodynamics that eclipsed everything that had gone before. The bill for aerodynamic research alone for these aircraft was $375 million in 1950s dollars, which included the cost of the X-1 series, the X-2, X-3 and Skyrocket.
The cost of engine research and development was $280 million, again in 1950s dollars. Between 1950-54, the Air Force spent $397 million on a heavy-press program for squeezing large light-alloy forgings that would have been otherwise constructed from many separate parts or sculptured from a solid slab by “hogging.” The result was lightweight single-piece aircraft skins that were popped out in minutes. The money spent on radical new machine tools included $180 million for machines that could remove vast amounts of metal at high speed with extreme precision. Automatic precision machinery for drilling, countersinking, dimpling, riveting, reaming, bolting and sealing, often doing five of these operations in sequence, was created - and all before computers.
At the same time, an brand-new industry to create 500-600 tons of wrought titanium a month was created, since supersonic fighters used this metal in considerable amounts. Beyond that, hundreds of millions were spent on the development of electrical and hydraulic systems that could operate reliably after soaking at up to 300 degrees Celsius, along with a range of reliable miniaturized electronic devices that still used vacuum tubes (this being before the transistor revolution).
All in all, between 1950-55, the United States spent $2 billion (in contemporary dollars, remember), just to acquire the capability of producing supersonic fighters. Overall, in contemporary 2007 dollars, the creation of supersonic flight cost approximately $250 billion. The only other program more expensive was the Manhattan Project.
Isn't the best way to help poor Ms Yuccarino with her job search to completely ignore, not post not read, "X?"
Krugman: Physician heal thyself!
Yes, he made some jocular remarks about the Fed needing to promise to be "irresponsible," but how much time did he spend trying to educate NYT readers of the need for the FED to get and keep inflation at least at if not temporarily above target as it is required BY LAW to do? Instead, we got futile blathering about the size of the "stimulus."
And Krugman was among the best of the newspaper pundits.
Lauck: An interesting counterfactual history to be written of US running persistent fiscal surpluses and consequent undervaluation of the dollar, supplying capital for a more rapidly developing world.
Economics: I don't disagree, but I do wish BLS would produce wage indexes instead of unite value indexes.
It does. e.g. Employment Cost Index. Has data on wages and salaries, and benefits. Has industry-level detail.
Henry Farrell: Fully automated data driven authoritarianism ain't what it's cracked up to be:
Loved it!! The externality from uncensored media to censor-holic authoritarians is a good insight. Plus, the gubbish-in-gubbish-out bit was fun.
Woke Gene Wolfe would have had Foila translate the story of Loyal to the Group of One ... sorry I mean Linda Yaccarino.
I had to ask Mr. G. about that.
https://www.tor.com/2020/02/06/the-citadel-of-the-autarch-part-2-none-of-us-are-free/