Affix

This week we discuss whether moving from measuring Gross Domestic Product vs Gross National Happiness would improve underlying results for the world. There's a hint of an opinion in the title of the article we reference. The aim of maximising happiness is doomed to fail as a public policy The biggest news is that Brian has a substack! You should all go subscribe to it Also referenced: The centuries-old debt that's still paying interest Russ Roberts thinks you should be a vampire Why you can't argue that a $300 rebate will reduce inflation Why growth matters You can always contact us at affixpodcast@gmail.com or podcastaffix@gmail.com. I think you can also just reply to this email on substack?

The show notes can be delivered to you in handy substack form! If you click no other link in this then please subscribe to the substack! You can always contact us at affixpodcast@gmail.com or podcastaffix@gmail.com. I think you can also just reply to this email on substack? Main Article on housing

The show notes can be delivered to you in handy substack form! If you click no other link in this then please subscribe to the substack! You can always contact us at affixpodcast@gmail.com or podcastaffix@gmail.com. I think you can also just reply to this email on substack? Main Article rich friend poor friendChanticleer podcastAt the end of Age of Average was a link called So you say you want a devolution. It's... fine, though I only read it a couple of weeks ago and already remember nothing Why do all cars look like putty? - note: Neither Brian or us has watched this sow ho knows what it is! An Alphard - Looks like what the Yakuza would drive to the school drop-off The ACT clearly had it's top west corner cut off FTL is a pretty great game

We have a substack now!! If you click on no other link ever on the show notes except this one then you'll get all the show notes from now on in your email!!Please contact us we miss you!  I think you can also just reply to this email if you're on substack?You can also find us on discord or redditThe obligitory Big list of coffee betsThis week we discuss the Age of Average by Alex Murell.  We're sort of stumped by what to make of it, as it superficially makes some good points, but falls flat at the landing.In Diablo II news the 1 hour mark has been broken on both Paladin and Assassin! Obviouslly not on necromancer, that would be laughable. Brian would laugh at you and you won't be sure why!

We have a substack now!! If you click on no other link ever on the show notes except this one then you'll get all the show notes from now on in your email!!Please contact us we miss you!  I think you can also just reply to this email if you're on substack?You can also find us on discord or redditThe obligitory Big list of coffee betsThis week we discuss a list of job applications questions submitted by a user. List below!Which three books have influenced you the most? What do you want to be doing in 10 years' time and what are you doing now to get there? What are the three most critical challenges facing Britain? What have you achieved that is unusual for your peer group? How has your worldview developed over time? Feel free to mention thinkers, books, and political leaders that have influenced you. You can put three figures, living or dead, into a room and listen in on the conversation. Who do you pick?If you had to recommend one piece of art, literature, film, television, or music that says something important about our world today, what would it be? Please briefly explain your answer.

We have a substack now!! If you click on no other link ever on the show notes except this one then you'll get all the show notes from now on in your email!!Please contact us we miss you!  I think you can also just reply to this email if you're on substack?You can also find us on discord or redditThe obligitory Big list of coffee betsThis week we discuss an ok-ish book that proves to be a good kicking off point for a conversation Die with Zero by Bill Perkins. Brian skimmed some blogs on it and Chris listened to the podcast version.We also have quite a lot of fun seeing how many people we kill or let die in absurd trolley problemsOther stuff!We have a substack now so that you can read your blogs like a normal person instead of someone who reads blogs as links from their podcatcher. I think probably not many people do that which is why no one reads my show notesIn Danny Kahneman's book Thinking Fast and Slow they discuss why you might prefer more total pain in order to feel less total suffering.One of the greatest posts on the /r/financialindependance subreddit was Build the Life You Want, Then Save for It by Mr. Llama, surprisingly also a Diablo II streamer. Strange overlap between these two worlds.

Please contact us we miss you!This week we discuss The Wife Drought by Annabel Crab.   You can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Meaning is a jumper you have to knit yourself - it keeps you warmIdeas, Technology, and Economic Change: The Impact of the Printing PressFortune 500 companies employ 17.5% of the total U.S. workforce

Please contact us we miss you!This week we once again discuss whether progress is over, or even if people still want progress! The lure of technocracy can be great or terribleYou can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets-------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pluto 1994 vs 2018 - PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK! I REALLY LIKE WHEN PEOPLE CLICK MY LINKS!Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue. A true story of a real conspiracy by Ryan HolidayWhy did we wait so long for the bicycle? I must have linked this 5 times so far. If you haven't read it then you really should. It's amazing.Blueprint for Armageddon - A Dan Carlin podcast on the politics, technology and horror of WWIDall-E 2 is an AI that can actually understand you and draw what you describe. It feels genuinely possible that it's "woken up"China Covid updates from Zvi. He's probably not as amazing as he was mid-pandemic, but I still think he's worth a read.

Please contact us we miss you!Chris wants to get into micro-grids. If you know anything about them please tell me! Our main article is about jobs that pay in status instead of money. You can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets -------------------------------------------------------------------------------The year ahead - by the RBA. Chris got the gist, maybe you will too?Context is that which is scarce. Also apparently editors? I feel like that sentence could be much snappier?Minds almost meeting - a podcast of two highly intelligent and unorthodox thinkers recorded at the bottom of the ocean via two cans on a string

 Please contact us or support us on Patreon!This will be the last of our regularly scheduled episode. As our lives ramp up and we take on different responsibilities we have decided to take a break from our schedule. We may come back from time to time, so if you'll have us in your feed, we'd love to stay!This week we mostly talk about ways we could use more energy after Matt Yglesias convinced us that we shouldYou can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Winners take all - a commentary on billionaire philanthropy by Anand GiridharadasChris' fancy coffee machine - The Delonghi Dinamica S vs X-menTechnology connections and Malcom Gladwell both love dishwashers!80,000 hours rates climate change as  "This is a pressing problem to work on, but you may be able to have an even bigger impact by working on something else."Plasma cutters cut steel beems using electricity, contrary to what some say.Brian becomes a world record holder! He's not any more, but he was!!!!!

Please contact us or support us on Patreon!This week we discuss what's gone wrong with science and the replication crisis. We also discuss how inequality may improve life globally riffing off Scott Sumner.You can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------A plug for effective altruism - the statistical life you can save is still a life!Dominic Cummins has thoughts on how to make the government actually control the government again.Max the axe sure loved firing public servants.The data colada blog broke the story of the dishonesty in Dan Ariely's work on dishonesty. Psychology's "priming" is probably not realDiablo 2 resurrected has finally been released!

Please contact us or support us on Patreon!This week we discuss why the internet intelligentsia really do not like the Australian lockdowns (each word is a different link, that's how much they hate us).I try to explain to Brian why Slime Mold Time Mold thinks we're getting fat. Something to do with chemicals?Brian is launching his world famous youtube channel!!! You can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------Stubborn Attachments - by Tyler Cowen. If we think that future lives are as valuable as our own, then economic growth is one of the highest moral imperatives. (Funny that an economist would have that thesis)A history of factory safety - possible pre-reading for a future episode!I tried to find a reference for my story about mega-yacht story, but I did find an article explaining how much yacht you can afford! I can afford a dinghy.John Howard sacked many high-ranking public servants upon coming to power in the night of the long knivesThe Jolly Swagman podcast has a fascinating episode on Australia's (botched) vaccine rollout.Ben and James from Exponant discuss the idea that you have to make your priority stack explicit when thinking about complicated issues.Why are we getting fat? Doomsday by Nero, what a banger

Please contact us or support us on Patreon!After opening this discussion saying we have no feedback or followup we spend half this podcast musing on questions raised about government power and growth. Our main topic this week is how politics isn't as bad as you think. You're allowed to not vote for someone because you don't like their tax policies, you don't have to paint them as an existensial threat to our entire way of life.If you know whether an Australian minister can fire a public servant we really want to know!! You can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The giving what we can pledge is a movement founded by EA to encourage giving 10% of their income and then not feeling like you have to keep doing "more"The case against crisis-mongering - our main topic curtesy of Matty Glesias (or maybe Matt Yglesias, no one knows)Fight club perfectly encapsulated the post-cold war malaise of the late 90sGo find Brian on youtube talking about diablo 2 speed runs! (what else)

Please contact us or support us on Patreon!This week we once again revisit the topic of wealth and income inequality, first through the lens of cryptocurrency and then through the lens of if it matters at all (I mean....probably...at least a bit). You can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. Digitization and the demand for physical booksNintendo sues a ROM website and wins.....not that much money compared to the size of NinentdoIf this podcast has no other impact than getting more subscribers to pay for green-fleet then I shall consider it a massive successAgainst overuse of the gini coefficient - Vitalik Buterin including the chart we said we'd linkThe Motte and Bailey arugment is everything wrong with political debate in 2020?Should we care about wealth inequality?

 Please contact us or support us on Patreon!A discussion of aging and wisdom, more forms of government that we should try, and Chris exhorts you, yes you specifically, to become a billionaire. You can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------I'm just going to put a link to Marginal Revolution here. I feel like all we do is reference blogs we found there first.Rob Wiblin is the director of research at 80,000 hours. He makes podcasts of about that length regularly.Paul Graham (not Marc Andresson) muses on life is short.Wait but why on being in the tail end of many important experiences in your lifeThe eleventh podcast about the Menzies government. Finally I have something to listen to.You should be a billionaire - and if you do, don't forget our top tier Patreon!

Please contact us or support us on Patreon!Our major topic this week is on Tricameral Legislatures by slime-mold time-mold. What if instead of 2 branches of government we had 3? According to this article, something either very silly, or possibly a little profound. You can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. Could a issue and project tracking system work outside of software?Using prediction markets to fund investigative journalismThe 80,000 hours podcast. I know our podcast can go long, but 80,000 hours might be too long.....Don't read this article if you want to know why denim is blue. It's useless.The culture wars are long wars. Millenials and Gen X are drastically losing their religion compared to other generationsHello Internet - the quintessential "two guys talking" and an inspiration for this podcastSo many world records you'd think it's an leap year. Which raises the question, when will Diablo II speedrunning be recognised as an olympic sport?

Please contact us or support us on Patreon!Our main topics this week are Brian pushing back to the tyranny of merit on the Jolly Swagman podcast. Brian actually recorded an entire rant on this, but has mellowed to the point where we're willing to share his musings with you. Chris found Noah Smith's interview with Marc Andreesen fascinating and used it to kick off 7 million tangents. You can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. The Dutch East Indies are a real colony that did exist.The Standards Store is also something that exists, which is crazy to me.The Internet's Own Boy - a story of an amazing man who was taken from us too soonOn Cultural Progress - A pushback to the article discussed in Episode 24 by super-listener SurelyKnottNapolean was the best general ever according to a hard to scrutinise machine learning algorithmsIt's time to build and technology saves the world. Marc Andreeson sure loves the tech industry, but he makes some good points.Just in Time manufacturing and Lean Manufacturing. Chris's original careerNassim Taleb's Black Paper trashing bitcoin 

 Please contact us or support us on Patreon! We are moving the show to fortnightly. We still love you all, it's just a lot of work (mostly for Brian) This week we talk about total factor productivity growth, and whether higher wages (through worker power, alternatives like UBI or minimum wage laws) cause greater innovation. Chris forgets that the Dutch had colonies despite his Oma (grandmother) growing up in one, and we discuss peak culture, and whether the Affix Podcast actually *is* peak culture and it's all downhill from here. You can also find us on discord or redditBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. 9 is unlucky in Japan, not China -  in Japan specifically, the number 9 is a bad-luck number that sounds like “suffering” when spoken aloud Our main article by Noah Smith on total factor productivity growth.Hotels are investing in robot vacuum cleaners.Labour cost differences during the industrial revolution.The superstar effect vs unions.Brian's topic this week is "This is what peak culture looks like"The Three Body Problem - an amazingly imaginative science fiction trilogy.Why didn't we invent the bicycle a hundred years earlier?

Please contact us or support us on Patreon!If you can, this might be more fun to watch on Twitch or  YouTube where you can read the chat and see our pretty faces.This week is our live show. Editing is light and trolls are unfortunately fed. We riff on "Conversations with Tyler" by doing over-rated vs under-rated. Let chat adjudicate our coffee bets and talk with chat. You can also find us on discordBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------The code of Hammurabi is the first mention in the history of insuranceSPACs and SPARCs by Matt Levine. Financial innovation continues to innovate!Scott Alexander on Fussell on Class (my favourite way to read history is to read Scott Alexander summarising it to me)Nassim Taleb: The most intolerant winsThe Three Body Problem - Liu Cixin  one of the most imaginative works of sci fi we've ever read.The solarwinds hack by planet moneyA beginner's guide to irrationality - Dan Ariely's MOOCIt continues to be difficult to hire tech talent into the NSA~23% of vacuum cleaners were robotic in the USA in 2020

 Our live show is in one week on Brian's twitch stream!!!!! 13th of June 8pm AEST!!!!Please contact us or support us on Patreon!This week Chris and Brian discuss whether we should burn down Atlanta in the name of science (don't worry, we'd let all the people out first). Then, substacks actually change Chris' life (in a pretty minor way, but still!) You can also find us on discordBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. Sorry to anyone who downloaded this episode while it was called "Untitled" and the show notes unfinished!-----------------------------------------------------------------How Australia can fix the plasma marketAttack of the Civilization State - China is a fully self-contained civilization and continuing to assert itself in the modern worldReturns to scale in broken windows. Should we destroy a small Australian city? Maybe Brisbane?Chinese nail houses and the tragedy of the anticommonsThe history of insurance - it's debatable.  For the first 3000 years of insurance it seemed to be exclusively to cancel loans, in 1676 a company was set up to make actual payments on a policyI feel like I've linked this before, but if you're thinking of making a big change in your life, you should probably just go for it! So he waited, continuing to pretend to be a boring center-right liberal. "What would a real center-right liberal do?" he asked himself, and figured he might as well deregulate some stuff and pass capitalist policies. The Turkish economy entered an unprecedented boom, and a (presumably baffled) Erdogan was hailed as a genius. Bryan Caplan - Revenge of the Game TheoristMoral Costs of Chicken vs. BeefOffset some of those moral costs with Greenfleet or if you're American perhaps TerrapassPain is not the unit of effort! "To this day there's a gremlin on my shoulder that whispers, "If you're happy, you're not trying your best." The Hardcore something something Assassin WORLD RECORD!!!!!!!!

Our live show is in one week on Brian's twitch stream!!!!! 13th of June 8pm AEST!!!!Please contact us or support us on Patreon!Brian and Chris discuss markets in everything, particularly blood plasma and organs. We talk about patents, one of the first topics Chris liked to read about. We make bets on how Australia opens up it's borders and Chris pretends to be knowledgable about Diablo 2 You can also find us on discordBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- How Walmart used blockchain to grab some headlines....i mean uh...help something somehowWhat is a crypto oracle?Planet Money - Blood MoneyWHO voluntary non-renumerative blood donationsThe fine that creates unintended consequencesTechnically you can't donate an entire lung. You need at least two living donors who will donate several lung lobes each.Tim Harford on patentsFor 10 years no one was even sure if the google books project was legalThere are 250,000 patents that impact smart phones representing 1 in 6 patents.

 Our live show is coming! 13th of June 8pm AEST!!!!Please contact us or support us on Patreon!This week Chris and Brian have a meandering discussion on military technology, stagnation, time horzions and "10 year syndrome". We also discuss the new technology of crypto-currency and the cults of personality that it inspires You can also find us on discordBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Forced Entrepreneurship -  . Analyzing employment histories for 640,000 U.S. workers, we document graduating college during a period of high unemployment does increase entry to entrepreneurship. However, compared to voluntary entrepreneurs, firms founded by forced entrepreneurs are more likely to survive, innovate, and receive venture-backing. Nicholas Taleb -  The three most harmful addictions are heroin carbohydrates and a monthly salary.Bond tents - avoiding the red zone when retiring.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------The great stagnation in military technology:Fogbank - the missing ingredient in the nuclear arsenalApply for a job reverse engineering the heat exchanger of a B2 bomberOr help find some diodes for an icebreakerTechnology Connections - a pretty great YouTube channel. Be sure to check out the rice cooker episodeJapanese joinery is beautifulUpside decay The Colt M1911 - Used by the US military for almost a hundred years--------------------------------------------------------------------------------CryptocurrencyZohar Atkins - cryptocurrency relies on cult of personalityChartalism -  a theory of money that argues that money originated with states' attempts to direct economic activity rather Brian's multi-billion dollar business sending remittances home with crypto-currency - no link because he never started it.Sometimes you just have to look down and power through to get speedrunning records

Our live show is coming! 13th of June 8pm AEST!!!!Please contact us or support us on Patreon!You can also find us on discordBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. This week Brian and Chris stray from the script once more by discussing a number of different positions and sources on the topic of renewable power, particularly batteries and solar. We also discuss why nuclear power has been a flop, whether founders are superior to inheritors and all the (Straussian) news from Diablo 2.We always make coffee bets and they are also on the Melange app--------------------------------------------------------------------------Long live the sun  the inspiration for much of our solar discussionFermi estimates of the power of the first atomic bombNoma, the best restaurant in the world is indeed in DenmarkGwern link on large-scale CO2 removalWhy has nuclear power been a flop?Tim Ferriss and Balaji Srinivasan - a four hour podcast that is suprisingly worthwhileChesterton's fence - Brian has stronger feelings on fences than I would have expected.The P8 Sorc Race won by the mighty Indrek

Please contact us or support us on Patreon!You can also find us on discordBig list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app. --------------------------------------------------------------------------This week the discussion centres around the new super-annuation scheme changes, and about defined contribution schemes in general. We also try to think about whether we have free willChris' favourite Feynman story ever and an excellent autobiographySam Harris has thoughts on free willNewcomb's ParadoxP8 Hell Paladin race in Diablo 2

Please contact us or support us on Patreon! Our main topic today is Elites vs Experts by Robin Hanson. He's very smart, but not terribly likeable so we have to go back and forth defending him and attacking him. We talk about minimum wage, whether behavioural economics really replicates and why are there no aliens anyway? Big list of coffee bets - now also on Melange app.--------------------------------------------------------------------The endless saga of "Is Dunkin Donuts in Australia" - it was, then it wasn't.....Chipageddon and the impact on new car production - " Yet many auto plants have had to shut down unexpectedly, costing the companies billions of dollars in profit. Anyone who thought the problem might pass quickly is being proven wrong "Thinking fast and slow and the replication crisis. It's not as bad as it could be, but certainly whole chapters have entirely failed to replicate.The History of the Minimum Wage - a podcast by Planet MoneyBen Thompson - Spotify's SurpriseThe Fermi Paradox and The Great Filter - Why are there no Aliens out there?The Disastrous Johnson&Johnson PauseScarlett vs Bomber - The best TvZ Starcraft II game ever played?Mr LlamaSC loses his damn mind as he gets every single item in the game

 Please contact us or support us on Patreon!This episode our main topic is Julia Galef's new book. Julia is a much better podcaster than us, and also probably a better author. Her new book scout mindset is an exploration on how to seek the truth instead of just defend your pre-existing views. Brian pronounces rhetoric incorrectly a lot and Chris fails to make fun of him because he wasn't yet confident of his preferred pronunciation.Big list of coffee betsJared Diamond - author of guns germs and steelRuss Roberts interviewing  psychologist Emiliana Simon-Thomas of UC Berkeley Pi Hole. Stop ads getting anywhere near your internet (except youtube ads sadly)Suicides down for 2020, misery loves company? We may debate forever if there's a great stagnation. Gwern has a solid list of improvements since the 90sCentre for applied rationality - Julia Galefs day job maybe? I'm not really sure.Steelmanning

 Please contact us or support us on Patreon!Chris picks fights with MacroBioBoi (probably because he's jealous of Brian's new podcast best friend). We discuss another book on the entire history of the world with Sapiens. We muse on population ethics and whether we have an obligation to future populations. We discuss UBI and how having "enough" can change your career and consumption habits.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sapiens - A brief history of humankindDunbars Number -  a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. Typically ~150We discuss population ethics as prompted by a very insightful patron.Finally we bet on weather we'll be on Youtube (probably, since Chris likes winning coffees)

 Please contact us or support us on Patreon!As Chris was travelling this week Brian got to host a very special episode interviewing MacroBioBoi, one of the top Diablo 2 streamers.They discuss what it's like to be a  streamer, accents and how the Diablo content industry works. A very enjoyable interview even if you don't care about Diablo at all (and speaking as Chris, I don't!)Next week we'll be back with our regularly scheduled programming where we discuss whatever we talked about last week.Find MacroBioBoi on Youtube or Twitch or TwitterOr watch one of his best videos on why he doesn't use windoforce

Please contact us or support us on Patreon!This episode Chris has a book review on "The decadent society", hard to explain, but very impactful. We have further reflections on meritocracy, UBI, and womens happiness. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------The main book by Ross Douthat - The decadent society: How we became victims of our own successWhatever Brian's weird reference was in the openingThe paradox of declining womens happiness -  By many objective measures the lives of women in the United States have improved over the past 35 years, yet we show that measures of subjective well-being indicate that women's happiness has declined both absolutely and relative to men. The WEIRD people - Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and DemocraticThe FIexplorer - he's pretty rich and probably pretty swol'The broken windows fallacy - Chris stopped paying attention half way through and is now out smashing windows in order to boost GDP and helpFreddie De Boer picks fights with blue checks on twitter. It's quite fun.The hard thing about hard things by Ben Horowitz - should we get pay rises every couple of weeks?

A very special Affix episode where Brian and Chris sit across the table in real life and try to avoid looking at each other in the eye. To commemorate this visit we did a listener feedback episode. We follow up on FI/RE, how to build media patronage, a mea culpa from Chris, significant discussion on wage growth and a long bet and discussion on the minimum wage.Please contact us or support us on Patreon! (¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯·.¸¸.·´¯·.¸¸.·´¯·.¸¸.·´¯)  (                                                       / ) ( )                                                   ( / )( ) (     VOTE WITH US!!!        ) ( ) ( / )                                                    ( )  ( /                                                      )   (_.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`)----------------------------------------------------------------Retiring early, sometimes you have to go back to work - LivingaFIThe most senseless environmental crime of the 20th century - Whaling in the USSRGoodhart's law - when a measure becomes a targetDefining inequality so it can't be fixed - the Grumpy EconomistThe Effective Altruism movement - the cheapest ways to save livesPrincipal Agent Problems

  (¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯·.¸¸.·´¯·.¸¸.·´¯·.¸¸.·´¯)  (                                                       / ) ( )                                                   ( / )( ) (     VOTE WITH US!!!        ) ( ) ( / )                                                    ( )  ( /                                                      )   (_.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`) Or contact us or support us on Patreon!This week we discuss meritocracy and psychopaths, we muse if the son of a shearer is really worthy of rising to the top of society, we have more to say about FI/RE and capitalism, and of course, all the news from Diablo 2 and meta coffee bets!-------------------------------------------------------------------------Chris with his podcast debut on The Aussie FirebugThe 4% rule and the trinity studySlow Boring - " Politics is a strong and slow boring of hard boards. It takes both passion and perspective. " by Matt Yglesias on MeritocracyWhat is Life by Schrodinger (yes the guy with the cat)The Imperial Exam - how China's public servants were promotedChris' vote compass again in case you missed it the first timeProject Diablo 2 again

 Don't forget to reccommend us to your friends!Please contact us or support us on Patreon!BIG NEWS! Vote along with us on the list of coffee bets!Big list of coffee betsThis week we discuss the topic that initial brought Brian and Chris together FI/RE. The idea that by living frugally and earning well you can retire much earlier than is typical, in your 30s or even 20s. --------------------------------------------------------------------------Fifty years of Monetary Policy - what did we even do before inflation rate targetting?Japan's slow crash and monetary policy - not what you think.The shockingly simple maths behind early retirement - Literally the only article you need to read on FI/REBuild the life you want, then save for it - advice from a guy who's pretty good at Diablo IIGrow the buck up - A very compelling podcast by a guy who *sounds* like he wants to sell you a time share, but actually just wants you to be happy.

Don't forget to reccommend us to your friends!Please contact us or support us on Patreon!In this episode Brian and Chris get dangerously close to having original ideas about the news and information distribution. Don't worry, we'll go back to just reading other people's opinions next week. We discuss interest rates and power, ponder Stoic philosophy and Brian has so much Diablo 2 news that he can't contain it to just this podcast!Big list of coffee bets --------------------------------------------------- Zvi Mowshowitz judges his own Covid 19 preditions from early 2020Maybe you can sign up for Auger and bet against Brian?Who drives the bus of interest rates? - Scott SumnerThe Tricameral Legislatures - Chambers of parliament that could exist but don'tThe veil of ignorance (also known as the original position)Stoic quotes on life“When a dog is tied to a cart, if it wants to follow, it is pulled and follows, making its spontaneous act coincide with necessity. But if the dog does not follow, it will be compelled in any case. So it is with men too: even if they don't want to, they will be compelled to follow what is destined.” Hot news doctrineKnolls law of media accuracy  “everything you read in the newspapers is absolutely true, except for the rare story of which you happen to have firsthand knowledge”. Brian's commentary of Bender's world record paladin HC normal speed run

In this episode we have a listener suggested topic of UBI, how affordable it might be in Australia and if it would help or harm over-all. We talk about moral foundations, and find an actual disagreement between Brian and Chris (please tell us who you agree with). And of course we bring you all the news from D2 speedruns and another coffee bet!Please contact us or support us on Patreon!Big list of coffee bets--------------------------------------------------- Federalism in the UK - sorta federal but not really. They have provinces I guess?Venezualan relative price fact of the day - " Around Caracas, the capital, a pack of three condoms costs $4.40 — three times Venezuela's monthly minimum wage of $1.50."Universal Basic Income - an idea who's time has come?A data-driven guide to better, more relaxed parenting - Emily OsterThe play pump - possibly the worst way to donate money to the developing worldUnderstanding moral disagreements with Jonathan Haidt - Rationally speaking with Julia Galef is probably the best podcast. Maybe you should listen to her instead of us?Moral Foundations Theory - includes the bad graph that irritated ChrisAnti-natalism and climate change. The repugnant conclusion - a discussion for a later time?Principal component analysis - explained much better here than what Chris tried to doBig Five personality traitsMekalb's Hell HC Barbarian Speedrun highlights (only 14 minutes long!)

In this episode Brian and Chris discuss pandemic preparedness and how Bill and Melinda Gates have(n't?) helped. We use our media empire to wage war on Facebook and the Australian media and have genuine Diablo II news rather than just more nonsense!Please contact us or support us on Patreon!Big list of coffee bets---------------------------------------------------BBC TV LicenceWhy is pluto not a planet (dubious....)Belt vs GirdleBill and Melinda gates annual letterInside Bill's Brain The Kogan Kevin37 LCD TelevisionUS-South Korea war gamesBill Gates is able-and willing-to lose big money funding vaccine factories (spoiler: no he's actually not)The Korean axe murder incident and Operation Paul Bunyan -  "A convoy of 23 American and South Korean vehicles ... drove into the JSA without any warning to the North Koreans, who had one observation post manned at that hour. In the vehicles were two eight-man teams of military engineers equipped with chain saws to cut down the tree." Facebook turns off the news. An annoucement from the Australian GovernmentExponent Podcast -  Ben and James discuss Australia's Media Bargaining Code and its fall-out. Diablo 2 Resurrected or maybe you should just play Project Diablo IIDoes anyone know how we can set up betting markets on our coffee bets?

This episode we discuss types of power from Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan. We muse over inequality and what it takes to stop it through the lens of Walther Scheidel's "The Great Leveller". We discuss politics and why we hate talking about politics (we like to think all our opinions on economics are just common sense and are in no way political). We bet on whether TSMC can ever be taken down from their dominant spot manufacturing chips and, of course, bring you new ways to play and break world records in Diablo II.Please contact us (we're so lonely) or support us on Patreon!Piketty - Capital and the 21st centuryHousehold wealth inequality in AustraliaHunter gatherer inequalityBrian did edit the shareholder value wikipedia page!Amazon gives open source the middle finger "In effect, it's a hosted drop-in replacement for MongoDB that doesn't use any MongoDB code "Google LLC v Oracle America Brian's vote compassChris' vote compassScott Alexander's Statement on New York Times ArticleLeviathan Chapter X - HobbesThe Great leveler: Violence and the History of Inequality from the Stone Age to the Twenty-First Century - by Walter ScheidelBig list of coffee betsMacro Bio Boi - LoD completion in 7 minutesThread on the dashact5 mode

Please contact us or support us on Patreon! In this episode Brian and Chris discuss shareholder value, important categorization problems such as whether a hotdog is a sandwich or ice is a rock. We talk about inequality in Australia and bet on whether movies will ever make a comeback (of course not, everyone just listens to podcasts now)The Friedman Doctrine holds that a corporations only purpose is to return value to shareholdersDid Brian edit the Shareholder Value wikipedia page?The Ontology of Psychiatric Conditions by Scott AlexanderBill gates and Vaccine ProductionEmergent Ventures and Fast GrantsBryan Caplan really hates masksWhat defines a sandwich anyway?The categories were made for man, not man for categories - Another Scott Alexander postSorites Paradox. Maybe the Soroity problem if we believe Brian?ACOSS report on inequality in Australia in 2018Big list of coffee bets

In this episode we review the state of FLOSS software, the things going right and the things going wrong. We discuss if it's good to be a technocrat, and when that can go wrong, and sigh with disbelief at the google vs australian newspaper fight.Please contact us or support us on Patreon!Tidelift - a new way to pay for open sourceHow one programmer broke the internet by deleting a tiny piece of codeEconomic vs Rhetorical Dominance - Bryan CaplanContra Weyl on TechnocracyWeyl's rebuttalDouble Dutch Irish Sandwich (the breakfast of champions)Corporate Tax transparencyBlury photo of a record possibly being broken. I'm not sure any more, looks like it might be fakedSummoning Salt - The finest reviews of speed runsBig list of coffee bets

Please support our patreon!! We discuss "the infinite game" by Simon Sinek. Decide that we all need to be better capitalists, and some of what we've learned from Scott Alexander, our favorite auhor (technically just Chris's favorite author, but he feels strongly enough about it to speak for Brian too)Simon Sinek - The infinite gameAstral Codex Ten - Scott AlexanderMeditations on MolochBig list of coffee betsBender's speedrunMekalb's speedrun

This episode we discuss alternative theories of government and economics. Could we police the whole world purely through securities fraud law? Are there better models for open source software development? Look forward to not really finding satisfying answers to these obviously clickbait questions!Also, good news and bad news. We have reached the point in this podcast where we are starting to have to pay for boring things like hosting and domain names. If you're enjoying the podcast and want to help then please think about contributing to our Patreon. Of course if you're not enjoying the podcast and want to help anyway for some reason, please feel free to do so!Subscribe to Matt LevineIs everything securities fraud?Speech on people giving up TV and contributing to internet projectsStratechery article ending with "Open protocols"being the futureBlog on Open source's failings (including SSL)Article on G0v/Hack the Government in TaiwanMonopolies and R&D labsGwern on commoditise your complementDiablo News:Diablo dot Run7.5 hour PX HC Hell Barb world record56 hour P8 Druid World RecordThe all important Betting Spreadsheet

In this episode we apologise to Bryan Caplan and reveal ourselves to be the full throated, selfish libertarians you always suspected we were. We discuss the similarities between codebases and factories, and determine if economic progress halted in the 70s.Capitalism without capitalThe Great stagnationProductivity graphEvil doom number - we used to have to actually optimize our codeDALL-E - an amazing application of AI to draw pictures based on text inputAGDQ - awesome games done quick!The list of coffee bets - Please rate us on itunes!!Please review us on itunes!

In this episode Brian and Chris discuss the ethical weight of law, should we be able to drive faster, what plato has in common with podcasts and a WORLD RECORD diablo II run!Bryan Caplan - The righteous scofflaw    -How to win friends and influence people - Dale Carnegie    Escaping paternalism book clubStopping distances of cars (I really wish I could find how this has improved over the years, but couldn't turn anything up quickly. Perhaps our listeners can help?Very bad wizards with Agnes CallardThe counting of shipsThe great conversation - 10 year reading planList of coffee betsDiablo two record

The Trolley Problem:There is a runaway trolley barrelling down the railway tracks. On the tracks, there are five people tied up and unable to move. You are standing next to a lever. If you pull this lever, the trolley will switch to a different set of tracks with one person on the side track. You have two options:Do nothing and allow the trolley to kill the five people on the main track.Pull the lever, diverting the trolley onto the side track where it will kill one person.QALY - Quality Adjusted Life Yearsa generic measure of disease burden, including both the quality and the quantity of life lived. It is used in economic evaluation to assess the value of medical interventions.Don't worry about the vase - Zvi MowshowitzPutanumonit - Seeing the smokeThe difference between UK infections and the rest of Europe. Get data so good you don't need to run stats on it.Big list of coffee betsDiablo 2 Schisms

I know you all can't wait until the release of our podcast, so here's 13 seconds of Chris' voice introducing things to tide you over until then.