Clipmarks | abailart's 'economics' clips

Awesome research/ Homework resource

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 01:06:30 GMT

clipped by: cosmic_kitten1
clipper's remarks: I only found this the other day and mostly I'm clipping it for my own uses; however, it's a great resource and I thought I'd share. The site itself has pretty cool info too. 'Hope you guys like the clip.

Clip Source: www.crf-usa.org

Research Links

Subject Matter

Click for instructions on how to make CRF's Research Links your homepage.

CRF: Constitutional Rights Foundation

Programs

Publications

Free Lessons

Tags: resource, homework, research, info, links

Why do women's clothes button from the left, while men's button from the right?

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:55:42 GMT

clipped by: michellezm

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

Around 90 per cent of the world's population is right-handed, and it is easier for right-handers to button shirts from the right. So why do women's garments button from the left?

This is an example in which history seems to matter. When buttons first appeared in the 17th century, they were seen only on garments of the wealthy. At that time it was the custom for rich men to dress themselves and for women to be dressed by servants.

Having women's shirts button from the left thus made things easier for the mostly right-handed servants who dressed them. Having men's shirts button from the right made sense not only because most men dressed themselves, but also because a sword drawn from the left hip with the right hand would be less likely to become caught in the shirt. Today, virtually no women are dressed by servants, so why is buttoning from the left still the norm for women?

In economics, a norm, once established, resists change.

How we confuse symbols and things

Sun, 17 Dec 2006 21:48:06 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: most "educated" people cannot tell the difference between a fact and an idea, the most common confusion of symbol and thing.

Clip Source: www.arachnoid.com

How we confuse symbols and things

In my opinion, the greatest single failure of American education is that students come away unable to distinguish between a symbol and the thing the symbol stands for.

It is no accident that modern education doesn't teach the distinction between symbol and thing — if it did, education as we know it would fall apart. After that, after education reshaped itself to provide actual knowledge instead of the symbolic representation of knowledge, the society around us would be transformed.

But in the meantime, most "educated" people cannot tell the difference between a fact and an idea, the most common confusion of symbol and thing. Most believe if they collect enough facts, this will compensate for their inability to grasp the ideas behind those facts. And, because of this "poverty of ideas," most cannot work out the simplest conceptual questions, such as "why is the sky dark at night?" (unless you are in a small minority, the actual reason is not what you think — see more here ).

As a result of this educational deficit, our individually inspired sense of well-being, our direct participation in those actions that assure our continued survival, our sense that we must create our own reasons for living, have been replaced by a kind of conceptual totalitarianism, which has as its cornerstone a deliberate blurring of symbol and thing . This totalitarianism has several parts:

Originally a convenient way to trade what you have for what you don't have, commerce has been elevated to the status of a moral principle. People who could be grappling with more fundamental issues are instead imitating Willy Loman, Arthur Miller's character from Death of a Salesman , who personified the replacement of substance with symbol.

Tags: philosophy, economics, psychology

Embarrassing Predictions

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 20:18:02 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator

Clip Source: paul.merton.ox.ac.uk

Embarrassing Predictions

"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

"But what ... is it good for?"
Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

"The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?"
David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."
Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, 1929.

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."
Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899.

"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
Bill Gates, 1981

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."
Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

Tags: humor

Free Online Courses from Great Universities

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:04:48 GMT

clipped by: Sheroug
clipper's remarks: Goody

Clip Source: www.oculture.com

Free Online Courses from Great Universities

Humanities & Social Sciences

Archaeology

Introduction to Archaeology - Feed - MP3s - Ruth Tringham, UC Berkeley

Architecture

Architecture Studio: Building in Landscapes (Video) - iTunes - Jan Wampler, MIT

Economics

Economic Geography of the Industrial World - Feed - MP3s - Richard Walker, UC Berkeley.

Geography

Geography of World Cultures - iTunes - Martin Lewis, Stanford University

History

African-American History: Modern Freedom Struggle - YouTube - Clay Carson, Stanford

Literature

Shakespeare - iTunes - Feed - MP3s - Charles Altieri, UC Berkeley

Philosophy

Introduction to Logic - iTunes - Feed - Patricia Churchland, UCSD

Sciences

Computer Science

Operating Systems Principles - iTunes - Surendar Chandra, Notre Dame

Operating Systems and System Programming - iTunes - Feed - Multiple professors, UC Berkeley

The Future of the Internet - iTunes - Ramesh Johari, Stanford

Understanding Computers and the Internet - iTunes - Feed - David Malan, Harvard University

What Does It Mean to Be Human?

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:14:59 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: and your answer?

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

A star-studded panel of scientists gathered to discuss those heady themes last night at the World Science Festival in New York City. Here are their answers in convenient nutshell form:

Marvin Minsky, artificial intelligence pioneer: We do something other species can't: We remember. We have cultures, ways of transmitting information.

Daniel Dennett, cognitive scientist: We are the first species that represents our reasons, and can reason with each other. "The planet has grown a nervous system," he said.

Antonio Damasio, neuroscientist: The critical unique factor is language. Creativity. The religious and scientific impulse. And our social organization, which has developed to a prodigious degree. We have a record of history, moral behavior, economics, political and social institutions. We're probably unique in our ability to investigate the future, imagine outcomes, and display images in our minds

Tags: question, deep question, human, meaning

The Downside of Optimism

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:37:46 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: in comparison, extreme optimists:

* Work significantly fewer hours
* Hold a higher proportion of individual stocks in their portfolios
* Are more likely to be day traders
* Save less money
* Are less likely to pay off their credit card balances on a regular basis
* Are more likely to smoke

“The differences between optimists and extreme optimists are remarkable and suggest that over-optimism, like overconfidence, may in fact lead to behaviors that are unwise,” Puri said.

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Optimism, it turns out, is best in moderation.

People who have a rosy outlook are more likely than others to make prudent financial decisions, but those who are extreme optimists make riskier investments and save less money than others, a new study finds.

The researchers compared the self-reported life expectancies with statistical ones, grouping participants who expected to live longer than the data predicted as "optimists." Participants who expected to live an average of 20 years longer than is statistically likely were labeled "extreme optimists."

In moderation, optimism can lead to sensible decision making, but extreme optimists “display financial habits and behavior that are generally not considered prudent,” the authors write in the October issue of the Journal of Financial Economics.

They find that compared with others, optimists:

Work longer hours

Invest in individual stocks

Save more money

Are more likely to pay their credit card balances on time

Tags: research, optimism, life expectancy

Which Existed First: God or the Human Imagination?

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:36:16 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

French-British anthropologist, Maurice Bloch, of the London School of Economics believes that humans alone practice religion because they're the only creatures to have evolved imagination. The development of imagination occurred at the time of the Upper Palaeolithic 'revolution' 40-50,000 years ago. Bloch challenges the popular notion that religion evolved and spread because it promoted social bonding, as has been argued by some anthropologists.

According to Bloch's theory, initially humans had to develop the essential brain architecture to imagine things and beings that don't exist physically, and the possibility that people somehow survive on after their death.

Once this was acquired, we had access to a form of social interaction unavailable to any other creatures on the planet. Exclusively, humans could use what Bloch calls the "transcendental social" to unite with groups, such as nations and clans, or even with imaginary groups such as the dead

Tags: imagination, social, brain

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 13:25:19 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.bartleby.com

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy

E. D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, James Trefil

Third Edition: Completely Revised and Updated

The manifestation of one of the most influential modern educational theories, the 6,900 entries in this major new reference work form the touchstone of what it means to be not only just a literate American but an active citizen in our multicultural democracy.

Preface Introduction to the First Edition The Theory Behind the Dictionary How to Use This Dictionary Entry Index Bibliographic Record

The Bible

Mythology and Folklore

Proverbs

Idioms

World Literature, Philosophy, and Religion

Literature in English

Conventions of Written English

Fine Arts

World History to 1550

World History since 1550

American History to 1865

American History since 1865

Anthropology, Psychology, and Sociology

Business and Economics

Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Tags: culture, literature, history, fine arts, politics, geography, anthropology, science, philosophy, proverbs, idioms, mythology

The Rapture Can't Happen Soon Enough

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 06:35:23 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks: The Lord told me to clip this.

The Rapture Index (omens portending the Rapture) stands at 163, the highest it's been since September 11, 2001 when it peaked at its all-time high of 182. I don't know what the numbers mean either. But I'm not making this up.

Anyway, I'm not worried about 'the Rapture' one little bit... Jesus, he knows me.

Clip Source: mwcnews.net

I try to limit my magical thinking to occasional moments of vanity and revenge.

But lately I've found myself wishing that if the Rapture is on the level, it would happen soon . . . I mean real soon.

I want it understood that I'm not wishing these folks ill. On the contrary, I'm wishing them what they've always wanted—an eternity of enjoying the unchallenged moral certitude they were never quite able to fully enjoy here on Earth

Think what the Rapture will mean to those of us left behind.

The number of positions vacated will be five times as many needed to wipe out the country's unemployment

It's "trickle up" economics at work here.

we'll have a chance at longer, healthier lives by taking the untold billons of dollars President Bush is currently funneling into the Christian Right

we'll no longer have to wonder, "is our kids learning?

the rest of us will be left in peace to enjoy our bedrooms

on our own terms

we'll still have Satan

And he'll be the one carrying a pitchfork not a Bible.

Tags: last, one, there, is, a rotten, egg

SEXY (Totaly hot naked picture of a Mono-monostatic object: perfect geometric equilibrium)

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:18:47 GMT

clipped by: ouyangwulong
clipper's remarks: Now that I have your attention, allow me to introduce the Gomboc!

It's an object of absolutely perfect geometric equilbrium. There is only one position in which it can rest, and it will always return to the exact same posture, because the balance of its proportions all pull it to a single incredibly narrow center of gravity.

And, it is TOTALLY NAKED! I mean, just check out the curves on this one!

How did we get this Gombloc? Well, there were a few Russian mathematicians sitting around (probably stoned) who thought it would be cool. So they just sat down and did the math "for a few years" and then tested thousands of pebles (once again, STONED!) until they just decided to make one themselves.

I am so not worthy!

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Self-Righting Object, The

The Gomboc is a roundish piece of clear synthetic material with gently peaked, organic curves. It looks like a piece of modern art. But if you tip it over, something unusual happens: it rights itself.

The Gomboc is a result of a long mathematical quest. In 1995, the Russian mathematician Vladimir Arnold mused that it would be possible to create a “mono-monostatic” object — a three-dimensional thingy that purely by dint of its geometry had only one possible way to balance upright.

The challenge intrigued two scientists — Gabor Domokos and Peter Varkonyi, both of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. They spent a few years doing the math, and it seemed as if a mono-monostatic object could, in fact, exist. They began looking to see if they could find a naturally occurring example; at one point, Domokos was so obsessed that he spent hours testing 2,000 pebbles on a beach to see if they could right themselves. (None could.)

Tags: sexy, hot, naked, pictures, pot, marijuana, mono-monostatic, theoretical geometry

The truth about recycling

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 14:52:22 GMT

clipped by: gingembre
clipper's remarks: Far too much valuable info here to fit in a clip, so go to the source for interesting discussions of the history of recycling, current status, innovations and concerns about what happens to recyclables being shipped to China and other developing nations. China is now the largest importer of recyclable materials in the world!

The explanation of how single stream collection of recyclables works is fascinating. I was not aware of all the new technology being employed to sort and separate recyclable materials.

The section on the future of recycling discusses the need for product design
to take into account recycling of the product materials to create "closed-loop" cycles where there is no waste. Sustainable packaging emphasizes the use of renewable, recycled and non-toxic source materials to benefit the environment and cut costs. Wal-Mart is jumping on this bandwagon.

"Waste is really a design flaw."

Clip Source: economist.co.uk

As the importance of recycling becomes more apparent, questions about it linger. Is it worth the effort? How does it work? Is recycling waste just going into a landfill in China? Here are some answers

The virtue of recycling has been appreciated for centuries

In 1991 Germany made history when it passed an ordinance shifting responsibility for the entire life cycle of packaging to producers

if there is no longer any need to separate different materials, people may conclude that the waste is simply being buried or burned. In fact, the switch towards single-stream collection is being driven by new technologies that can identify and sort the various materials with little or no human intervention

Europe and Japan have initiated “take back” laws that require electronics manufacturers to recycle their products

Much recyclable material can be processed locally, but ever more is being shipped to developing nations, especially China

It does get recycled, honest

“waste is really a design flaw.”

Tags: recycling, waste, sustainability, environment, economics, technology

Why the poor can't stop having children

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:06:29 GMT

clipped by: BigBadWolf
clipper's remarks: Very interesting read with lots of insight.

Clip Source: shatterthefog.blogspot.com

When I was walking down the street in Guatemala city I was hit by a flash of insight. It came in the form of Juan, a street vendor who was trying to sell me some tourist trinkets. I wasn't interested in buying anything, but since there were no other likely buyers around and I spoke Spanish he stopped to chat with me. One of the first questions that I was asked was how many children I had.

I had none. Juan had six.

"How is it that you stop from having children?" asked Juan.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You are married. How do you prevent children? Do you use condoms?"

He was a typical Guatemalan. And he had no idea how to stop having children.

I proceeded to teach Juan about birth control. I told him that condoms work OK, but that the pill is much better. I told him that the most effective method would be to get a vasectomy.

And then it struck me. None of these methods would work for Juan. He couldn't afford birth control pills or condoms. He certainly couldn't afford vasectomy surgery.

Tags: life, economics, children

One Third of Us are Starving

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 22:29:37 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.helium.com

It would cost only $13 billion to satisfy the world's sanitation and food requirements, which is the amount that is spent on perfume every year by the people of the United States and Europe.

Clip Source: www.helium.com

In Africa today, one child dies every 3 seconds because of the basic lack of safe water, healthcare, shelter or food. Every year 15 million children die of hunger and 183 million children are underweight for their age.

According to the World Health Authority, one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed and one-third is starving.

Tags: poverty, starvation, economics, perfume

Wildlife of Madagascar - pics

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:35:14 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: 2 Avahi occidentalis A western woolly lemur. Scientists have used specially developed software to create detailed maps of how species are distributed on the island down to a per kilometre level

3 Avahi laniger An eastern woolly lemur. Data was collected on the exact locations of more than 2,300 Malagasy species from six major groups: lemurs, butterflies, frogs, geckos, ants and plants

4 Daubentonia madagascariensis An aye-aye. The world's largest nocturnal primate is found only in Madagascar and well known for its unique method of finding food: it taps on trees to find grubs, then gnaws holes in the wood and inserts its elongated middle finger to pull the grubs out

5 The Indri indri, one of the largest lemurs. The scientists say the Madagascar model could be used for other biodiversity hot spots around the world by helping scientists to predict where species might go for refuge when habitats are endangered by climate change

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Madagascar, an island off the east coast of Africa, is a renowned biodiversity "hot spot" where 80% of its 30,000 known species such as this dwarf lemur (Allocebus trichotis) are endemic – that is, they are found nowhere else on the planet

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Avahi occidentalis A western woolly lemur

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Avahi laniger An eastern woolly lemur.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Daubentonia madagascariensis An aye-aye.

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The Indri indri, one of the largest lemurs

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Adansonia grandidieri Madagascar has many unique species of flora as well as fauna, such as this distinctive baobab tree

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Like other biodiversity hotspots, such as the Amazon, pressures from economics and climate change are increasing the threat of habitat loss