Technical change that has spread to many countries and is biased toward using more skilled labor and capital is a major source of greater income inequality, but it is also a major source of economic growth. Since economic growth has been a major source of poverty reduction since the Industrial Revolution, it would be prudent to recognize that redistribution policies come at a cost.
Author: Edouard Chazal
The True Cost of a Burger
Last year, burger chains grossed about $70 billion in sales. So it’s not a stretch to say that the external costs of burgers may be as high as, or even outweigh, the “benefits” (if indeed there are any other than profits). If those externalities were borne by their producers rather than by consumers and society at large, the industry would be a highly unprofitable, even silly one. It would either cease to exist or be forced to raise its prices significantly.
To Predict Turbulence, Just Count the Puffs
It’s not that the stakes are low. A thorough explication of turbulence in pipes could help illuminate the transition to turbulence in a wide range of settings. Understanding how to minimize turbulence in air and fluids could ultimately help engineers pump oil through long pipelines more efficiently and build cars that generate less wind resistance. It could also allow them to harness turbulence more effectively in the settings in which it is helpful, as when vortices near an airplane wing pull a smooth layer of air toward the wing and allow the plane to come in for a slower and gentler landing.
David Coulthard on Team Orders
Despite comfortably leading his team mate, David Coulthard was contacted over the team radio to let Mika Häkkinen past under team orders. An instruction Coulthard could not believe he was hearing.
The Ethical Cost of High-Price Art
If artists, art critics, and art buyers really had any interest in reducing the widening gap between the rich and the poor, they would be focusing their efforts on developing countries, where spending a few thousand dollars on the purchase of works by indigenous artists could make a real difference to the wellbeing of entire villages.
Abnormal Capitalist 