Book Review — “Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture”
Yves here. This article describes how algorithms amplify certain cultural artifacts, like ditties and visual images, narrowing the range of expressing and lowering the odds of truly new works breaking out into the mass market. While this is clearly a troubling development, it is not as if this is the first time commercial interests have […]
Unemployment rate of Black men rose in January
A networking and hiring event for professionals of color in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Michael Siluk | Getty Images Black men lost ground in the workforce last month, marking a continuation of the disparities that have permeated the U.S. labor market. Black males who were at least 20 years old saw an unemployment rate of 5.3% in […]
Judge Postpones Trump’s Trial Indefinately
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who has Trump’s Washington case brought by Jack Smith, wrote an order that means something is wrong. Her order has postponed the trial indefinitely, and rightly so, given the fact that the questions presented involve what one would classify as Subject Matter Jurisdiction, which can NEVER be waived. She wrote: […]
Payrolls grew by 353,000, much better than expected
Job growth posted a surprisingly strong increase in January, demonstrating again that the U.S. labor market is solid and poised to support broader economic growth. Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 353,000 for the month, much better than the Dow Jones estimate for 185,000, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The unemployment rate held […]
What GDP Figures Do Not Reveal
Janan Ganesh, an often original if not iconoclastic columnist, asked why bad governments such as populist ones don’t seem to undermine economic growth, at least in the short run (“Why Hasn’t Populism Done More Economic Harm,” Financial Times, January 23, 2024). This provides us with a good opportunity to review what GDP numbers cannot prove. […]
