Category Archives: Education

Unseen trends and the society we are becoming.

Posted on July 21, 2021 by Paul Frijters

Societies are evolving and complex, which often makes it hard to see at any moment where things are going. It was thus with the move of Northern European countries towards democracy in the 19th century, which seems inevitable and clear … Continue reading →

Posted in bubble, Bullshit, Business, Climate Change, Education, Employment, Geeky Musings, History, Humour, Immigration and refugees, IT and Internet, Social, Theatre | 21 Comments

Vale David Savage, behaviouralist extraordinaire

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Paul Frijters

We lost David Savage this week to a heart attack at the age of 48, leaving a wife Deborah and many colleagues around the world. He was a Queensland boy who got educated in Brisbane and then quickly made it … Continue reading →

Posted in Art and Architecture, Dance, Death and taxes, Economics and public policy, Education, Geeky Musings, Social | Leave a comment

Covid-congestion effects: why are lockdowns so deadly?

Posted on February 3, 2021 by Paul Frijters

Consider the picture below of two hypothetical Accident and Emergency departments (A&E), one that has no covid-regulations and simply has the available nurses trying to help all comers as fast as possible. In the other one the nurses try to … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronavirus crisis, Death and taxes, Education, Health, Science, Society | 33 Comments

Canadian doctor Joffe MD on the negative effects of covid-19 responses

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Paul Frijters

Dr. Joffe just posted a new article on the many negative effects of lockdowns in Canada and in the world as a whole. He really has put in a fantastic effort to source the evidence on the negative effects of … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronavirus crisis, Death and taxes, Economics and public policy, Education, Health, Life, Medical, Politics - international, Politics - national, Social Policy, Society | Leave a comment

Fundraising for a scholarship: Please give!

Posted on October 19, 2020 by Nicholas Gruen

This June I was approached by Yuan Yuan Liu who wanted to discuss funding of scholarships for disadvantaged people with me “as you are the best economist in the country”. This is precisely the kind of shocking lapse of judgement … Continue reading →

Posted in Blegs, Education | Leave a comment

Covid and the lessons of the Dreyfus affair

Posted on September 18, 2020 by Paul Frijters

One can tell many stories of how current times resemble some earlier historical period. The conflict between nationalism and internationalism, as personified by the controversies surrounding Brexit and Trump, has been seen as somewhat of a re-run of the conflict … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronavirus crisis, Education, Films and TV, History, Humour, Information, Life, Social | 94 Comments

Constant distractions are leading to major declines in top-level reasoning. What to do?

Posted on September 14, 2020 by Paul Frijters

Till 20 year ago, IQ scores in the West increased about 3 points per decade ever since the 1920s, a phenomenon known as the “Flynn effect”. That rise in IQ test scores, which have an average of 100 and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Employment, Gender, History, Inequality, IT and Internet, Media, Parenting, Public and Private Goods, Science, Social, Uncategorized | 17 Comments