Hidden Unpersuaders: How we mistook the digital giants for all-powerful manipulators
The twin threats of "hidden persuasion" and artificial intelligence have now convinced most of us that Google and its ilk are almost uniquely powerful. These...
Do lockdowns work in Europe?
Let us divide the countries in Europe that have at least 1 million inhabitants into three groups: the ones that had high movement restrictions in...
Your new barons. When and how did the super-rich escaped taxation?
Together with Benno Torgler and Katharina Gangl, I published a piece recently on how to tax the powerful and sophisticated. Our substantive argument on what one...
Cracking the code: How to tell what News Corp really thinks about the price of links
News Corp is telling us what Google should really pay for linking to its sites. It's telling us in code – HTML code. And the...
What stock markets tell us about the covid-mania.
Stock markets give us a glimpse what people with money have deduced about world events before they happen. Investors can make mistakes, sometimes terrible mistakes,...
Orwell that ends well: Can evaluation save us from ourselves?
[caption id="attachment_34242" align="aligncenter" width="2304"] I really love this design by Casey Finley, who was kind enough to allow me to publish it here. He has...
What things shouldn’t we be wasting this crisis on?
[caption id="attachment_33674" align="aligncenter" width="3840"] Not sure Winston ever said that, but it sounds like the kind of thing he might have said. Quote investigator doesn't...