Wishing Boston Globe columnist – and my friend – Jeff Jacoby the very best as he struggles with some health issues. A slice from Jeff’s most-recent column:
AS SOME of you know, I am on medical leave from my job at The Boston Globe and have not been able to write my regular op-ed columns or my Arguable newsletter. For several months I have been contending with a number of worrying and seemingly unconnected symptoms — everything from unplanned weight loss to increased clumsiness to difficulties with speech to muscle atrophy. These symptoms are all the more distressing since my doctors so far can’t explain what is causing them or why they should suddenly have appeared.
All of which means that instead of spending my days trying to write opinion pieces that are interesting, timely, and thoughtful, I have instead been devoting my hours to blood draws and CT scans, to being examined by specialists, to getting prescriptions filled and dosages adjusted, and to navigating the maze of “patient portals” that even doctors tell me they find maddening.
I’m also spending time reflecting on what this experience can teach me and how I can use those insights to be a better person. One of the great sages of the Talmud, Rabbi Tarfon, said more than 1,900 years ago: “The day is short, and the work is very great.” The meaning of those words has always seemed straightforward to me. Only now am I struck by their urgency.
Which isn’t to say that I’m not paying attention to the world around me! I haven’t stopped following the news or instinctively thinking about what I want to write — especially on the issues that matter most.
Like immigration.
Though I wish the Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. Barbara, the birthright citizenship case, had been unanimous, I always knew it was inconceivable that a majority of the justices would let this president — or any president — shatter one of the most sublime promises of the nation that declared its independence 250 years ago this month. From the very beginning of our history as a sovereign country, the rule has been clear: Children born on American soil begin life as equals. That is America at its best.
I wish I had been well enough to pen a fresh column as soon as the court handed down its decision last week. It’s a subject I have followed for years, since long before this litigation began. My first column on the topic, which I wrote in 2010, made no mention of Donald Trump, who was still years away from launching a bid for the White House.
Here’s the abstract of a new paper by William Cline: (HT Scott Lincicome)
Proposed tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent under the forced labor provisions of Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 would be more than forty times the magnitude that could be warranted on the basis of US exports lost and US imports increased as a consequence of trade in goods produced using forced labor. The basic reason is that in economic terms, global forced labor is small, accounting for an estimated 5.5 million workers in tradable goods, compared to almost 2 billion workers in these sectors globally. As a consequence, the forced-labor provisions do not constitute a credible basis for replacing the reciprocal tariffs ruled illegal by the Supreme Court.
Colin Grabow introduces the Jones Act Waiver Tracker.
New York’s ban on fracking for oil and gas has been an act of monumental self-sabotage. Now Gov. Kathy Hochul is making a similar blunder by imposing a one-year (yeah, right) pause on new large AI data centers. Why are Democrats so intent on blocking development that would benefit their citizens?
Ms. Hochul announced the moratorium Tuesday in an executive order that suspends permitting for data centers while her administration works on a “regulatory framework.” “As data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it’s my responsibility to take action and lead,” she said.
Translation: It’s an election year. Polls show voters turning against data centers, largely owing to misconceptions fueled by climate activists. Ms. Hochul is trying to get ahead of the backlash and shift blame for her state’s rising electric rates caused by its climate policies.
Democrats in Albany have shoveled billions of dollars on projects to boost economic growth upstate. So it’s strange that Ms. Hochul is spurning data centers, which could generate thousands of jobs and more tax revenue. Teachers in Louisiana’s Richland Parish recently received annual bonuses of up to $50,000 thanks to increased tax revenue from construction of Meta’s massive AI data center.
Also writing about this regressive New York state policy on data centers is Tosin Akintola.
Kevin Gentry talks about higher education with Joshua Hall.
GMU Econ alum Jeremy Horpedahl isn’t favorably impressed by “Trump Accounts.”
Tyler Cowen predicts that the future belongs to “AI maniacs.” A slice:
I also believe that immigrants are especially likely to be AI maniacs. Immigrants have fewer channels to rise through credentials, family connections, and establishment modes of thinking and doing. They are more willing to try something new, they tend to be younger than average, and, because they were willing to switch countries, they tend to have higher levels of energy, courage, and ambition.
Recently I was giving some talks in England, and I contrasted the AI maniacs with the Oxbridge elite. Very often the Oxbridgers end up with high-paying jobs in law, consulting, finance, or perhaps the life sciences, typically in or near London. They are very smart and hardworking, and they know how to chart their advancement through social and professional systems. They have helped to create a very prosperous London. Yet in the next two decades they are likely to face very serious competition from the AI maniacs, who will try to provide services at lower cost from much smaller start-up companies.
Chelsea Follett encourages Europeans to put a higher value on life and install air-conditioning. A slice:
Air conditioning is one of modern civilization’s most important yet underappreciated inventions. One study from the National Bureau of Economic Research estimated that the spread of air conditioning in the United States led to a roughly 75 percent decline in heat-related deaths during the 20th century. But policymakers in Europe have discouraged this technology through taxes, regulations and a stubborn refusal to admit its benefits.
The consequences have been tragic. Heat waves kill more than 175,000 Europeans every year, according to the World Health Organization. Eighty percent of the continent’s population does not have AC. In the United States, almost 90 percent does.
