Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
It has become fashionable in many circles to denigrate Keynes and Keynesianism because unconventional monetary policy hasn’t worked. I’m not going to mince words, people who make that argument are idiots. Unconventional monetary policy is not Keynesian stimulus. Keynesian stimulus is about widespread demand: giving money to rich people is not Keynesian stimulus. The government…
Aaron Swartz found out the hard way that you can’t expect justice from the Department of Justice: what should the next Aaron Swartz do when facing decades in prison for information activism? I am among those who have seen the recently released documentary about Aaron Swartz’s short life, The Internet’s Own Boy. I watched the…
On Wednesday night, Jon Stewart took on the story of the expulsion of two University of Oklahoma students over a racist chant that gained national attention and caused the OU chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity to be shut down. In particular, Stewart said, it is troubling that the incident coincided with last weekend’s 50th anniversary celebration…
Reports have emerged that two police officers have been shot at a protest in Ferguson. The reports came shortly after midnight, early on Thursday. Our news report here has further details on the shootings: Two police officers have been shot during a protest in Ferguson, according to reports. Gunfire was heard at a protest outside…
Hollywood is nearing a crisis situation. Soon, there will be no more white male actors named Chris left to star in superhero movies. The Chris rumor du jour is that Chris Pine (Star Trek) is in the running to play Green Lantern in DC’s Justice League franchise. If he winds up being cast, Hollywood will have…
You may have heard that the internet is winning: net neutrality was saved, broadband was redefined to encourage higher speeds, and the dreaded Comcast-Time Warner Cable megamerger potentially thwarted. But the harsh reality is that America’s internet is still fundamentally broken, and there’s no easy fix. An Economy Built on Wires When I say “fundamentally…
Leigh Alexander, the Gamasutra editor-at-large whose editorial opposing the online gamer movement Gamergate prompted a months-long imbroglio with Intel, is leaving Gamasutra to found a new site with BoingBoing called Offworld. Alexander’s essay, published in August 2014, urged game developers to stop catering to the culture of sexist fans who had harassed and threatened the…
We hear about the superior tech savvy of people born after 1980 so often that we tend to assume it must be true. But is it? Researchers at Princeton-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) expected it to be when they administered a test called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Sponsored by…
Last week, I’ve had five bowls of chai. I hid on the top floor of the mall in downtown San Francisco, under the dome, which is apparently historic for something I’ve never figured out, except that I could get the best wifi and privacy while in the busiest part of the city. At the cafe…
Let’s face it: Being too privileged is a heavy burden. You have so much and others, so very little. If only there was a way to help the have-nots have some (for a price!). Welcome to WellDeserved: “a marketplace for privilege.” “Privilege goes unused every single day—why would we waste any of it?” says WellDeserved…