During the 20th century, the West suffered from two major economic crises. Each of these brought about a major revolution in economic thinking. After the 2008 financial crisis, no such shift has taken place. Economists are still using many of the same tools built to address the same questions as before. When is the revolution?
See also: What minimum-wage foes got wrong about Seattle. In my microeconomics unit, the minimum wage was the canonical example of the effect of a price floor: If there’s a minimum wage, it will reduce the total number of hours worked in the economy. But the point at which it actually has an impact is much, much higher than you’d expect. If the minimum wage were $100/hour, the job market would almost certainly get weird. But $15? Turns out it’s fine.
Climate update
An internal Amtrak analysis predicts that by 2050, rising seas could make portions of the Northeast Corridor lines impassible. The Northeast Corridor is the sole profitable segment of Amtrak’s operation. The report was kept private and revealed only through a public records request.
Meanwhile, in Miami, higher ground is starting to get more expensive… meaning poor people have nowhere to go.
Hot takes
Jack Shafer, writing for Politico, argues that racism is bad, but anti-racism is worse.
I sing of plums and of a man
William Carlos Williams plums-in-the-icebox jokes are where Twitter truly shines.
Something there is that’s eaten all the plums,
That mines the frozen icebox of its goods,
And spills apologies from purple lips;
And begs forgiveness that no soul can give.https://t.co/A3Qvo5jF3N— Tim Carmody (@tcarmody) December 21, 2018
More year in review
Passionweiss best rap songs of 2018.
Eater’s most scathing reviews of restaurants.
Designboom’s top futuristic visualizations of 2018.
99 good news stories you may have missed this year.
Cultivating… the uncanny?
I don’t … just… this GIF.
Cultivating joy
Brushing kitty.
Lumpsuckers, or lumpfish, are used as a sustainable source of caviar. They are called lumpsuckers because they look like weird little lumps and they cling to stuff. But if you you persuade them to cling to a balloon, they turn into adorable googly-eyed little lumps.
Dog trapped under blanket.
Oregon says a fond farewell to Eddie the Otter, known for basketball and masturbation.
Capybaras in a hot yuzu bath.
Tiny kitten and St. Bernard.
This epic photo of the sky at night.
Greyhounds in sweaters looking like the bad guys in an 80s movie.
Stephen Colbert’s Anxiety Baking Show is hilarious.
Secretly Ironic 