VP at @NiskanenCenter, living in Thailand. @SubstackInc: https://t.co/PnGVSRtSGI. Working on big contemporary problems, blogging about the permanent problem.
Musings inspired by @Noahpinion's terrific essay on the “third magic”—namely, the expanding possibilities for control without understanding, power without knowledge, created by AI. A thread 1/ noahpinion.substack.com/p/the-third-ma…
All of us who’ve been playing with ChatGPT have marveled at how well it upholds its end of the conversation without understanding anything at all--and without our understanding how it chooses to say what it says. 2/
Some further thoughts on the possible long-term significance of the TRIPS waiver for covid vaccines and treatments @pritikrishtel@IMAKglobal@charles_duan@GaryWinslett@ATabarrok 1/
Some critics argue that the waiver is bad because it's a really big deal--i.e., it will undermine future incentives to develop new drugs. I've already explained why these scare stories are bogus: 2/
A brief thread on why patent protection is redundant and therefore completely inappropriate for pandemic vaccines @pritikrishtel@IMAKglobal@toddntucker@ezraklein 1/
Patent law provides a decentralized system for encouraging (pharma and other) innovation. The gov't doesn't presume to know what new drugs can be developed next; it simply incentivizes development of whatever new drugs pharma makers come up with via a temporary monopoly. 2/
May 4, 2021 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
In a new piece @paulcrider thoughtfully critiques my recent essay on moderation and social justice, and defends foregrounding racial justice themes even in race-neutral policy discussions. A few thoughts in response... 1/ liberalcurrents.com/scorched-earth…
The first thing to note is that this is an empirical disagreement about tactics. We agree that slavery and Jim Crow created a legacy that sustains continuing Black disadvantage, including stigmatization that leads to ongoing discrimination (esp. in housing and job markets). 2/
Mar 24, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
A brief reminder that the only reason we're in a shutdown now is because of criminally negligent underreaction on Trump's part. We had 6 weeks of lead time after Wuhan went on lockdown, and he did nothing apart from China travel restrictions and jawboning the stock market. 1/
If we had used that lead time to produce widely available test kits and stockpile PPE (enough masks and gloves for everybody, not just health care workers), we could have weathered this outbreak without the extreme measures that are now necessary. 2/
Jan 3, 2019 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
In a piece for the latest issue of National Affairs, I propose a new path forward for the American center-right: small-r republicanism. Thread to follow 1/n nationalaffairs.com/publications/d…
Here I want to tackle the question: why would I write such a thing? After all, for a dozen years now I’ve been associated with the “liberaltarian” project of mixing libertarian ideas with center-left liberalism. I’ll explain with a brief political autobiography. 2/n
Dec 18, 2018 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
A few thoughts in response to @oren_cass's provocative, but not trolling, tweet thread asking about daylight between our policy vision and the Obama administration's -- 1/n
First point --it's a vision paper, not a piece of specific policy advocacy, so it's pitched at a relative high level of abstraction -- the effect of which is to mask differences on policy specifics. 2/n
Nov 7, 2018 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Resolved: the profit-seeking, audience-chasing news industry is bad for democracy. Reluctantly, I currently vote in the affirmative. Here's why. 1/n
First, most obvious and widely recognized: democratized access to mass audiences (cable, talk radio, internet) plus rapid cultural change creates huge market opportunity for fomenting and catering to cultural backlash. This tees up the right for authoritarian demagogues.
