On signals and the operation of complex systems. A thread.
There's a well-known story about Van Halen demanding the removal of all brown coloured M&Ms from the candy bowl in their dressing room.
This 1980 LA Times story is an early report, and the tone is instructive.
The implication is that by chipping out in the presence of brown M&Ms, the band was engaging in typical rock star diva behaviour.
Being generous, perhaps they were just eccentrics, as creative people often are, and needed indulging in order to be coaxed into performing.
Dec 18, 2023 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Martin Wolf had a piece in the FT recently that I found deeply frustrating because it came *so* close to getting it, but then veered off course and ended up settling for the same old economic consensus that got us where we are.
ft.com/content/02e962…
Let’s start with the good - Wolf recognises that Britain badly needs growth, which alone marks him apart from large chunks of the decline-acquiescent British public and media that only seeks to redistribute slices of an ever smaller and smaller pie.
Nov 18, 2023 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
London's demographic issues are widely misunderstood, probably because the raw numbers obscure at least as much as they illustrate.
The demographic churn has been huge since 1997, and it's now roughly:
40% White British
20% White Other
40% non-White (UK citizens & otherwise)
BUT on the ground, it is so heavily segregated that a given person's daily life will look nothing like this.
If you're well-educated, affluent, and have a high-paying white-collar job, your London will be closer to 90% white (mostly British, a few W Europeans in there too)
