tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post2626671795894552091..comments2024-03-27T03:00:27.024-04:00Comments on Facts & other stubborn things: Assault of Thoughts - 8/18/2011Evanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12259004160963531720noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-33456387264116927372011-08-18T23:43:39.055-04:002011-08-18T23:43:39.055-04:00The European Union is no position to announce anyt...The European Union is no position to announce anything except its inevitable downfall.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-34368906042410374662011-08-18T08:57:03.166-04:002011-08-18T08:57:03.166-04:00I think it is possible; if it was then it wasn'...I think it is possible; if it was then it wasn't a direct communication - it was just an internal conversation of some civilization (ship to ship or person to person on a planet or their version of the latest pop hit or whatever). I know a some astronomy, etc., but I know next to nothing about radio telescopes, etc.<br /><br />SETI has put out some cool videos on candidate signals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtxQtJAtQR0&feature=related<br /><br />The problem with looking up anything ET related on YouTube is that you end up with a lot of garbage links.Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-18474684053845627402011-08-18T08:38:39.829-04:002011-08-18T08:38:39.829-04:00Do you think the signal was anything?
I don't...Do you think the signal was anything?<br /><br />I don't know enough about radio waves (or whatever they were looking at) to say.Daniel Kuehnhttp://www.factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-50171819339342080662011-08-18T08:34:52.729-04:002011-08-18T08:34:52.729-04:00"You always act like these are mutually exclu..."You always act like these are mutually exclusive, and I'm not sure why."<br /><br />Because of our experience with the moonshot. NASA did a great deal to kill any private rivals.Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-82357571473739239592011-08-18T08:32:56.274-04:002011-08-18T08:32:56.274-04:00Well, that's where you start looking for WOW s...Well, that's where you start looking for WOW signal 2.0. <br /><br />So what you need to do if you want to advance knowledge along those lines is send out a robotic mission to Pluto to set up a telescope that can more accurately find planets which are oxygen bearing (there are a number reasons why being so far out increases the ability to find and survey planets using the old standard light spectrum method). That's a high-risk mission obviously, but that is the sort of thing you'd want to pursue IMO.Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-4670604368062720502011-08-18T08:28:10.533-04:002011-08-18T08:28:10.533-04:00I knew that seminar I took on the early Earth'...I knew that seminar I took on the early Earth's chemistry would come in handy some day. ;)Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-55979751144362043122011-08-18T08:26:32.690-04:002011-08-18T08:26:32.690-04:00Right Gary - it's obvious why we want to know ...Right Gary - it's obvious why we want to know whether oxygen is there, but what does knowing that do for you? There is almost certainly life in the universe. It would be nice to know where it might be, but with current constraints on interstellar travel I'm not sure what that's supposed to do for us.<br /><br />re: <i>"You're not going to get regular trips back and forth via the state"</i><br /><br />Right. We have agreed on this in the past. This doesn't mean that there's no role for a public space program, though. While I would like to see Elon Musk or some other private actor put the first person on Mars, I don't think that hope (and really not just a hope - it's my expectation) is any excuse not to push it in the public sector too. You always act like these are mutually exclusive, and I'm not sure why. Space travel and several other things are almost certainly going to be done in the private sector. Support of initial colonization, perhaps some space infrastructure, and perhaps initial pushes to Mars or to interstellar travel are perfectly fine areas for the government to get involved in. But absolutely I don't think we should expect to have regular trips back and forth via the state.Daniel Kuehnhttp://www.factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-90450238365016650522011-08-18T08:26:17.779-04:002011-08-18T08:26:17.779-04:00I would guess that Mars' surface is also litte...I would guess that Mars' surface is also littered with oxide rich rocks (I don't know much about the physical chemistry of Mars); you could, for example, heat the rocks and that would release the oxygen atoms stored therein. Electrolysis is another way to force a chemical reaction to occur.Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-84940537115162078542011-08-18T08:24:26.146-04:002011-08-18T08:24:26.146-04:00re: "if you could (via either a chemical or a...re: <i>"if you could (via either a chemical or a physical process) release the oxygen atoms you could of course use such for a moon colony's oxygen supply."</i><br /><br />And not just oxygen, but also fuel and water.Daniel Kuehnhttp://www.factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-67112818642168964152011-08-18T08:18:11.283-04:002011-08-18T08:18:11.283-04:00BTW, this is why the moon has so much oxygen fixed...BTW, this is why the moon has so much oxygen fixed in its rocks (well, really oxides like SiO2); if you could (via either a chemical or a physical process) release the oxygen atoms you could of course use such for a moon colony's oxygen supply.Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-87700273570348235182011-08-18T08:12:03.237-04:002011-08-18T08:12:03.237-04:00That life possibly exists on those planets obvious...That life possibly exists on those planets obviously; a planet can only sustain large amounts of oxygen in its atmosphere via biological processes (oxygen otherwise becomes fixed in rocks, etc.). The Earth would lose oxygen in its atmosphere and it would slowly dissipate to a very low concentration if it were not for the life that exists on it. So oxygen is clue #1 that said planet may have life. <br /><br />You're not going to get regular trips back and forth via the state; you're going to get a couple of one off missions at best (in the mean time the government will crowd out legally or otherwise folks who want to privately go there).Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-63928993021211990012011-08-18T08:05:27.073-04:002011-08-18T08:05:27.073-04:00Not that I disagree we should be collecting inform...Not that I disagree we should be collecting information on other planets, but what exactly does finding out about an oxygen-bearing planet do for you? Interstellar travel seems a long way off, even for me and I'm relatively optimistic and resistant to writing off near-future technological leaps. We have the technology to get to Mars right now. Anyone who can anticipate a technological leap enabling interstellar travel should easily be able to anticipate a technological leap enabling permanent Martian colonization.<br /><br />Indeed - regular trips back and forth to Mars are likely to foster innovation in space-faring technology and habitation that will be crucial to interstellar travel.Daniel Kuehnhttp://www.factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-80985609998084710102011-08-18T08:01:30.398-04:002011-08-18T08:01:30.398-04:00Daniel,
I stand by my case; it complicates the ta...Daniel,<br /><br />I stand by my case; it complicates the tax code (and will probably lead to more arbitrage of such) and looks like protectionism to me.Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-5985870154928047852011-08-18T08:00:12.544-04:002011-08-18T08:00:12.544-04:00As for going to Mars, I'm skeptical. For gove...As for going to Mars, I'm skeptical. For governments it is a prestige thing at best, and that wears thin awfully fast with publics. <br /><br />If you're going to fund space research via the government why not just spend modest amounts on looking for oxygen-bearing planets?Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-37121876295758883822011-08-18T07:54:18.997-04:002011-08-18T07:54:18.997-04:00As for "complicating the tax code", I...As for "complicating the tax code", I'd agree with you in most cases but disagree in this case.<br /><br />When you're taxing labor income (either through an income or a payroll tax) you are intervening in the labor market. Most of us think this is a reasonable intervention to raise revenue for the government (you may not - that's immaterial to my point and doesn't need to be discussed here). So I think it's reasonable to design a labor income tax that impacts the labor market in a way that benefits society.<br /><br />That means:<br /><br />1. If we think the labor market doesn't achieve basic levels of equality we want as a society, it is reasonable to make a progressive income tax (there are other arguments for a progressive income tax that have nothing to do with concerns about equality, of course).<br /><br />2. If we want to change the way the income tax impacts labor supply, we can have supply side adjustments like the EITC.<br /><br />3. If we want to cahnge the way the income tax impacts labor demand, we can have demand side adjustments, like these job creation tax credits.<br /><br />To me, EITCs, tax brackets, and job creation credits are all tweaks to an labor market tax that ensure if we raise money through the labor market we make the implicit distortions to that market in a way that we want to make them. So I don't consider these things to be bad instances of "complicating the tax code". Taxes distort markets. If we're going to distort markets we ought to distort it in a smart way. Labor market related credits and complications seem fine to me for a labor market tax.<br /><br />A much less tenable complication of the tax code for me is when you load up all kinds of other credits that have nothing to do with the market you're taxing. So I'm not unsympathetic to the spirit of your point, but I think you apply it in the wrong way. If we're going to introduce a distortionary tax on the labor market, we ought to have a free hand to design that distortion in the way we want to - both on the labor demand and the labor supply side. Mortgage interest deductions, green energy credits, education credits, child care credits, etc. etc. are quite different from things like the EITC or a job creation tax credit.Daniel Kuehnhttp://www.factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-5547759041569848522011-08-18T07:50:55.515-04:002011-08-18T07:50:55.515-04:00As for the ... ?
Hiring anyone within the borders...As for the ... ?<br /><br />Hiring anyone within the borders of the U.S. as long as they have proper documentation. I assume that is what you mean. It is just another "Buy American" type program and quite flagrant and reductionist in its protectionism.Gary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-79201296712643559972011-08-18T07:41:40.573-04:002011-08-18T07:41:40.573-04:00Of course it's not new - if it were new I woul...Of course it's not new - if it were new I wouldn't have been able to do an evaluation of one state's program!<br /><br />It hasn't been used at the federal level for several years now, though. There have been several federal programs in the past. To be clear, though, this isn't a "tax credit for hiring the unemployed" - it's a tax credit for hiring anyone. And research shows there's a big distinction between those two approaches.<br /><br />McArdle's analysis (the portion that I read quickly through) in your link is a good standard application of basic comparative statics to taxes.<br /><br />As for theDaniel Kuehnhttp://www.factsandotherstubbornthings.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740670447258719504.post-49305569626703949292011-08-18T07:31:10.841-04:002011-08-18T07:31:10.841-04:00McArdle has an MBA from Booth.
So Obama proposes ...McArdle has an MBA from Booth.<br /><br />So Obama proposes adding greater complexity to the tax code? Let's all get behind that! Anyway, tax credits for hiring the unemployed isn't new (there are plenty of "targeted" tax credits for that sort of thing right now - hiring people who fled NOLA after Katrina for example). <br /><br />Speaking of McArdle, here's her classic article on tax credits here: http://www.janegalt.net/blog/archives/001419.htmlGary Gunnelshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14463810435943252898noreply@blogger.com