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Sunday Reads...

Greg McNeilly

Updated: 7 days ago

 

An irregular round up of interesting reads.  Most of these made me go "hmmmmm," none of them imply concurrence. 

  • Emotional well-being & Academic Achievement somewhat inversely correlated amongst the rising generation, study here.

  • False-start.  More evidence that "head start" programs have no data-backed value, here.   The data-set debunking the value of "Head Start" programs is nearly unassailable.  The next question should be: Why do they fail?

  • Divinely-imbued regimes tend to be more authoritative according to this study.  Except the worldwide cartel of communism, history concurs. 

  • Just thinking about God makes people better, per this study

  • Evolution is selecting more conservatives for the future of the human race, and deselecting liberals per this study

  • Want to win an election?  Go door-to-door.  For candidates in a two-person race it provides a +6% advantage per this data

  • Fascinating research on the significant American trend of people moving from low economic freedom towards higher economic freedom locales, here

  • Apparently, another unintended consequence of WARN Act regulations is lower innovation in America, according to this research. Thanks Washington, D.C.

  • M&A gets a lot of negative press.  Understandably.  And I do not like their short(er) term thinking.  But guess who benefits from efficiency in the market?  You and I.  The consumer gets a lift from M&A activity per this study

  • 338 and growing is the number of retracted "COVID-19" "studies."  What is not retracted are the millions of GRPs shaping public perceptions and policy mandates they supported. Hmmmm. Trust the science or Trust the scientist? 

  • More bad news for corporate cronyism  - the cost to taxpayers is even more for less per this research.

  • Counter-narrative for CNN & MSNBC viewers, here

  • You can't make this up!   What firms have the highest ESG scores?  SIN firms.  Fitting.  Research here

  • Yup.  Another study confirms the unchanging nature of human nature:  Young loose wars, the middle-aged win them, the old settle and create peace. Study here

  • Stop the presses!  Facts demonstrate that the more you raise taxes, the more you guarantee government overspending its revenue base, here

  • Can tax hikes tame inflation?  Hiking personal taxes does, but raising corporate taxes does not.

  • An interesting take on who benefits from corporate income tax cuts is noted here

  • Research suggests a negative impact on innovation - at a macro level - due to the prevalence of Non-competes. 

  • Mandatory minimum wage hikes suppress firms' innovation and tech adoption, noted here

  • More bad news for the mandatory minimum wage, it weakens charitable giving in a community, as observed here

  • Can the Billboard Top 100 predict the state of the economy?

  • Do Social Media users have higher inflammation markers?  Yup

  • Searching for a bright economic future?  Move to where there are more pro-market institutions, this data suggests.

  • What is worse than a powerful Administrative State?  Apparently a partisan one. 

  • Productivity, where incentives exist, cannot be artificially curtailed apparently

  • The power of positive thinking relearned - how you think about stress impacts how it affects you, this data suggests. 

  • Charting the inflation of drink, here

Graph of alcohol inflation
  • The failure of US protectionism. 

  • Do we have a hemispheric overpopulation of hippos?

  • China continues its failed family policies.  

  • Revisiting the great Adam Smith, here

  • US Consumers are spending less... a lot less. 

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