Notices by Kyle Montanio (fantasticaleconomics@geekdom.social)

There is evidence the #PalisadeFire ravaging LA is a re-ignition of a New Years fire caused by fireworks.

What may be the most damaging natural disaster in US history (measured in inflation-adjusted dollars, as if that's a true measure of damage) was likely caused by our desire to scare dogs with colorful sky-bombs.

It's long-past time we find more sustainable ways to celebrate than explosions that contribute to, and increase damage in, our ever-warming world.

#ClimateChange

Yes, an easily downloadable data set of all the Tesla fatalities would make a great addition to my intro to stats class, why do you ask?

https://www.tesladeaths.com/

#TeachEcon

I know most of us are utterly unshocked by Zuckerberg's hard right turn to suck up to Trump. Meta, nor anything his hand touches, are known for having moral fiber woven in.

But for those who are a tad surprised, it is worth revisiting the Behind the Bastards podcast on the creep that is Mark Zuckerberg.

Is he the worst person in the 21st century? I'm not so sure. The competition is stiff, but he's making a solid case for himself.

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-one-mark-zuckerberg-the-worst-30417725/

#politics

@mekkaokereke

Fully agree. One issue we need overcome with controlled burns is liability. When groups, including governments, engage in controlled burns, they are often financially responsible for any damages that occur.

Even though these damages are orders of magnitude less than what we see without action, the personal costs of this liability can be wildly prohibative.

I think this was discussed in Robin Wall Kimmerer's "Braiding Sweetgrass" but I may be misremembering.

In Kim Stanley Robinson's solarpunk-adjacent book "The Ministry for the Future," a major natural disaster in LA was a turning point for the world to take significant action against #ClimateChange.

Something about disaster striking the heart of Hollywood makes it real, and iconic, and shows it impacts even the most powerful.

I am truly saddened by the Palisades fires, and wish everyone affected the best for them and their loved ones.

I also hope we can use this as a wakeup call to take action.

Glad to see the billionaires agree...

"Never has it been easier to spread misinformation at scale — with less concern about media meaningfully policing it."

"Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are of one mind. The most powerful global information platforms should be governed by free speech — and the people — not by the platforms themselves.

Both concluded it's too hard, too inherently biased, and too restrictive to put limits on speech. It's also cheaper to stop trying..."

https://www.axios.com/2025/01/07/meta-x-misinformation-fact-checking-community-notes

Reasons to switch from GoodReads to The StoryGraph to track your reading journey:

1. Divest from the Amazon/Bezos monstrosity.
2. Support a Black-owned business.
3. Get better data about your reading (you can even rank books more precisely, like giving 4.25 stars!).
4. All your GoodRead info can be easily imported, so switching is painless.

Check it out for a better 2025! https://thestorygraph.com

#AmReading #Books #Reading

A common critique of communism, of socialism, of social saftey nets in general is a fear of disincentivize work, but what if that is exactly what we want?

We could design a society where we worked less, produced less, consumed less, which would be more sustainable with us living more satisfying lives.

#degrowth #economics

Some may disparage me for procrastinating when they hear I haven't bought a single Christmas gift yet. But it's not procrastination, it's anti-consumerism.

I'm proud to say this is the first Christmas where I've successfully bought nothing for everyone on my list.

My dog walks me by a mall most days, and the lines of cars and rushed, angry shoppers I see these days makes me appreciate this and experience glee to an almost indescribably high degree.

#degrowth

We need to reduce our energy use, not just support a transition to greenER power. The rise of renewables hasn't stopped us from setting this wirld-burning record.

"The world's appetite for coal is growing more slowly these days but still setting fresh records, new International Energy Agency data shows."

" It's the most CO2-emitting fuel. The chart above is one reason why Paris Agreement climate goals are fast slipping out of reach."

#ClimateChange #Degrowth

https://www.axios.com/2024/12/18/coal-use-keeps-setting-new-world-records

@pluralistic

Great piece, per usual.

"Project 2025 isn't just a guide to the masturbatory fantasies of the worst people in American politics–far more importantly, it is a detailed map of the fracture lines in the GOP coalition, the places where it is liable to split and shatter. This is an important point if you want to do more about Trumpism than run around feeling miserable and scared. If you want to fight, Project 2025 is a guide to the weak spots where an attack will do the most damage."

Anyone still saying Musk made a bad move in buying Twitter clearly aren't paying attention. The 'billions he lost' on it is chump change compared to the power it bought him.

Trump isn't even in the Whitehouse and Musk is dictatoring Congress.

https://www.axios.com/2024/12/19/behind-the-curtain-musks-america

#USPolitics

@Lazarou

When BigOil writes the laws, the only thing left to do is to break things.

As surveillance capitalism grows, our window for being able to break things may be narrowing. I hope folks choose to view this as a call to action rather than give up on our collective futures.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/26/anti-protest-laws-fossil-fuel-lobby

I just came across the FLICC taxonomy for identifying and countering the techniques of science denial. I knew most of these, but some were new to me.

I found the video useful (although 40 minutes long) and the reading easy to skim through. Definitely something I will be using in my classes in the future and think everyone should be aware of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gecDy9wDuCs&list=PL1xbdG-NAkB1fAyNAWErM4uEXyduldiew

https://crankyuncle.com/a-history-of-flicc-the-5-techniques-of-science-denial/

#teaching #TeachEcon @academicchatter

Found an interesting graph with absolutely no relation to current events on Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Life_expectancy_vs_healthcare_spending.jpg

I forget who I learned this from, but it's pretty useful to add Reagan's face right around 1981 to help understand changes in US over time.

#economics #HealthCare

Great piece by JuliusGoat@mastodon.social:

"According to reports, UnitedHealthcare denied more health coverage than any other provider, which made it more profitable, which made it more competitive, which means that it's more and more likely that more and more people will be denied medical care by other providers, and more and more people will be financially ruined...

... profits are the point of our health care system, and this is not controversial or shocking..."

https://www.the-reframe.com/peaceful-solutions/

All this rage against for-profit health insurance is awesome. We clearly see the damages it causes - people literally die - in the name of profit.

But let's not let the anger stop there. The issue isn't in health insurance, it's all insurance.

The only way to "complete" in insurance is to be better than others at denying claims. Insurance can never be provided efficiently, much less equitably, by private industries.

#economics

Bad take Axios. Prosecuting Trump did not place presidents above the law, this is what the GOP has worked decades to achieve. That's the story.

"All the time and effort poured into prosecuting Donald Trump only ended up putting him — and every future president — further above the law."

"By far the most significant outcome from all of those charges was the Supreme Court's ruling that former presidents are immune from prosecution for their 'official acts.'"

https://www.axios.com/2024/11/26/trump-prosecution-supreme-court

#USPolitics

"Conservatives" the world over are... appalling. To reduce declining birthrates in Japan, Conservative Party leader Naoki Hyakuta proposed banning women getting married after 25 and forced hysterectomies at 30.

Not only is this talk horrific and sexist and unfortunately normalized on today's world (in no small part thanks to Trump), it also seems highly ineffective. Talk about not understanding incentives, even a little.

Or, maybe, the cruelty is the point.

https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/global-trends/japanese-lawmaker-naoki-hyakuta-is-facing-severe-backlash-on-his-remarks-on-women-remove-uterus-after-they-turn-30-heres-what-he-said-/articleshow/115250206.cms

#Politics

RFK Jr.: "Hold my raw milk."

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/386215/trump-rfk-jr-vaccines-health-measles-chart