Marshall Sutherland

Sun, 03 Oct 2021 20:49:52 -0400

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^Is Section 230 a Problem? (with Jeff Kosseff)

Jeff Kosseff exposes the workings of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which has lived mostly in the shadows since its enshrinement in 1996. Because many segments of American society now exist largely online, Kosseff argues that we need to understand and pay attention to what Section 230 really means and how it affects what we like, share, and comment upon every day.

podcast Internet law

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 07:57:28 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^Michael Heller and James Salzman on Mine! - Econlib

Law professors Michael Heller and James Salzman talk about their book, Mine! with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Heller and Salzman argue that ownership is trickier and more complicated than it looks. While we tend to think of something as either mine or not mine, there's often ambiguity and a continuum about who owns what. Salzman and Heller explore a wide and surprising range of property rights from everyday life. The conversation includes a discussion of the insights of Ronald Coase on the assignment of property rights when rights conflict.

podcast law

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 07:59:53 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

The authors contend that claims of ownership comes down to 6 stories we tell:

Michael Heller: Yeah. This is really the contribution that we can make to your economics listeners, who think of mine, often, as an on/off switch. And what we do in the book is--and each of the chapters takes one of these--is laid out the six simple stories.

So, attachment is: My home is my castle. Like, what's attached to that deed of paper? How much resource control do you have when you say, 'I control this two dimensional plane?' What else do I get? Attachment.

First in Time. First come, first served. This is how kids decide who gets the swing on the playground, that's how geosynchronous satellites are--space is claimed in orbit. It's used all the time. Who gets first. Firstborn son, historically, for inheritance. So, First in Time is the second one.

Possession. Possession is nine tenths of the law. It's mine because I'm holding on to it. That's the parking chair example, right? Possession is this very powerful language that we all speak, but we don't realize that we're speaking all day long, every day.

So, attachment, first, and possession are three.

Labor is the fourth. It's mine because I worked for it. You reap what you sow. This one is the basis for our intuitions about intellectual property, about patents, about copyrights, why we reward those that--innovative effort. It's the emotional feeling behind it: It's mine because I worked for it.

The fifth one is self-ownership. It's mine because it comes from my body. So, your genetic data, why is that yours? Does it belong to you or the gene company?

And the sixth and final one is family. Birth and death, marriage and divorce, those are the moments when, really, a lot of wealth in our country moves around. So, there's a notion that the meek shall inherit the earth, but the reality under American law is that the meek actually get very little.

So, that's it. Attachment, First, and Possession--that was the airline seat. Labor, Self-Ownership, and Family.

That's the only stories that people use and it's all the stories that people use to claim every resource in the world.

Sat, 14 Aug 2021 12:01:32 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

My favorite podcast with my favorite guest talking about one of my favorite topics.

#^Michael Munger on Free Markets - Econlib

Author and economist Michael Munger of Duke University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the virtues--and the flaws--of free markets. Munger says the best argument for a free market approach is not that it's perfect but that it's better than anything else we've been able to come up with over the centuries. Better at bringing people out of poverty, better at promoting wealth creation, and better at pushing up the standard of living for most of the people, most of the time. Topics include what exactly is a free market, why specialization is so important, the case for case-by-case intervention, and the challenge of picking the prettiest pig.

podcast economics free markets

Fri, 13 Aug 2021 21:17:59 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

In the early days of covid, when the first shortages started, I think I said something about how Just-In-Time manufacturing was going to take a big hit in this new world. Apparently the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal agreed. But, Gene and Steve are here to tell us why we are wrong. At least wrong when JIT is done well.

#^The Idealcast | Episode 20

Exploring COVID-19 and Just-In-Time Supply Chains, Chaos Engineering, and the Soviet Centrally Planned Economy

In this episode of The Idealcast, Gene Kim speaks with Dr. Steven Spear on his critiques of several articles from the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal, and their characterization of the impact of Just-In-Time (JIT) supply chains and the widespread shortages caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. While the unprecedented health crisis created a widespread shortage of almost everythingâ€”from toilet paper to semiconductor chips to raw materials vital for medical materialsâ€”with results that impacted everyday life on a global scale, Dr. Spear makes the claim that JIT lessened the severity of shortages, as opposed to causing them.

The discussion is informed by Dr. Spearâ€™s work on accelerating learning dynamics within organizations and the Toyota Production System, and from his time observing and working directly with a tier-one Toyota supplier. Kim and Dr. Spear dive deep into supply chain dynamics and why they are important to society. The discussion delves into how JIT manufacturing not only revolutionized manufacturing but also the entire manufacturing supply chain and how it increased (not decreased) resilience, productivity, efficiency, and prosperity.

They also explore the structure and dynamics of these JIT supply chains, as well as the similarities of the famous Netflix Chaos Monkey, famous for helping Netflix build resilient services that can survive even widespread cloud outages and the larger, emerging field of Chaos Engineers (arguably, a subset of resilience engineering).

Additionally, they explore Toyotaâ€™s manufacturing and how its history helped it become one of the least impacted by the semiconductor shortages. They follow that with an examination of the JITâ€™s antithesis and how itâ€™s similar to the dynamics found in the Sovietâ€™s centrally planned economy, particularly with its IT structure and dynamic results. Kim and Dr. Spear tie these things into the three basic tools of finance: net present value, option theory, and portfolio diversification.

podcast

Sat, 14 Aug 2021 10:19:53 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

I was only seeing things as a retail customer. A question that wasn't asked was "how many firms are doing JIT right?" It could very well be that covid really was a disaster to "JIT, as practiced by most."

This discussion greatly expanded my previous simplistic view of JIT. Doing it well is deep problem to solve. For my profession, the chaos engineering part was much more relevant. I've never worked in an environment with anything close to the level of resiliency they talk about. Then again, I've never worked in an environment that required that level of resiliency.

Sat, 14 Aug 2021 11:52:48 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

Toyota is the poster child for JIT done right. The podcast discusses how after the Fukushima accident and the manufacturing disruption it caused, Toyota determined the 500 (out of 10s of 1000's) parts across its entire inventory that it needed to maintain an inventory of. So, while most of the auto industry is struggling with a chip shortage, Toyota is not because it had determined that those were items that they should maintain a deep inventory of.

Sun, 08 Aug 2021 13:31:33 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^Fahrenheit 451

Peter Suderman and Patrick Eddington return to the podcast to discuss another bookâ€â€‹turnedâ€â€‹abysmal movie that has been banned, blamed, and lit aflame; Fahrenheit 451.

Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel that was written by Ray Bradbury and turned into a film in 1966 and 2018. Itâ€™s a story about Guy Montag, a fireman, whose job it is to actually destroy illegal belongings, like books. Montag never questioned his job until he met his neighbor, Clarisse, who tells him about the past where everyone saw the world and its endless possibility through books.

podcast free speech cancel culture

Sat, 24 Jul 2021 13:46:21 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^Where College Students Stand

Clay Routledge & John Bitzan join the podcast to discuss how American college students feel about voicing their opinions.

Clay Routledge and John Bitzan conducted a survey of college students to assess their perception of viewpoint diversity and campus freedom; human progress and beliefs about the future; and student attitudes toward entrepreneurship, capitalism and socialism, and how college is influencing their views.

You might find their survey results of interest even if you don't want to listen to the podcast episode.

One thing I found interesting is that they asked students to choose a definition of capitalism (either a free market definition or a crony definition) and of socialism (either a central planning definition or a redistributive and active government definition). The answers to subsequent questions are broken out according to which definitions they chose. So, for example, whether they have a positive view of either capitalism or socialism depended greatly on which definition of the term they had chosen.

podcast politics economics

Tue, 20 Jul 2021 21:41:10 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

I just started listening to this tonight. While they may say something that convinces you of which theory is right, the intro strongly hints that neither of them is convinced either way by the current evidence (or lack thereof).

#^#169 - Katherine Eban: COVID-19 Lab Leak: Examining all sides of the debate and discussing barriers to a full investigation - Peter Attia

â€œThere is no smoking gun per se. What there is is smoke coming out of a lot of windows. ... There is enough smoke coming out of enough windows that we cannot take the lab leak hypothesis off the table, and so for me, the most credible people on this, they're not saying it was a lab leak. What they're saying is, â€˜Why can't we have a full investigation?â€™â€Â â€”Katherine Eban

Katherine Eban is an award-winning investigative journalist who previously appeared on The Drive to discuss the widespread fraud in the generic drug industry. In this episode, she discusses the content of her recent Vanity Fair article, which examined the evidence for the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted from a virus lab escape as opposed to a natural virus that came from an animal host. Katherine and Peter walk through the evidence for both theories as well as discuss the long and troubling history of dangerous lab leaks and safety concerns about the Wuhan Institute of Virology. They also talk about the controversy surrounding gain-of-function research and its funding by the US government. Finally, they conclude with a discussion on the likelihood of definitively establishing the origins of the virus given the Chinese governmentâ€™s lack of cooperation and highlight the fact that the many barriers to performing a full investigation may be the most troubling aspect of the controversy. This episode was originally recorded on July 6, 2021.

podcast covid-19

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 12:39:00 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

In the end, their basic conclusion was that there is currently insufficient evidence to either confirm or eliminate either hypothesis. I suppose I should amend that to say "available evidence", as there is much evidence that could point either way that is not being shared.

Wed, 14 Jul 2021 17:44:03 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

Peter Attia and Hugh Jackman are friends. This is more of a personal discussion than an interview. I won't say that Hugh asks Peter as many questions as Peter asks Hugh, but he does ask a lot.

#^#168 - Hugh Jackman: Reflections on acting, identity, personal transformation, and the significance of being Wolverine - Peter Attia

Hugh Jackman is an award-winning actor and an overall fascinating and introspective individual. In this episode, Hugh reflects upon his acting career, including how he navigated many tough decisions that led to important professional turning points for him. Peter and Hugh have an intimate discussion related to handling professional criticism, self-identity, spirituality, raising kids, and the role that past trauma often plays in extremely driven individuals. Hugh gives the inside scoop on some of his most well-known character roles and explains how he finds the energy to consistently perform. Finally, they tie the conversation together with a discussion on the importance of physical and mental health and wellbeing.

podcast

Wed, 14 Jul 2021 17:36:30 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^Don Boudreaux on the Pandemic - Econlib

Economist Don Boudreaux of George Mason University talks about the pandemic with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Boudreaux argues that a perfect storm of factors created a huge overreaction, including unnecessary lockdowns that accomplished little at a very high cost in physical and emotional health. Instead, Boudreaux argues, we should have focused attention on the population most at risk of dying from COVID--the elderly and especially the elderly with co-morbidities. The conversation includes a discussion of externalities and the insights of Ronald Coase applied to the policies during the pandemic.

podcast covid-19

Sun, 11 Jul 2021 13:22:41 -0400

Marshall Sutherland

dwatney@hub.farthinghalearms.com

#^The Ideas of Thomas Sowell (with Jason Riley)

Jason Riley describes Thomas Sowell as one of the great social theorists of our age. In Sowellâ€™s career, spanning more than a half century, he has written over thirty books, covering topics from economic history and social inequality to political theory, race, and culture.

podcast