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Joe Stiglitz comes forward with a set of sound arguments for the fact that prizes are much better than patents in medical research (and not only). Greg Mankiw wonders (and he’s got a big point there…) how to support those prizes other than via higher tax rates (I don’t think the competence of the prize committee is a problem…).
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two new very interesting econ journals: first, the Journal of Human Capital (with an absolutely impressive board of editors and associate editors) and the Economics Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (now this is really going to be an experiment!). Both links via Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution.
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some interesting points on what economists should learn from Sociology (from a sociologist, I presume). However, except the first point, the other two (legitimate 5-6 years ago, perhaps) are seriously tackled on a pretty large scale in Economics, so I am afraid there is some asymmetry of information here (at best…).
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Viacom formally declared war on YouTube (and asks for $1 billion damages for copyright infringement). As a total YouTube fan, I hope Viacom (whose clips would not be viewed anyway if YouTube users would not pirate them…) goes bankcrupt after this. The Economist sees this war as merely a continuation of the negotiations (Google- Viacom) by other means. Let’s see.
