Longform links: expensive promises

Thursdays are all about longform links on Abnormal Returns. Wherever possible, free links for premium sites are used. You can check out last week’s linkfest including a look at how close we are to getting humanoid robots. Quote of the Day "Social Security’s shortfalls are not driven by greedy politicians or immigrants but rather by a system that promised generous benefits to a very large generation that did not have enough children to finance all of these expensive promises." (Jessica Reidl) Books - An excerpt from “Little Blue Dot: How GPS Shaped the Modern World" by Katherine Dunn. (washingtonpost.com) - Tyler Cowen talks with Joel Mokyr, author of "Two Paths to Prosperity: Culture and Institutions in Europe and China, 1000–2000." (conversationswithtyler.com) - An excerpt from "A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness" by Michael Pollan. (laphamsquarterly.org) - A Q&A with Jake Johnson author of "Unstaged Grief: Musicals and Mourning in Midcentury America." (daily.jstor.org) AI - Cameron Armstrong, "The frontier labs increasingly seek the privilege and power of a utility without accepting the public obligations that come along with it." (wysr.xyz) - What brings the AI build out to a halt? (groundbrkr.com) Medicine - Is AI going to take over the job of writing doctor's notes? (nytimes.com) - On the history of the random controlled trial and why big data is the modern equivalent. (asteriskmag.substack.com) Environment - Global warming is just one sign of climate change. (bloomberg.com) - Why carbon capture won't work at scale. (projects.propublica.org) - Who bears the costs of higher commercial property insurance? (brookings.edu) Europe - How Europe grew tired of placating Trump. (wsj.com) - Europe now recognizes that it needs to handle its own defense. (giftarticle.ft.com) Society - It's getting harder (and more expensive) to have fun in America. (bloomberg.com) - Costco's ($COST) $1.50 hot dog is still the best deal in America. (theringer.com) History - How England in the 1860s learned to live without American cotton. (engelsbergideas.com) - How Amsterdam invented the fire department. (worksinprogress.co) Longreads - An in-depth look at how a financial scam worked. (wsj.com) - Is it harder today for a company to stay 'invisible'? (colossus.com) - Why the U.S. still can't make nitrile gloves. (bloomberg.com) - Canadian PM Mark Carney has been thrust into a global role he didn't anticipate. (wsj.com) - The food truck mafia around the National Mall is brutal. (washingtonian.com) - A history of the screwworm. (construction-physics.com) - New generations are becoming less literate. (theatlantic.com)