Commentary | LobbySeven

Volume 16: Game Theory and the Nuclear Age: Part II

Somehow – and sometimes despite our best efforts – there was no nuclear holocaust. This is the story of how we avoided it and of whether we’

To Avik Roy: No Longer On My List of Reasonable Conservatives

The big reveal: it is “theoretically possible” that this bill is good for healthcare. His words. I guess it’s theoretically possible that I

Why We Make Laws: Policy and Implementation and Trumpcare

Why, it’s almost as if giving tax cuts to the richest amongst us is the only real goal of this “health care bill.”

Not-Failing-Obamacare: One Chart

There does not appear to be anything innate to Obamacare, sans GOP sabotage, which would prevent individual insurance markets from surviving

In Which I Pick a Fight with the Cato Institute

Are "other costs" significant enough to offset government insurance programs significant advantage in direct medical spending.

Volume 15: Gerrymandering

Politics is a game of power, those who have it and those who want it. But we can hope that this power is used, at least occasionally, to ful

Waking up this morning, June 6th, something made myself ask the question: how many are still alive who landed in Normandy on D-Day? Unfortunately, no records are kept in a format that will help us to answer that question. But this Quora post uses demographics to arrive at around 5,000 American veterans; British and Canadian (and a few other allies) made up about half of the landing force, implying around 10,000 in total, which seems reasonable. But given their ages - mostly mid-nineties - we must unfortunately expect that this number will decrease greatly in the next few years. Every five years, veterans and world dignitaries meet in Normandy for a reunion. The 75th is likely to be the last

Schrödinger’s Rates: Insurance Markets in the World of Trump

In quantum mechanics, a particle only takes on a property when it is observed. Electrons have spin, either up or down. These are distinct states – there is no middle ground. However, until the spin of the electron is observed, it does not behave as if it is actually in either state. Rather, it behaves as if it was in a strange mix of the two states put together. This is the thought experiment of Schrödinger’s Cat; we can theoretically construct a cat that is both alive and dead – two distinct universes, superimposed, until you make your observation. This report from Pennsylvania’s Insurance Commissioner made me think about quantum states. In case you don’t want to read the report, here is th

Volume 24: The 2018 Election, Who Projected It Best?

The Book Launch Party

Volume 23: 1918, An Alternative History