For South Africans interested in public economics or basic infrastructure, a new ERSA paper: ersawps.org/index.php/wo...

This is about to be released: mitpress.mit.edu/978026205203...

Let SA lead the way. theconversation.com/a-basic-inco...

Next: Then I needed my New Zealand residence e-visa inscribed in it. NZ won that battle: it took 3 days. Does anyone know of any private company with service standards like these?

Governments can run efficient services. My Canadian passport had filled. I went to the Consulate in Dublin. Documents I submitted had to go to the Embassy in London for processing. My new passport arrived by registered post in Cork less than a week later. (See next.)

A new paper here: rdcu.be/eSfa0 . Unfortunately it's not open access, because Springer's annual quota under the agreements with both Ireland and South Africa has filled. (It seems we're now incentivised to try to time papers to appear in January, which is stupid.)

... we need much more attention to the problem of how to control the increased capacity that malicious or ethically oblivious human interests will have to manipulate and deceive members of other species.

Share This Article insideclimatenews.org/news/2910202... Yes, establishment of inter-species bandwidth should galvanise efforts to broaden legal protections. However, ... [see next post]

I strongly recommend the book below. Inspired writing about a vision for practical ecology, with lots of good science woven in. www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/rob-d...

The latest Ross & Stirling on Conditional Game Theory 2.0: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A nice summary by GSU journalists on the new Harrison, Ross, & Swarthout paper in Journal of Political Economy: news.gsu.edu/2025/09/24/n...

Calling on South Africans to speak up to stop something very bad from happening: www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/2...

Fair play to Sally Rooney for this, brave and to the point www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

As always, the biggest threat isn’t artificial superintelligence, it’s natural human stupidity/greed/laziness.

Here's a new paper that applies Walter Veit's framework for studying non-human animal (or for that matter, human) consciousness to a case study. The case study is of course (given that it's me) elephants. doi.org/10.1177/1059...

This is really bizarre

Harvard has a backbone after all!! Alan Garber sent a letter to the Harvard community about their resistance to Trump. It comes a few weeks after a (cowardly) one about working with the federal govt to "fight anti-semitism on campus". New plan is to protect academic freedom

Carney: The system of global trade anchored on the United States.. is over. Our old relationship of steadily deepening integration with the United States is over. The 80 year period when the United States embraced the mantle of economic leadership… is over.

Bonobos may combine words in ways previously thought unique to humans

Here are three links to a 30-minute Pagecast interview on themes from The Gambling Animal: Spotify – open.spotify.com/show/1MKyRj7... Apple Podcast – podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/p... YouTube - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-xB...

This piece from @tressiemcphd.bsky.social starts with a bang and just gets better and better. Gift link.

NIH has rescinded its scientific integrity policy. Hard to see this as anything other than clearing the way for shoddy research on things like vaccines. Regardless of the rationale, it's bad news for public health. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

I missed the news, 2 weeks ago, that Ed Leamer died. Eish. Now my favourite living economist is evidently ... somebody else. newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/in-m...

The US government has been turned over to a group of extraordinarily ignorant people, and they are working to destroy science in this country. Cutting over half the NSF budget would save < 0.1% of the federal budget, but do incalculable harm. Simply heartbreaking. arstechnica.com/science/2025...

Sad to hear that that the University of New South Wales has decided not to renew the honorary, unpaid associate professor position of Michael Mathews, who has been producing the HPS&ST Newsletter for many years. Here's the latest installment of this great resource: www.hpsst.com/uploads/6/2/...

Check out this fascinating @newscientist.com review for economists Glen Harrison and @don-rosseconomist.bsky.social's revolutionary insight into behavioural and evolutionary science, #TheGamblingAnimal.

Of course it’s a coup. Miss the obvious, lose your republic. open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...

FBI Uncovers Al-Qaeda Plot To Just Sit Back And Enjoy Collapse Of United States

Btw: if you’re interested in quality journalism from (South) Africa, @thecontinent.org and @dailymaverick.co.za are both on Bluesky! Go follow them and read their content - both are excellent!

I don't get the sense that U.S. journalists have a good sense of who to talk to when basic government functions are being ripped out. Gutting the administrative state is not a standard beat. A short thread with some starter suggestions for who to read/talk to. Please - people add more in replies!

A paper by Glenn W. Harrison, Don Ross, & J. Todd Swarthout, entitled "Gender, Confidence, and the Mismeasure of Intelligence, Competitiveness and Literacy" has been accepted by the Journal of Political Economy. The Working Paper version is here: cear.gsu.edu/wp-2021-01-g...

Hooked on the recent stream of offerings by Alina Bzhezhinska & Tony Kofi - a fresh and smart sound from true musical partners. (Kofi isn't only on the album co-credited to his name - he's also part of the HipHarp Collective.) My wife and I saw them in an ideal venue in Cork last year - heaven.

Here's the link to the forthcoming event for which I previously posted an ad: Title: The Gambling Animal: Humanity’s Evolutionary Winning Streak – and How We Risk It All Speaker: Don Ross Date: January 20, 2025, 14:00 (Helsinki time, EET) Location: Online via Zoom: helsinki.zoom.us/j/6460870068...

This is, or should be, a big deal -- Ann Telnaes, an absolute legend, quitting WaPo due to censorship of a cartoon criticizing billionaires anntelnaes.substack.com/p/why-im-qui...

I just read, and warmly recommend, this book. It was published in 2022, but the 2023 UK paperback includes a substantial and worthwhile afterword written that year. The version sold on US Amazon gives Sept 2023 as the date, so probably has the afterword too.

Resignation of the Journal of Human Evolution Editorial Board: We are saddened to announce the resignations of The Joint Editors-in-Chief, all Emeritus Editors retired or active in the field, and all but one Associate Editor. Press release below.

The long shortlist for the 2024 Enlightened Economist book of the year www.enlightenmenteconomics.com/blog/index.p... (NB my entirely arbitrary and personal choice)

An online event in January:

By a range of sensible sabermetric measures, he was within the top 15-20 of all time. And who was ever more fun to watch (well, Willie, but otherwise ... )? www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/s...

My new work-focused website is live: don-ross.com

Coming at the end of January, THE GAMBLING ANIMAL by Glenn Harrison & Don Ross: www.amazon.co.uk/Gambling-Ani...