by demure

It's back, folks!

Appetizers

A Weighting Game: Pacific trade talks expose the limits of economic modelling - The Economist

[M]ost economists use what is known as computable general equilibrium (CGE) analysis. CGE models are built on top of a database that seeks to describe economies in full, factoring in incomes, profits and more. Researchers line things up so that the model yields the same output as a real benchmark year. Once that is achieved, they “shock” the model, adjusting trade barriers to see how outcomes shift, both immediately and over time.

Harper's weekly review

Financial regulators in Britain and the United States fined Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, the Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, and Bank of America nearly $6 billion after it was discovered that bankers conspired to set foreign-exchange rates in invitation-only online chat groups they named “the Cartel” and “the Mafia.”

First

Wave Goodbye: Following John Muir's footsteps through California's high country - Postcard, Harper's Magazine

... to get a better sense of the dearth of snowpack on Shasta’s lower slopes, I drove a semicircular route on a maze of service roads on the mountain’s eastern side. I passed heaps of cement-colored debris piled up along Mud Creek, remnants of last September’s flood from the Konwatikon Glacier on Shasta’s southern flank, which sent a slurry of pale ash and huge boulders careening down the drainage. The pavement soon gave way to volcanic scoria, but the road remained dry. I continued upward, sure deep drifts would eventually block my progress. But for mile after mile the road was a Mars-like red, crunching satisfyingly under the tires of my Volkswagen.

Second

Consciousness Began When the Gods Stopped Speaking - Nautilus

In the beginning of the book, Jaynes asks, “This consciousness that is myself of selves, that is everything, and yet nothing at all—what is it? And where did it come from? And why?”

Dessert

Review: San Andreas - The New York Times

Coffee

SMBC 3752