Origins of the Sicilian Mafia: The Market for Lemons cambridge.org

The main hypothesis is that the growth and consolidation of the Sicilian mafia is strongly associated with an exogenous shock in the demand for lemons after 1800.

The lifespans of ancient civilisations bbc.com

In the graphic below, the University of Cambridge’s Luke Kemp compiled a list of civilisations to compare how long they lasted.

Chiedo spiegazioni mantellini.it

Di una cosa sarei invece abbastanza certo. Che i tempi siano cambiati. Che l’aria che si respira in questo Paese non sia la stessa di qualche anno fa. E che tutto questo ci dovrebbe suggerire maggior cautela e maggiore attivismo. Conterà la memoria (qui l’ultimi thread di Johannes Buckler sui partigiani uccisi a Forlì e appesi di fronte al balcone di Salvini), conterà la capacità di non lasciare nulla di intentato. Di chiedere spiegazioni. Di domandare chiarimenti.

Behind the Headlines (NHS) nhs.uk

Your guide to the science that makes the news

What "austerity"? econlog.econlib.org

I have an alternative explanation. Progressivism leads to a virtually infinite number of "unmet needs" Patch one hole (say health care) and lots more will pop up, such child care, or free college education. Patch those holes, and still more unmet needs will pop up, such as housing and high speed rail. Combine that with the inefficiency of big government, as well as all the problems identified by public choice models (i.e. special interest groups), and you have a recipe for continual disappointment.

I was Jordan Peterson’s strongest supporter. Now I think he’s dangerous thestar.com

He was a preacher more than a teacher.

Scenes Unseen: The Summer of ’78 nytimes.com

Long-forgotten pictures capture escape and discovery in the city’s parks.

Work habits while traveling marginalrevolution.com

My biggest piece of advice is simply to get something written every day.  No matter what, whether you are traveling or not.  No matter where you are or what you are otherwise doing.  The enemy of academic or writing productivity is “days spent doing nothing,” not “I didn’t get enough written today.”

The distribution of cities, then and now marginalrevolution.com

In today’s developed countries, cities are thus scattered across historically important agricultural areas; as a result, there is a relatively higher degree of spatial equality in the distribution of resources within these countries.  By contrast, in today’s developing countries, cities are concentrated more on the coast where transport conditions, compared to agricultural suitability, are more favorable.