Flavien
@flavienm.bsky.social
“The rest of the nobility found a cheerful acceptance of slavery the smoothest road to wealth and office”. Tacitus, The Annals. Reposts are not endorsements. Opinions my own.
Reposted by Flavien
GPT-5.2 Pro is good enough to check reproducibility & robustness of academic papers across many fields (given the data, can you get the same results? are the statistics brittle?). I wouldn't trust it to automate decisions, but to flag them.
It can't do an independent replication with new data, yet.
It can't do an independent replication with new data, yet.
January 22, 2026 at 10:07 PM
GPT-5.2 Pro is good enough to check reproducibility & robustness of academic papers across many fields (given the data, can you get the same results? are the statistics brittle?). I wouldn't trust it to automate decisions, but to flag them.
It can't do an independent replication with new data, yet.
It can't do an independent replication with new data, yet.
Reposted by Flavien
A big issue for LLMs is they have no ‘memory’. How Claude Code gets round this is very clever - ‘think of the amnesiac main character from the movie Memento’ - as outlined by @emollick.bsky.social
January 11, 2026 at 8:27 PM
A big issue for LLMs is they have no ‘memory’. How Claude Code gets round this is very clever - ‘think of the amnesiac main character from the movie Memento’ - as outlined by @emollick.bsky.social
Reposted by Flavien
International law is not about rewarding virtue or punishing vice.
It exists to restrain power and protect the weak from the strong.
When force replaces rules, sovereignty and legitimacy erode.
2/2
It exists to restrain power and protect the weak from the strong.
When force replaces rules, sovereignty and legitimacy erode.
2/2
January 3, 2026 at 6:31 PM
International law is not about rewarding virtue or punishing vice.
It exists to restrain power and protect the weak from the strong.
When force replaces rules, sovereignty and legitimacy erode.
2/2
It exists to restrain power and protect the weak from the strong.
When force replaces rules, sovereignty and legitimacy erode.
2/2
Reposted by Flavien
the man widely regarded as creator of Korean fried chicken has died www.koreaherald.com/article/1065...
Man who built Korea's fried chicken industry dies at 74
Yoon Jong-gye, the founder of Mexican Chicken and widely regarded as the creator of Korea’s signature sweet-and-spicy fried chicken, has died after a long illne
www.koreaherald.com
January 8, 2026 at 11:52 PM
the man widely regarded as creator of Korean fried chicken has died www.koreaherald.com/article/1065...
Reposted by Flavien
"Philosophy will have conscience of tomorrow, commitment to the future, knowledge of hope, or it will have no more knowledge." - Ernst Bloch, 1954
January 9, 2026 at 1:09 PM
"Philosophy will have conscience of tomorrow, commitment to the future, knowledge of hope, or it will have no more knowledge." - Ernst Bloch, 1954
New risk-free rate just dropped
January 7, 2026 at 11:34 PM
New risk-free rate just dropped
Reposted by Flavien
Reposted by Flavien
When we hear talk about the promise of AI for providing tutors to student, just remember how many of the most vulnerable students still lack digital access. repository.gyaanarth.com/pdfs/ijriss/...
January 6, 2026 at 3:23 PM
When we hear talk about the promise of AI for providing tutors to student, just remember how many of the most vulnerable students still lack digital access. repository.gyaanarth.com/pdfs/ijriss/...
Reposted by Flavien
January 5, 2026 at 12:58 PM
Has anyone come up with a better allegory of 2025’s AI craze yet?
another robot highlight for 2025: man wearing humanoid mocap suit kicks himself in the balls
December 27, 2025 at 10:13 PM
Has anyone come up with a better allegory of 2025’s AI craze yet?
Reposted by Flavien
Switzerland refines 70% of the world's gold. For over 2,000 years, this precious metal has shaped the history of the alpine confederation, transforming it from a poor rural land into the precision pioneer it is today.
December 26, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Switzerland refines 70% of the world's gold. For over 2,000 years, this precious metal has shaped the history of the alpine confederation, transforming it from a poor rural land into the precision pioneer it is today.
Reposted by Flavien
Après 80 ans, les archives de la dénazification sortent de l’ombre actualitte.com/a/69AkE2yi
Après 80 ans, les archives de la dénazification sortent de l’ombre
Un pan majeur de l’histoire de l’immédiat après-guerre devient accessible au public. Les Archives d’État du Bade-Wurtemberg ont mis en ligne plusieurs milliers d...
actualitte.com
December 26, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Après 80 ans, les archives de la dénazification sortent de l’ombre actualitte.com/a/69AkE2yi
Reposted by Flavien
From the @WSJ: “Economic fortunes of low- and high-income Americans are diverging—same pattern happening with companies.”
#economy #inequality #divergence #dispersion
#economy #inequality #divergence #dispersion
December 25, 2025 at 8:42 PM
From the @WSJ: “Economic fortunes of low- and high-income Americans are diverging—same pattern happening with companies.”
#economy #inequality #divergence #dispersion
#economy #inequality #divergence #dispersion
Reposted by Flavien
DOGE was A LOT less likely to cancel contracts from companies that donated money to Republicans than companies that donated to Democrats.
December 25, 2025 at 10:47 PM
DOGE was A LOT less likely to cancel contracts from companies that donated money to Republicans than companies that donated to Democrats.
Reposted by Flavien
Important work using U.S. tax data shows businesses have absorbed minimum wage increases without affecting employment, and through higher revenue-likely reflecting price & productivity offsets. Also shows how reallocation towards more productive firms offers another margin of adjustment.
Recently accepted by #QJE, “Who’s Afraid of the Minimum Wage? Measuring the Impacts on Independent Businesses Using Matched U.S. Tax Returns,” by Rao (@nirupama.bsky.social) and Risch: doi.org/10.1093/qje/...
Who’s Afraid of the Minimum Wage? Measuring the Impacts on Independent Businesses Using Matched U.S. Tax Returns*
Abstract. A common concern surrounding minimum wage policies is their impact on independent businesses, which are often feared to be less able to bear or p
doi.org
December 24, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Important work using U.S. tax data shows businesses have absorbed minimum wage increases without affecting employment, and through higher revenue-likely reflecting price & productivity offsets. Also shows how reallocation towards more productive firms offers another margin of adjustment.
Reposted by Flavien
Economics and economic sociology are two fields divided by their mutual fascination with the same subject matter.
#econsky #sociology
marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2025/12/mich...
#econsky #sociology
marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2025/12/mich...
Michel Callon (1945–2025): A life with passion for economies, in J. of Cultural Economy
marketdesigner.blogspot.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Economics and economic sociology are two fields divided by their mutual fascination with the same subject matter.
#econsky #sociology
marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2025/12/mich...
#econsky #sociology
marketdesigner.blogspot.com/2025/12/mich...
Reposted by Flavien
There is no possible justification for limiting e-bikes to 15mph but not cars.
New York Has a New E-Bike Speed Limit—and No Way to Enforce It
New York Has a New E-Bike Speed Limit—and No Way to Enforce It
When the city announced a speed limit in June, haters rejoiced. But the plan had some holes.
www.wsj.com
August 9, 2025 at 3:46 PM
There is no possible justification for limiting e-bikes to 15mph but not cars.
Reposted by Flavien
Love to see more economists doing systematic reviews! New from @manimetrix + Theiss in JAE #econtwitter #econsky: preprimary education programs in sub-Saharan Africa have small but positive effects on both cognitive and socioemotional development (0.1 standard deviations)
December 19, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Love to see more economists doing systematic reviews! New from @manimetrix + Theiss in JAE #econtwitter #econsky: preprimary education programs in sub-Saharan Africa have small but positive effects on both cognitive and socioemotional development (0.1 standard deviations)
Reposted by Flavien
“Re-inventing the wheel” should mean exactly the opposite of what it means, given that there is a decent chance that the wheel for transportation was invented just once, in the Carpathian Mountains around 3900 BC & apparently was never independently re-invented by other societies afterwards.
December 18, 2025 at 10:53 PM
“Re-inventing the wheel” should mean exactly the opposite of what it means, given that there is a decent chance that the wheel for transportation was invented just once, in the Carpathian Mountains around 3900 BC & apparently was never independently re-invented by other societies afterwards.
Reposted by Flavien
Martin's analysis implies that DSAs going forward will need to pay special attention to ratio of disbursements to commitments as a hint of problems.
findevlab.org/what-we-lear...
findevlab.org/what-we-lear...
What we learn from the new International Debt Statistics on the hidden debt of Senegal
Last month, the IMF announced that it estimated public debt in Senegal at 132% of GDP in end-2024, or more than $43 billion, compared to an estimate 80%
findevlab.org
December 13, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Martin's analysis implies that DSAs going forward will need to pay special attention to ratio of disbursements to commitments as a hint of problems.
findevlab.org/what-we-lear...
findevlab.org/what-we-lear...
Reposted by Flavien
‘about 1/3 of AI-related capital expenditure is being sunk into shortlived assets such as graphics processing units. But GPUs [have] a useful life for frontier applications of about 3 years. That implies that AI companies’ investments must generate a return within a few years…’
on.ft.com/43cu0z6
on.ft.com/43cu0z6
AI’s double bubble trouble
There is a distinction between good investment and bad speculation — the likelihood is we are experiencing both
on.ft.com
October 17, 2025 at 6:50 AM
‘about 1/3 of AI-related capital expenditure is being sunk into shortlived assets such as graphics processing units. But GPUs [have] a useful life for frontier applications of about 3 years. That implies that AI companies’ investments must generate a return within a few years…’
on.ft.com/43cu0z6
on.ft.com/43cu0z6
Reposted by Flavien
"Shell is responsible for 2% of historical global greenhouse gases.... The company has "materially contributed" to human driven climate change, the letter says, that made the Typhoon more likely and more severe."
Shell facing first UK legal claim over climate impact of fossil fuels
Survivors of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a claim against the UK's largest oil company.
buff.ly
December 11, 2025 at 9:05 AM
"Shell is responsible for 2% of historical global greenhouse gases.... The company has "materially contributed" to human driven climate change, the letter says, that made the Typhoon more likely and more severe."
Reposted by Flavien
I was disappointed with several elements of The @economist.com recent articles on minimum wages. To their credit, they've published my response.
Here are some links to the research I reference and to some other research which had to be cut from the published letter
1/N
Here are some links to the research I reference and to some other research which had to be cut from the published letter
1/N
December 4, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I was disappointed with several elements of The @economist.com recent articles on minimum wages. To their credit, they've published my response.
Here are some links to the research I reference and to some other research which had to be cut from the published letter
1/N
Here are some links to the research I reference and to some other research which had to be cut from the published letter
1/N
Reposted by Flavien
China’s open-source AI is a national advantage on.ft.com/48XybSx | opinion
China’s open-source AI is a national advantage
The models are akin to studying together to ace a test instead of relying on individual knowledge
on.ft.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:32 AM
China’s open-source AI is a national advantage on.ft.com/48XybSx | opinion
Reposted by Flavien
One year after al-Assad’s fall, nearly 1.8 million displaced Syrians and 780,000 refugees have returned home.
How many Syrians have returned home one year since the fall of al-Assad?
One year after al-Assad’s fall, nearly 1.8 million displaced Syrians and 780,000 refugees have returned home.
bit.ly
December 8, 2025 at 7:30 AM
One year after al-Assad’s fall, nearly 1.8 million displaced Syrians and 780,000 refugees have returned home.