Hacker News: dtwest

New comment by dtwest in "I'm Too Risk-Averse for Index Investing"

dtwest — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 18:30:30 +0000

You are correct, some know what they are talking about. But there are also many people who think that being a smart person in one field makes them a smart person in every field. It is disrespectful, it implies that they think their field is easier than yours and it must not be that hard to figure out. It is also very easy to spot.

I did not mean to imply that everyone is one-dimensional, I personally have professional experience in the finance and software industries and have respect for the people in them. But when some finance expert suddenly becomes an opinionated epidemiologist I call bullshit (a random example that has happened far too often the past few years).

New comment by dtwest in "I'm Too Risk-Averse for Index Investing"

dtwest — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 15:33:39 +0000

Reading HN comments about the stock market is like listening to a bunch of MBAs talk about software engineering.

New comment by dtwest in "US Federal Reserve raises interest rates for first time since 2018"

dtwest — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 00:40:32 +0000

An issue with using fiscal policy this way is that many of the things that are worth spending money on aren't easily movable levers, they are long term projects.

If inflation is accelerating and we need to cut spending to fix things it may be difficult or inefficient to cut the budget of a 10 year infrastructure project. If we need to spend more one year, do we just flood the healthcare system or military with money temporarily?

Changing tax policy frequently creates uncertainty for people investing in long term projects, which increases risk and cost associated with funding them.

I like that there is an academic debate going on about MMT, but there are practical challenges in implementing it. While far from perfect, the current monetary policy approach is easier to implement and change, while outsourcing capital allocation decisions to the banking system.

New comment by dtwest in "Just Say No to Central Bank Digital Currencies"

dtwest — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 15:14:14 +0000

These are good questions to be asking, and they are all theoretical possibilities. Some people see this as an opportunity for improvement, others find it deeply concerning. Central banks do not necessarily need to abide by the old definition of money.

New comment by dtwest in "Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant"

dtwest — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 17:43:56 +0000

Columbus metro area is roughly the same size as Cleveland metro area so I don't think that is the reason.

However, it could still have a talent advantage. Having OSU nearby is helpful, and maybe it is easier to attract talent to move to a city with a big university.

New comment by dtwest in "Tell HN: Salary data is for sale"

dtwest — Fri, 07 Jan 2022 15:00:16 +0000

You make some fair points about money and mistrust but the parent's argument is not unfair. You mention that you "became a Swede" by adopting Sweden's values. America doesn't have one unified set of values due to being so big. Sweden is smaller than Ohio by population. Ohioans generally share some values, but they are quite different than people in Massachusetts or Mississippi. America is closer to the EU's scale, and the EU has plenty of idealogical differences between member states. Do the Greeks trust that the Germans are looking out for their best interests?

New comment by dtwest in "US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis"

dtwest — Wed, 10 Nov 2021 16:16:55 +0000

They were going up a couple of years ago.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FEDFUNDS

New comment by dtwest in "China declares cryptocurrency deals ‘illegal’"

dtwest — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 13:11:15 +0000

This is interesting timing given what has been happening related to Evergrande. It is possible that the government is worried about money being moved out of the country, and cryptocurrency is one way of doing that.

New comment by dtwest in "No One Wanted A&W's Third-Pound Burger (2016)"

dtwest — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 13:28:30 +0000

Important to note that that is the weight before cooking, a frozen patty will lose a lot of water weight in the cooking process, so what you end up getting is not a full 6oz.

Intel CEO says fab planned for Europe will be world’s most advanced

dtwest — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 21:08:20 +0000

Article URL: https://fortune.com/2021/09/10/intel-ceo-big-honking-fab-planned-eu-europe-most-advanced/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28486906

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by dtwest in "Afghan women forced from banking jobs as Taliban take control"

dtwest — Fri, 13 Aug 2021 16:26:01 +0000

Afghanistan and Korea are vastly different scenarios, perhaps the main difference is the situation the US put themselves in rather than a change of core values.

New comment by dtwest in "Infection-enhancing SARS-CoV-2 antibodies recognize original strain and Delta"

dtwest — Fri, 13 Aug 2021 14:26:43 +0000

Could you elaborate on how the US data is manipulated or why it is lower quality than Israel's?

New comment by dtwest in "Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'"

dtwest — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 15:03:30 +0000

Maybe they should. But I can't help but comment that you're abusing statistics here. Smaller population countries like Canada and Australia pollute more per capita than the US. Also, the carbon tariff should ideally be applied on an activity-specific basis, not at the national level.

New comment by dtwest in "Google and Facebook mandate vaccines for employees at U.S. offices"

dtwest — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 02:22:23 +0000

That may be true, but your quote is from 1947.

New comment by dtwest in "Google and Facebook mandate vaccines for employees at U.S. offices"

dtwest — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 01:43:10 +0000

Being stuck working at Google or Facebook is a bit different than being stuck in a concentration camp from the perspective of consent don't you think?

I'm not belittling the discussion that our society must have about what can or can't be mandated by an employer. However, I doubt the above quote was created in the context of high paying tech jobs, they were focused on the forced experimentation that occurred in WW2.

New comment by dtwest in "NodeMCU ESP32-C3 WiFi and BLE IoT boards show up for about $4"

dtwest — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 17:23:24 +0000

Not trying to take away from your main point but isn't Arduino Italian?

New comment by dtwest in "Twitter has lost liability protection in India, government says"

dtwest — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 12:10:16 +0000

It is important to point out that the Americans concerned about Russian hacking are often not the same Americans concerned with protecting free speech.

New comment by dtwest in "US Fed Official Calls Tether a ‘Challenge’ to Financial Stability"

dtwest — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 11:57:17 +0000

Long simply means taking a position that would benefit if the stock/currency/commodity/bond/etc goes up in value. Similarly, being short generally means the opposite (although in specific situations it can mean selling something you do not own, like a stock, with the intention of buying it back later for a lower price). The terminology isn't limited to stocks, investors talk about being long currencies all the time.

Hope this clears up some of the confusion.

New comment by dtwest in "Fewer young men are in the labor force, more are living at home"

dtwest — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 23:35:48 +0000

How is that in validation of MMT?

We ran a huge deficit this year supporting the economy during covid. We are also seeing a spike in short term inflation and a weaker dollar. Treasury bond yields remain low but there is increasing speculation that decades of low rates could soon reverse.

Also are you attributing all value generated by Bezos's or Musk's companies to only them? What about all of the great people they employ?

New comment by dtwest in "To protect against weaponized drones, we must understand their key strengths"

dtwest — Tue, 08 Jun 2021 17:06:58 +0000

When battleships and tanks are the weapon, manufacturing capacity powers the war machine. Perhaps drones usher in a new dynamic in that regard too. Maybe it's not how many drones you produce but how well programmed they are, what sensor or communication technology they use, etc.