Economics: In Praise Of Remote Work

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - During Covid many employees fled their offices and started working at home. Now Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and many other corporation leaders demand that their employees come back to the company offices. No more working at home?

Musk, Jassy & Co. claim that remote workers are distracted. According to them working at company offices is more productive than remote. I disagree. I used to work at home over around 15 years; working as free lance journalist for magazines, newspapers & and an online service and wrote articles about financial markets and the economy. 

I enjoyed working at home. The privacy, the quietness and being in my own environment stimulated me and  raised my productivity. Since my income depended on the quantity & quality of my work, I had to be productive. If employers pay their employees for the quality & quantity of their work and for reliability and timely, they need not to worry about productivity.

Before I was a free lancer I worked many years in offices. There was always plenty of distraction. There was always something going on and a lot of commotion. There was a lot talk that was not necessarily work related. Ant there were plenty of attractive females I could not totally ignore. At home, there was just the computer that was waiting for my texts. And I had my deadlines. So I was more productive at home than in the offices I worked before,

I understand that an assembly worker at Ford cannot do this from home. But I think it is different for office workers who need just a computer for fulfilling their tasks. Modern technology - including smart phones, fast computers, advanced software, sophisticated apps - diminish the difference between working at home and in a corporation office. 

I think the campaign against working at home is just silly. Are the superiors and organizers too lazy and too incompetent to deal with their employees, to motivate them and to measure their output? Setting deadlines is more efficient than constantly look over the shoulders of the employees.

                     Supporting environment &  

The back-to-office supporters complain that office buildings are empty. So what? There might be better uses for these buildings. The employers could cancel their leases and save tons of money or - if they are the owners - they would release frozen capital and use it for better investments. Office rooms could be transformed into flats. Turning offices into homes would reduce many problems.

 

 ( source)

Home offices are good for the environment and are slowing the greenhouse effect because there would be less traffic, fewer traffic jams and fewer green house gases.

Working at home is a win win situation.

Science Fiction: Why 43 Seconds: A Hayden's World Short Story Is A Waste Of Time & Money

 (Drivebycuriosity) - Amazon´s Kindle is a wonderful machine. The device allows to discover, explore and to check unknown authors. Recently a scifi short story appeared on my radar: "43 Seconds: A Hayden's World Hard Science Fiction Short Story" by S.D. Falchetti (amazon ). Since the publication is short and offered for just 99 cents I gave it try.

Apparently the plot caters young adults and the author wants to entertain juveniles with some futurist tales. It reminds me a bit of the movie "Top Gun", but it is set in outer space. There exists a rocket that somehow can reach about 99 percent of light speed in just seconds, which allows the pilots to reach distant stars in just some days. The author doesn´t bother to offer any explanation for this sudden speed jump. He also ignores that even a much much slower acceleration would squeeze any living organism to death.

The story looks like written by a college kid who expands his allowances by publishing funny stories. But even though the publication is very short & cheap, it is a waste of time & money. And unfortunately it gives science fiction a bad name and may even deter potential readers of science fiction. I recommend to start with Arthur C. Clarke (my review ) and Isaac Asimov ( review).  

Contemporary Art: Echo Chamber - A Group Exhibition @ The Hole New York

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - Manhattan`s Bowery is a tourist attraction with sheer countless pubs & restaurants. But there is at least one ambitious art gallery - The Hole (thehole ). I already posted several reports about their shows.

Recently I spotted a group exhibition, called "Echo Chamber", curated by Leslie Weismann & Charlotte Hailstone. I display here my favorites, a very subjective selection as usual.

On top of this post you can see "Bad Blood" by Alexandra Rubinstein (2025, pig blood on raw canvas) followed by Lizzy Lunday´s "Sea Warp" (2024, oil and acrylic on canvas) & 2 images by Maya Mason "North by Northwest" & "Interior Life" (2023 & 2025, both oil on canvas). 

 

Above you can see Angela Fraleigh`s psychedelic "I want you wild" (2025, oil, acrylic, moon water, amethyst, suglite, tiger`s eye on. dibond pane).

 

Charlotte Hailstone`s (I like the name) painting reminds me of Escher. The image is called "Like Crazy" (2025, acrylic on canvas).

 

 

Enjoy!

Economics: A Strong Headwind Against Inflation

 (Drivebycuriosity) - Pundits claim that the inflation rate will continue climbing. According to the University of Michigan the US inflation expectations rose to 3.3% (stlouisfed ). I beg to differ.

 

                          Helicopter Money

There is a strong headwind: The slowing monetary growth (image above x.com ). In January the money supply M2 grew 3.9%. The relatively slow monetary growth works like a brake and will cool inflation in the coming months.  

The recent high inflation was caused by a deluge of money in the years 2020 & 2021. In 2020 & 2021 the Biden government flooded the economy with stimulus checks in the value of trillions of dollars to fight the Covid19 recession (American Rescue Plan). The government checks got financed with massive bond purchases by the Federal Reserve (Quantitative Easing known as QE1,QE2 & QE3).

The government money landed directly on the bank accounts of the Americans, blowing up the money volume M2 (bank notes & coins & deposits at banks). Milton Friedman described this as helicopter money (cato ). As a result in 2021 & 2022 the US money supply M2, the engine of the inflation, jumped 40%. Unfortunately the money deluge met a constrained supply of goods & services partly - partly because of Covid19. So the price level inevitably had to jump and the inflation rate (first derivation) went up.

Fortunately the money flood ended already in 2022 and the money supply shrank for a while. Since October 2023 the money volume is growing again, but only moderately. Since inflation follows the growth of money, the inflation rate (growth rate of prices) will follow the pull of the slowly growing money supply and the inflation rate will stay low. 

 

 (source )

                         Causal Relationship

The causal relationship between the money supply and inflation was already recognized by Nicolaus Copernicus! The astronomer explained in the year 1517 why "too much money" causes inflation. Copernicus` "quantity theory of money" is based on observations: Early in the 16th century Spain conquered today`s Latin America and looted the silver stocks. The Spaniards send the precious metal to Europe where it was printed into coins and used as money.

As a result the European money supply jumped, but the supply of goods & services did not change much. The flood of money raised suddenly the demand for scarce goods & services and caused a jump of the price level.

Copernicus`findings lead to quantity theory of money. The theory is represented by the basic formula M X V = Q X P, meaning M (money) multiplied with V (the velocity of money) = Q (available goods & services) multiplied with P (price level). The dynamical version today means M (growth rate of money supply) X V = Q (real GDP) X P (inflation rate). Since the real GDP (Q) does not change much, a sudden jump of the monetary growth rate (M) leads to a rise of the inflation rate (P). 

 

( source)

                       

Elaborated studies by Milton Friedman, Karl Brunner, Allan Meltzer and many other economists (known as Monetarists) confirmed Copernicus & their quantity theory of money. They described in the 1960s elaborately how and why the inflation rate follows the growth rate of money with a time lag (causal connection).

 ( source)

Those who ignore the strong head wind from the slow monetary growth are economic illiterate & ignorant of history as well.

 

Architecture: The Brutalist Is Everywhere

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - There is a lot furor about the movie "The Brutalist" ( imdb). But brutalist architecture is more common than Hollywood wants you to believe. Here I present some brutalist constructions I spotted on my travels.

On top of this post an image from Salt Lake City, followed by shots from Denver

 

Above follows Rome

 

Then follow Panama City & Vancouver

Above brutalist London 

Followed by Mexico City

 

and last but not least Bangkok

Enjoy!

World Peace & Sanity: Fuck Ukraine and European Union, Von der Leyen plus Kanzler wannabe Merz

 (Drivebycuriosity) - In order to get back peace & sanity: Fuck Ukraine and the war mongers European Union, Von der Leyen plus Kanzler wannabe Merz

Science Fiction: Ninefox Gambit By Yoon Ha Lee

(Drivebycuriosity) - Yoon Ha Lee belongs to the stars of contemporary science fiction. The Korean-American author, a trans man, majored in mathematics, and earned a master's degree in secondary mathematics education at Stanford University. He has worked as an analyst for an energy market intelligence company, done web design, and taught mathematics (wikipedia ). This background shows in his/her works.

Ha Lee`s debut novel, Ninefox Gambit, the first volume of the Machineries of Empire trilogy, received the 2017 Locus Award for Best First Novel (amazon ). It was also nominated for the 2016 Nebula and Hugo Awards for Best Novel and the 2017 Clarke award ( wikipedia).

I have mixed feeling with the book. Even though it shows Ha Lee`s love of mathematics, I missed logic. The plot, if there is any, reminds me of the surreal plays by Eugène Ionesco and similar authors, and I couldn´t detect any sense. 

Otherwise I enjoyed the the deluge of funny ideas & & aphorism: 

"Immorality was like sex: it made idiots of otherwise rational people". 

Many paragraphs read like futurist poetry: 

"The room was decorated with vases filled with the bones of small animals wired into the shapes of flowers"

"She kept expecting the world to change around her in response to the calendrical rot: for the walls to run like water, the light to shiver into turbulent colors, the sounds of human voices to shred into the cries of migrating birds".

"He became fascinated by the objects people kept in their homes. Musical instruments that could have doubled as Vidona torture implements, especially the ones with the hungry wires. Floating globes that imitated pleasing weather patterns on green or purple planets". 

"The gate was made of material condensed from a certain dying star" 

Anyway, I prefer Ha Lee´s short stories, especially "Counting Casualties" (published a Kindle book my review ) and "Beyond the Dragons Gate" (review ).