Category Archives: Technology and innovation

The Horse Bit and Bridle Kicked Off Ancient Empires – A New Giant Dataset Tracks the Societal Factors That Drove Military Technology

A new major effort to catalogue the history of military innovations and how they spread.

On the Primacy of the Physician-Patient Relationship, From an Unlikely Source – The Attorney General of Nebraska

On the slippery slope of curtailing a doctor’s ability to treat his patient.

India Breaks the Diaper Monopolists. Why Won’t Americans Step Up?

An innovation popular in rural India offers a solution to the diaper duopoly stinking up the budgets of western households.

Insurance Focused on Virtual Visits? The Pros and Cons of a New Twist in Health Plans

The pandemic has made patients more comfortable with telemedicine for doctor visits. Insurers are betting that some patients will now embrace new types of health coverage that encourages video visits — or outright insists on them.

Does America Want a CHIPS for Buybacks Act?

To bring more chips-making back to the US, Congress should condition additional funds on suspending stock buybacks.

How Autonomous Weapons Could Be More Destabilizing Than Nukes

Why autonomous weapons will make the world less safe.

NYC Set to Pass Food Delivery App Laws Securing Workers Minimum Pay, Bathrooms and More

Gig workers, specifically deliveristas, are en route to securing important workplace protections, like minimum wages and bathroom rights.

Algorithmic Management

Examinging how algorithmic management works and why it is likely to become even more widespread.

Neoliberalism Is Dying – Now We Must Replace It

From taming Big Tech to competing with China, Western governments are retreatig from neoliberalism. But what comes next?

Why Elon Musk Isn’t Superman

Why Elon Musk, despite having built significant operating companies, is still mainly in the bezzle business.

Hubert Horan: Can Uber Ever Deliver? Part Twenty-Six: With No Hope of Real Profits, Uber and Lyft Double Down on Fake Profit Metrics

Uber continues to hemorrhage cash and rack up impressive negative operating margins, yet the press eats up its accounting misdirection.

Apple Rolling Out iPhone, iPad, iCloud Spyware, with Kiddie Porn as the Excuse

Apple abandons its pretense of caring about user privacy and has now joined arms with the police. Be warned.

Hubert Horan: Can Uber Ever Deliver? Part Twenty-Five: Didi’s IPO Illustrates Why Uber’s Business Model Was Always Hopeless

Didi has a more commanding position than Uber in a fundamentally more attractive market, yet has been hemmorrhaging money.