Mauricio Drelichman
@mdrelichman.bsky.social
Professor at UBC VSE. Economic History, photography, food.
Until last year, I used to feed my exam questions to ChatGPT, paste them into the actual exam, and ask students to grade the answers. ChatGPT used to get scores of 20-40% on my 3rd year econ history exam. These days it routinely hits 80%, provided you feed it the reading list first.
November 24, 2025 at 5:40 AM
Until last year, I used to feed my exam questions to ChatGPT, paste them into the actual exam, and ask students to grade the answers. ChatGPT used to get scores of 20-40% on my 3rd year econ history exam. These days it routinely hits 80%, provided you feed it the reading list first.
That’s Irène Joliot-Curie, Marie’s daughter. Three Nobel prizes between the two of them, five in total in the family.
November 21, 2025 at 9:09 PM
That’s Irène Joliot-Curie, Marie’s daughter. Three Nobel prizes between the two of them, five in total in the family.
It happens at about age 13.
November 19, 2025 at 5:32 AM
It happens at about age 13.
All time favorite email from an undergraduate student:
“Hey dude, what’s my grade?”
“Hey dude, what’s my grade?”
November 18, 2025 at 6:02 AM
All time favorite email from an undergraduate student:
“Hey dude, what’s my grade?”
“Hey dude, what’s my grade?”
And a good four days it took...
November 15, 2025 at 5:48 PM
And a good four days it took...
Well, update. This morning it's back to the old Sequoia snappiness. Looks like I needed to rant about it on Bluesky for it to get its act together!
November 15, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Well, update. This morning it's back to the old Sequoia snappiness. Looks like I needed to rant about it on Bluesky for it to get its act together!
It's every little thing. Send a text message, it takes a split second to actually show up on the feed. Open a folder, it takes half a second to populate the icons. Just a consistent short lag to the entire interface.
November 15, 2025 at 6:29 AM
It's every little thing. Send a text message, it takes a split second to actually show up on the feed. Open a folder, it takes half a second to populate the icons. Just a consistent short lag to the entire interface.
Nope - my top -u is clear. And it's not like I'm starved for power.
November 15, 2025 at 6:28 AM
Nope - my top -u is clear. And it's not like I'm starved for power.
I've looked at the various workarounds, but it seems that the only fix for the time being would be to reinstall Sequoia, for which I don't have the time or the inclination. Apple has always treated users as beta testers, but Tahoe has been out for two+ months already and it is still slow.
November 15, 2025 at 5:19 AM
I've looked at the various workarounds, but it seems that the only fix for the time being would be to reinstall Sequoia, for which I don't have the time or the inclination. Apple has always treated users as beta testers, but Tahoe has been out for two+ months already and it is still slow.
Why would that be a problem? The tallest towers in Buenos Aires are built on infill land, itself on a thick layer of fluvial sediment. As long as there is bedrock at some point underneath, you just need pylons that reach that depth.
vancouver.ca/files/cov/ap...
vancouver.ca/files/cov/ap...
vancouver.ca
November 12, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Why would that be a problem? The tallest towers in Buenos Aires are built on infill land, itself on a thick layer of fluvial sediment. As long as there is bedrock at some point underneath, you just need pylons that reach that depth.
vancouver.ca/files/cov/ap...
vancouver.ca/files/cov/ap...
I would say that the more accurate parallelism is “there are some $100 dollar bills lying around, but the space race is not one of them”.
November 5, 2025 at 6:49 PM
I would say that the more accurate parallelism is “there are some $100 dollar bills lying around, but the space race is not one of them”.
Of course there are non-economic effects to consider. The space race was arguably important in putting the USSR’s budget under strain, the first step of the arms and public expenditure race that led to its eventual collapse.
November 5, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Of course there are non-economic effects to consider. The space race was arguably important in putting the USSR’s budget under strain, the first step of the arms and public expenditure race that led to its eventual collapse.
That is, human brains tend to think in all or nothing terms. But in general there is a next-best alternative not very inferior to the chosen path.
November 5, 2025 at 3:32 PM
That is, human brains tend to think in all or nothing terms. But in general there is a next-best alternative not very inferior to the chosen path.
The method harkens back to Fogel’s argument in the 60s that the railroads did not contribute much to US economic growth at the margin. Had railroads not been built, he argued, canals and other transportation links would have taken their place for not much of an incremental cost.
November 5, 2025 at 3:32 PM
The method harkens back to Fogel’s argument in the 60s that the railroads did not contribute much to US economic growth at the margin. Had railroads not been built, he argued, canals and other transportation links would have taken their place for not much of an incremental cost.
For example, although men would not have walls on the moon, communication satellites would still have been developed by private companies. Or, if not, fiberoptics development might have happened faster.
November 5, 2025 at 3:32 PM
For example, although men would not have walls on the moon, communication satellites would still have been developed by private companies. Or, if not, fiberoptics development might have happened faster.
And, since the space race had a geopolitical prestige component that did not deliver economic returns, the counterfactual might well have resulted in higher headline growth.
November 5, 2025 at 3:32 PM
And, since the space race had a geopolitical prestige component that did not deliver economic returns, the counterfactual might well have resulted in higher headline growth.
It’s only surprising because human brains are not wired to think in terms of counterfactuals. The key to this paper is to understand that, had the space race not happened, the public and private investment would have been directed to other technologies that would have delivered similar benefits.
November 5, 2025 at 3:32 PM
It’s only surprising because human brains are not wired to think in terms of counterfactuals. The key to this paper is to understand that, had the space race not happened, the public and private investment would have been directed to other technologies that would have delivered similar benefits.
Yes, gas ovens are horrible cooking machines! But the reason they exist is that they are cheap when paired to gas cooktops, or in areas where gas has a comparative advantage.
October 25, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Yes, gas ovens are horrible cooking machines! But the reason they exist is that they are cheap when paired to gas cooktops, or in areas where gas has a comparative advantage.
Argentina also had gas ovens. It is cheaper to make them than a mix of a gas stovetop (which remains the top cooking technology) and an electric oven. Also, if electric outages are frequent, they’re a life saver.
October 25, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Argentina also had gas ovens. It is cheaper to make them than a mix of a gas stovetop (which remains the top cooking technology) and an electric oven. Also, if electric outages are frequent, they’re a life saver.