link roundup

I’m transitioning my substantive posts to not Friday night (that time people are definitely checking their email) so you get an extra link post this week.

• I’ve been thinking a lot about innovation, and how you make innovation happen, lately, so enjoyed this interview with James Phillips about ARIA. Best quote: “At a conference I was at recently, someone said they found this incredible opportunity: an undeveloped country that speaks English, and it's called England.”

• Segregation is decreasing in the UK among every ethnic group. This is in contrast to the US, where segregation is increasing over time. I’d love to see some analysis on what the UK is doing right and the US doing wrong. (ht Aveek Bhattacharya)

• According to a new paper, big life changes - marriage, parenthood, divorce, retirement - largely don’t change political views. This is somewhat in contrast to a well-known finding in political science, that having a daughter makes one more likely to be liberal (at least in industrialized democracies). Not to sound like an academic, but: more research needed.

• Driverless Waymos are much safer than cars with drivers. As someone who doesn’t like driving all that much, I, for one, welcome our Waymo future.

• There were more passenger flights taken worldwide in 2020, a year well known for its high travel volume, than in 2003.

• Grants and prizes in economics are much more concentrated in a small number of institutions than in other disciplines. I do think it is useful to remind economists that they’re weird sometimes.