mattgibson

8 ms·

31.
by mattgibson 9y ago
It took me quite a while to really understand the correct assignment of responsibilities to objects and how to refactor them when things got tangled. I would follow framework conventions, but get lost when leaving them and end up with spagh
32.
by mattgibson 9y ago
It's arguably more significant in this case as those that didn't vote were around 75% in favour of remain. It's not common to hear of such a differential between the intentions of those who did not vote compared to those who
33.
by mattgibson 9y ago
A week?? Our interview code test is to make a URL shortener (two endpoints: create and redirect, use any tech you like). I'd never expect more than 2 hours max to be spent on it. If you can't work out whether you want to employ so
34.
by mattgibson 9y ago
Trump has done almost nothing to change it. It's doing well because of Obama.
35.
by mattgibson 9y ago
A monopoly doesn't mean there are no alternatives. It means that the process of competitive undercutting of prices does not operate. Consider a price fixing cartel. There are alternative products, but it is still a monopoly. I didn&#x2
36.
by mattgibson 9y ago
Exactly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_monopoly
37.
by mattgibson 9y ago
No. Other forms of property can a) be manufactured and b) be moved. Land is unique in that both are impossible. As result, each piece of land is unique because of what it's close to (not what it is, as with other forms of property). Th
38.
by mattgibson 9y ago
> Nobody ever talks about this. I've always assumed that this is because those who think land is just another free market commodity (it isn't) don't realise there's anything to talk about, so they keep quiet. However,
39.
by mattgibson 9y ago
In the England at least, the system was roughly that the crown owned all the land through conquest (1066), then gave chunks of it to trusted nobles as a quid pro quo for fighting in the war that they just won. The nobles used the rent from
40.
by mattgibson 9y ago
> the wealthy and elite have dis-proportionally been landowners I'd put that the other way around, saying the land owners have disproportionately ended up as the wealthy and powerful. The ownership of land and the huge unearned inco
41.
by mattgibson 9y ago
There is stamp duty land tax, but it's only charged on sales over a certain threshold: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_duty_in_the_United_Kingd...
42.
Ornamental hermits were paid to live in people's gardens in the 18th century(en.wikipedia.org)
1 points by mattgibson 10y ago|0 comments
43.
by mattgibson 10y ago
That may no longer be true. Using mortgage backed securities in the way that triggered the financial crisis of 2007 effectively allows banks to bypass the fractional reserve mechanism. With this process, the bank lends $1 creating a new $1
44.
by mattgibson 10y ago
A lot of the problems that an ordinary person would suffer cease to be an issue when you're worth $2.7B. I suspect that for Thiel, the loss of hard fought rights will not impact him very much personally. Marriage for example is not jus
45.
by mattgibson 10y ago
Unit and integration testing not only make code less buggy, but lead to a calm state of mind. Bugs show themselves quickly, along with which method is failing, so the fixes are fast and effortless when you break stuff. Massive refactoring d
46.
by mattgibson 10y ago
Maybe not bad per se, but from a British perspective, it's certainly quite strange. I would never identify my own or my company's achievements as evidence that the UK was great as a nation. I'd be doing the same in whatever c
47.
by mattgibson 10y ago
For this reason, I think Basic income really only makes sense when paired with land value tax (LVT) and rent caps, which would prevent that problem. Both already work well in other economies in Europe.
48.
by mattgibson 11y ago
Why spoil an awesome project with a poor README? Compare with https://github.com/rails/rails#getting-started * What are the system prerequisites? * What are the optional command line params? * What is an example of the
49.
by mattgibson 11y ago
> I FEEL THEY DON'T LIKE ME Your post is almost entirely about you. Do you only talk about you at work? It might explain a bit. What are your team members actually like? Their personalities, interpersonal conflicts, aspirations, suc
50.
by mattgibson 11y ago
Yeah that's a fair criticism, although as someone who has spent 10 years teaching social science, I have to say that was at the forefront pf my mind when reading it. I was still mightily impressed with their data. The range of studies
51.
by mattgibson 11y ago
Sure. Their hypothesis is that as social animals, we are wired to respond neurologically to status Higher/lower status individuals experience dramatically different levels of certain neurotransmitters, which is something that they cite
52.
by mattgibson 11y ago
I think the 80% thing you're discussing is a bit like the 'duplo economy' that PG mentions in his essay. Very large broad-brush taxation, with little specificity. It would be trivial to make the taxation regime more high-reso
53.
by mattgibson 11y ago
> Poverty is the metric that should be focused on, not inequality No. Inequality is the problem. Poverty has nowhere near the same damaging effect. This book is essential reading on the topic: http://www.amazon.com/Spir
54.
by mattgibson 11y ago
> There's lots of great content in the comments, but it's also a fantastic way to waste time. But I learn more from the comments than from the articles!
55.
by mattgibson 11y ago
"The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt." This seems to be the Dunning-Kruger effect in action. Knowing more means having greater
56.
by mattgibson 11y ago
This is not a paradox, it's one of the best known axioms of economics: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_rent The key driver is that land values rise when earnings rise. You can't move land, so there is se
57.
by mattgibson 11y ago
This article more or less describes what a police state would look like if the Church of England designed it. A controlled, plasticised, corporate Little England, where fun is monitored and must be of an approved nature, freedom of expressi
58.
by mattgibson 11y ago
No. They will try, but it doesn't work because of an often overlooked quirk of the market which only affects land. Land is unique because it can't be manufactured or moved, so when it comes to supply and demand, the normal mechani
59.
by mattgibson 11y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
60.
by mattgibson 11y ago
Oh, really? http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/462230/Edward-Snowden-re...

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