I caught some intriguing facts during this morning’s breakfast broadcast, where they featured an episode with Claudia Goldin. One of the topics they covered was related to Goldin’s 2000 research paper, “Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of ‘Blind’ Auditions on Female Musicians.” Abstract A change in the audition procedures of symphony orchestras–adoption of “blind” auditions with a “screen” to conceal the candidate’s identity from the jury–provides a test for sex-biased hiring. Using data from actual auditions, in an individual fixed-effects framework, we find that the screen increases the probability a woman will be advanced and hired. Although some of our estimates have large standard errors and there is one persistent effect in the opposite direction, the weight of the evidence suggests that the blind audition procedure fostered impartiality in hiring and increased the proportion women in symphony orchestras. ...

I’ve always been trying to understand Ariana Grande, her music, lyrics, and interviews. Seeking a piece of her philosophy. Yet her artistic choices baffle with inconsistency, lacking a clear cohesive logic. She intentionally obscures, distorts motif, and leaves gaps. I’ve immersed myself in her interviews and music, even the unreleased demos, piecing together her puzzle. Tonight, a new fragment from The Weeknd’s single “Escape from LA” from album After Hours adds to it. ...

just for fun but it turns out to be more than fun. i attended an introductory talk on train scheduling in the neighboring department. Here are some key takeaways

About the 2023 Econ Nobel, how it relates with Barbie, and the controversy about Lisa’s recent dance performance.

I won’t take the bait, but it sucks when ¥8000 slips out of your hands nevertheless. Here’s the story.

I watched Swan Lake tonight – the famous Tchaikovsky ballet, performed by the National Ballet of China. The performance lasted two and a half hours, a bit lengthy, especially with there are kids sitting nearby: left side of me, right side of me, behind me… Regarding my personal preference, I favor the Black Swan significantly more than the White Swan. The Black Swan embodies life and vitality, with her charming smile lighting up the stage, captivating the audience (including the prince), and infusing the performance with energy. In contrast, the White Swan only appears under cold-spectrum light, perpetually wearing a frown (yes, her expressions), and carrying a heavy sense of melancholic sorrow. In my view, these two swans symbolize life and death rather than the conventional notions of pure evil and kindness. They represent different facets of beauty: one epitomizes the enjoyment and ecstasy of life’s celebrations, while the other embodies spirituality and ascension, ultimately leading to the inevitable. ...

Welcome back to the carnival of economic theories! Episode 2: The Diamond Paradox. I love the paper. Diamond’s model revolves around a discrete-time market, denoted as $t\in [T]$, featuring multiple consumers and firms. Consumer Behavior Each consumer possesses a downward-sloping demand function $x(p)$, it decreases as price ($p$) increases. In this market, consumers have a strategic buying plan: they purchase a product in period $t$ if and only if the price is less than or equal to their predetermined cutoff price, $q$. Thus, an individual consumer’s demand function is defined as: ...

During a family dinner today, we played a game, more like a question really. It went like this: Imagine you (and everyone else on Earth) have to pick either a red or a blue button. If more than half the people pick the blue button, everyone survives. If not, only those who picked the red button survive. I believe the people who brought up this game remembered it incorrectly. Clearly, the game was meant to present a tricky choice, but this version has an obvious dominant strategy - choosing the red button. ...

Winning in terms of gameplay might be straightforward, but winning in terms of social dynamics is the real challenge.

The Werewolf game is a wildly popular social board game in China, enjoyed by groups of 4 to 10 players. It’s a versatile game that can be played in various settings, whether it’s a post-meal gathering or any other social occasion. The game has gained immense popularity, transcending friend circles. For instance, our orchestra crew delved into intense games of werewolf in the hotel lobby until the late hours during our tour, while the scientist squads (or actually, professors) engaged in a gripping round when they were unexpectedly confined indoors due to a rainstorm during a conference reception. The game, in both its original form and its various adaptations, has become ubiquitous. You can find the original physical cards, limited-edition golden-plated versions, and even online mini-program software on WeChat, making it accessible even when you don’t have the physical cards. ...