Sam Enright is involved with innovation policy at Progress Ireland, an independent think tank based in Dublin. He also manages a publication known as The Fitzwilliam. Notably, on his personal blog, he features a popular link roundup, presenting insightful articles and commentary. Below is a condensed version of his Links for February and Links for March.
Blogs and Short Links
1. The detrimental effects of the Jones Act are particularly harmful to Puerto Rico.
2. Explore how artificial intelligence has advanced to the point of being able to rent humans.
3. Gavin Leech shares his unique insights on mastering statistics without losing your mind:
We refer to an unsystematised and disjointed field as a “zoo.” Undergraduate statistics is the ultimate zoo, challenging memory with countless acronyms and endless assumptions that are routinely broken: it’s like the emperor’s new clothes.
How can we bring order to this chaos?
I concur with Gavin that understanding generalised linear models and experimenting with glmnet in R was incredibly beneficial. Many core concepts, such as linear regression, initially seem like a collection of arbitrary rules to memorize, instead of logical outcomes of comprehensible modeling choices.
4. China reported fewer births in 2025 than in 1776, a shocking statistic revealing demographic trends.
5. My recent piece for Progress Ireland addressed the economic impact of corporation tax:
6. Contrary to some educators who assert that constant repetition conditions students into compliance, there’s an argument to be made that memorizing poems can be remarkably beneficial.
7. Reflecting on St. Patrick’s Day prompts thoughts on how Irish cooks became historically notorious for their culinary struggles.
8. Insights into how Francis Bacon approached reading have sparked my interest. I have a Bacon quote on my (somewhat outdated) bookshelf page on my personal website.
9. Barra Roantree argues that in the absence of a proper land tax, it is evident that Ireland should rely more heavily on property taxes, which have been consistently eroded and undermined.
10. Tom Cunningham discusses the economic implications of transformative AI.
11. Tom McCarthy delves into the deceptions we tell ourselves during unproductive days. I can certainly relate to this experience.
12. The Trump administration’s decision to suspend the Jones Act also merits discussion.
Music and Podcasts
1. The Rest is History podcast featuring Conan O’Brien discussing the Beatles.
2. Ebo Taylor’s self-titled album, Ebo Taylor, is a favorite of mine. His recent passing is a significant loss to the highlife and Afrobeat music scenes. My top track is Heaven.
3. Henry Oliver reflects on what he learned by reading Peter Pan to his children. I often wonder how far I could have progressed in life if I possessed a voice as captivating as Henry’s.
4. Chick Corea and Hiromi’s collaborative album, Duet, showcases Hiromi’s incredible piano skills, though some of their studio work might not suit my taste. This album, however, hits all the right notes. My favorite track, Humpty Dumpty, originated from Corea’s album Mad Hatter.
5. Helen Castor discusses Richard II, Henry IV, and the political dynamics of medieval England. A highly engaging discussion.
6. Adam Brown touches upon general relativity, hitchhiking, and the controversial decision surrounding the nuclear bomb dropped on Nagasaki against direct orders. I find it interesting how Brown interprets AdS/CFT correspondence as a useful theoretical tool, unlike Julian Gough, who has a notably different view.
7. A dialogue among Dwarkesh Patel, Sholto Douglas, and Trenton Bricken examines if reinforcement learning and large language models can lead us to AGI. Might we see a scenario where the last tasks automated involve delicate handiwork in drab factories?
8. The Beatles’ The White Album is an intriguing experience when listened to in one sitting. Although I’ve heard the tracks individually a number of times, it’s notable how disjointed the album feels. The classic While My Guitar Gently Weeps remains unforgettable, and learning about this album’s connection to the Manson murders was unexpected. I have a fondness for Yer Blues and Helter Skelter, though I find Revolution 9 to be quite challenging to listen to, even acknowledging the Simpsons parody.
Books and Papers
1. Trevor Chow, Basil Halperin, and Zach Mazlish’s research paper, Transformative AI, Existential Risk, and Real Interest Rates, has finally made its way onto my reading list. The groundwork laid by this paper has evolved significantly. Here are the LessWrong and EA Forum comments, as well as objections from Jakob Graabak.
The central thesis posits that if one expects to consume significantly more in the future—or be turned into a paperclip—then one should increase current consumption by borrowing. This would imply a sharp rise in real interest rates, which currently, the market is not predicting. It seems there’s little expectation of transformative AI developing in the next thirty years. Thus, if you rely on the efficient market hypothesis, this suggests AGI isn’t on the impending horizon.
Nicholas Decker argues that this reasoning might be flawed, since AI’s impact may primarily derive from its ability to create goods and services that are simply unavailable today, regardless of price. There’s a possibility that in a post-AGI world, $1 might hold considerably greater utility, potentially resulting in a savings glut and declining real rates now. Additionally, deducing backward from current real rates is notoriously complex; Basil explores why he believes his paper aligns with Cowen’s Third Law, which posits that “all propositions about real interest rates are wrong.”
Nonetheless, it feels essential to offer meaningful insights about interest rates, given that economics generally encapsulates risk and consumption smoothing effectively. In contrast, the repercussions of AI on GDP or equity prices remain unclear.
While I don’t have firm opinions on this matter, it seems like a critical and valuable area for exploration. My friends in effective altruism who dismiss this paper as a quick dismissal of AI-related risks are, in my view, very much mistaken. I eagerly anticipate their forthcoming contributions.
2. Claude Shannon’s enlightening paper, Programming a Computer for Playing Chess, offers a fascinating reflection on the role of game-playing in AI’s evolution. This marks my second reading of Shannon’s work after his mathematical theory of communication. Within this paper, you encounter the origins of Shannon’s number, his estimation of the total possible chess matches—a persistently unsolved question!
3. Peter Singer’s anthology Ethics (Oxford Reader) provides a refreshing dive into philosophical thought. I cherish its structure, which comprises excerpts from key ethical works paired with insightful commentary. Interestingly, this was my introduction to non-Western philosophers! The intellectual giants I feel a tinge of guilt for not having read earlier include: Mencius, Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant, Marx, Engels, Nietzsche, Freud, Confucius, Martin Luther, Hegel, Henry Sidgwick, Wittgenstein, A.J. Ayer, The Buddha, Epicurus, Epictetus, Voltaire, Jeremy Bentham, William James, G.E. Moore, Gandhi, Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, and William Godwin. It’s eye-opening how a simple linkpost can reveal one’s ignorance…
However, I noted some peculiar inaccuracies in the book. In discussing Martin Luther’s “ninety-six” theses while commenting on the Sixth Commandment (p. 402), I was initially baffled until I confirmed that no new thesis has emerged since my last check AGAIN.
Similar inconsistencies arose in other works by Singer, which often overlook crucial details. In Animal Liberation, for instance, he uncritically repeats an overblown hoax about a valley in Ecuador, purportedly home to individuals living up to 142 due to vegetarian diets (in reality, only one person is substantiated to have surpassed 120 years). This error persists into the 2015 reissue with Yuval Noah Harari. Additionally, in The Life You Can Save, page 114, he repeats the potentially misleading claim that Cuba has lower child mortality than the United States.
Despite his significant contributions—like this book highlighting others’ work and infusing empirical rigor into philosophy since the 1970s—I struggle with papers like Moral Experts, which read more as moral psychology than moral philosophy. How should we interpret works from authors seemingly disinterested in empirical precision?
4. Clemens Fuest, Andreas Peichl, and Sebastian Siegloch have authored a compelling paper, Do Higher Corporate Taxes Reduce Wages? Micro Evidence from Germany. This research is well-crafted; see my Progress Ireland post for more insights.
5. Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman’s book, A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age, exemplifies the style of science communication that resembles the “string theory is like a taco” model. On page 64, we read sentences like:
Alan Turing contributed a famously pivotal step toward machine intelligence by proving that any solvable mathematical problem could, in principle, be addressed by machines.
This seems to reference Turing’s computable numbers paper. Yet, its definition of “solvable mathematical problem” isn’t accurately reflective of what Turing’s work entailed. Generally, the paper supports the Church-Turing thesis—which states anything effectively computable aligns with what a Turing machine can execute. But the Church-Turing thesis is fundamentally a philosophical position, not a theorem Turing claimed to possess.
The ambiguity becomes even clearer, given a subsequent reformulation showcased that the halting problem remains unresolvable by any machine, even though it is viewed as a “solvable mathematical problem.” So, while I commend the authors for venturing into a new subject area to produce the book they wished existed, the outcome feels more aligned with capturing Claude Shannon’s essence than anything else. This work shines when detailing Shannon’s fascinating side projects, such as the Roman numeral calculator (THROBAC) and his maze-navigating robot mouse (Theseus).
Films and Video
1. Josh Safdie’s film, Marty Supreme, from the director of Uncut Gems, truly impressed me! However, I can’t help but think that an even more intriguing story related to an American table tennis player and Eastern diplomacy is waiting to be told. The narrative of how ping pong contributed to normalizing relations between America and China would make a fascinating film. Perhaps Dave Franco could play the captain of the American team, with Tony Leung portraying Zhou Enlai?
2. Milton Friedman’s Free to Choose series is available for free on YouTube, offering ten well-executed episodes. Watching it before my Friedman event would have made a great addition to my preparation. Episode four features an interviewee on welfare in Britain, who’s got a thick Irish accent, not necessarily helpful for integration.
Several filming locations are quite captivating. In episode eight, Friedman visits the island of Kos to discuss Hippocrates, highlighting the clash between his famed oath and medical licensing. There are several reflective moments throughout the series, as in episode seven, Friedman remarks on only occasionally wearing a seatbelt.
Interestingly, several familiar faces unexpectedly appear throughout these episodes. Peter Temin features in episode three (his hair was already grey back in 1980).
3. Óliver Laxe’s film Sirāt is highly recommended. You can find a review by Tyler Cowen, who calls it one of the best films of the millennium. For an in-depth spoiler-filled analysis, visit this link. This has been one of the most profoundly moving films I’ve seen this past year. It’s a must-watch on the big screen.
4. From the Six Nations matchup, the match between Ireland and Scotland was quite impressive even for someone who isn’t well-versed in rugby. Ireland clinched the Triple Crown, awarded to a Home Nation for victories against all the others. Sadly, Ireland ultimately lost the tournament to France.
You can explore the full versions of Sam’s February links here and March links here.
Endnotes:
[1] They measure real interest rates in two ways: by subtracting inflation expectations from nominal rates and by analyzing yields on long-term inflation-linked bonds. Encouragingly, these methods yield consistent results.
[2] The number of possible chess games is not infinite due to the fifty-move rule, which dictates a game ends in a draw if neither piece is captured nor pawn moved for fifty consecutive moves.
[3] The Kindle edition, location 3428 of 5674 (chapter 4), often confuses me. This differs from the 2023 reissue, Animal Liberation Now, which, with Yuval Noah Harari, has undergone substantial content updates that I haven’t explored yet.
[4] The 2024 Ig Nobel Prize rewarded research debunking the clerical inaccuracies and fraud surrounding ‘blue zones’, areas touted for exceptional life expectancies. For more, check out Cremieux’s insights on extreme longevity.
[5] Turing himself did not subscribe to the belief that the human brain is restricted by what’s Turing computable.
[6] While I’ve suggested him for an imagined Morris Chang biopic, he genuinely deserves the recognition.
