LinkFest 2016-07-29

Man Who Doxxed Dozens Of People, Engaged In Nineteen 'Swattings', Nets Only One Year In Prison

I don't think I know enough to really have an opinion about appropriate sentencing for this, but it does *seem* a little light.

A Reason for Optimism

This is a fascinating look at patterns in consumption over the past 50 years, and how the gap between rich and poor looks a little different when you look at consumption measures instead of income. I looked at the draft paper in order to understand exactly what was being measured. To my outsider's eye, consumption is primarily spending, with some adjustments like amortizing the value of a car over its lifetime instead of accounting for it all when it is purchased, to reflect the value gained by using the car. When you look at it this way, the difference between the spending habits of the top 10% and everyone else in the US has not really changed much in the last 30 years or so. Part of the reason for this is transfers and subsidies from safety-net programs are not usually reflected in income measures.

Tyler Cowen's Great Stagnation

A nice summary of the idea that economic progress in the West has stalled.

The Terror of Sierra Leone

I came across this while reading a story about the trainer jets Nigeria uses to bomb Boko Haram. War is hell, and especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This is as horrible as war gets.