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asymmetricinfo's profile
Megan McArdle
Megan McArdle
Megan McArdle
Verified account
@asymmetricinfo

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Megan McArdleVerified account

@asymmetricinfo

Columnist at the Washington Post. Opinions my own. Email me: Megan.McArdle -at- http://washpost.com  Buy my book, The Up Side of Down http://amzn.to/1a3i2tK 

Washington, DC
Joined September 2008

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    1. Tom Nichols‏Verified account @RadioFreeTom 12 Apr 2019
      Replying to @michaelbd @jamespoulos

      They're full of nutritious germanium, stop complaining

      2 replies 1 retweet 30 likes
    2. Michael Brendan Dougherty‏Verified account @michaelbd 12 Apr 2019
      Replying to @RadioFreeTom @jamespoulos

      It’s all well and good to have better computers and dentistry. But my wife and I make good salaries yet can’t afford the old (small) home my grandfather could on a mid level civil servant’s salary. The birth of our child cost more than my mother’s annual salary in 1999.

      11 replies 21 retweets 215 likes
    3. Michael Brendan Dougherty‏Verified account @michaelbd 12 Apr 2019
      Replying to @michaelbd @RadioFreeTom @jamespoulos

      That is the very basics of life are far more costly now that they were before. My grandfather’s house isn’t majorly improved or in a neighborhood majorly improved. Child mortality rates in birth haven’t improved that dramatically since 1999.

      8 replies 8 retweets 108 likes
    4. Will Wilkinson  🌐‏Verified account @willwilkinson 12 Apr 2019
      Replying to @michaelbd @RadioFreeTom @jamespoulos

      I'm with you on this, MBD. Our generation WOULD be considerably richer than Boomers if not for massive increases in the costs of the most important things money can buy: healthcare, education, housing.

      8 replies 6 retweets 114 likes
    5. Tom Nichols‏Verified account @RadioFreeTom 12 Apr 2019
      Replying to @willwilkinson @michaelbd @jamespoulos

      But is your *standard of living* worse. This is the quality of life question that no one likes talking about. My daughter visited my childhood home and came away thinking I grew up in abject poverty. I didn't, but compared to now? Sorta, in life quality terms, yes.

      5 replies 3 retweets 45 likes
    6. Will Wilkinson  🌐‏Verified account @willwilkinson 12 Apr 2019
      Replying to @RadioFreeTom @michaelbd @jamespoulos

      I love talking about this, have written tons about it over the years. The difference between my parents at childhood and me at childhood is huge. The difference between them at my age and me at my age is basically nothing, despite my household income being multiples of theirs.

      4 replies 1 retweet 51 likes
    7. Tom Nichols‏Verified account @RadioFreeTom 12 Apr 2019
      Replying to @willwilkinson @michaelbd @jamespoulos

      I lived a better quality of life at 27 being totally broke then my father did with a full-time job owning a house.

      3 replies 0 retweets 17 likes
    8. Will Wilkinson  🌐‏Verified account @willwilkinson 12 Apr 2019
      Replying to @RadioFreeTom @michaelbd @jamespoulos

      This is just reflecting that you're older than me, so a smaller % of your lifespan has been after the onset of the Great Stagnation. The younger you are, the smaller your gains relative to your parents.

      4 replies 1 retweet 63 likes
    9. Will Wilkinson  🌐‏Verified account @willwilkinson 12 Apr 2019
      Replying to @willwilkinson @RadioFreeTom and

      If I'd had kids when I was in my early twenties, they'd be graduating college, and they'd be clearly worse off in terms of purchasing power. I used to make the same arguments you're making, and they used to be correct, but they just aren't anymore.

      4 replies 1 retweet 59 likes
    10. Will Wilkinson  🌐‏Verified account @willwilkinson 12 Apr 2019
      Replying to @willwilkinson @RadioFreeTom and

      It's exceedingly hard to put an economic value on kids, but it's quite clear that rising costs in house/health/school fundamentals puts a brake on fertility. So lots of people who would like more kids don't have them. Lots of would-be kids don't exist, so have no quality of life.

      3 replies 1 retweet 59 likes
      Megan McArdle‏Verified account @asymmetricinfo 12 Apr 2019
      Replying to @willwilkinson @RadioFreeTom and

      Not actually sure this is all that clear. Fertility is not better than ours in places where education and health care are free at point of consumption, and even in regression studies that purport to find an effects, the effect size is pretty underwhelming.

      9:44 AM - 12 Apr 2019
      • 1 Retweet
      • 53 Likes
      • Matt Ralph Waldo Porcupine James Garcia Alver Andrew Koss (((Sarah))) Lynn Klein Kayla Lahti Art Sam Schulman كافر| ن
      4 replies 1 retweet 53 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Megan McArdle‏Verified account @asymmetricinfo 12 Apr 2019
          Replying to @asymmetricinfo @willwilkinson and

          Better birth control, competition from improved leisure options and Mom's career, and later marriage all seem to be much more important factors.

          4 replies 0 retweets 48 likes
        3. Tom Nichols‏Verified account @RadioFreeTom 12 Apr 2019
          Replying to @asymmetricinfo @willwilkinson and

          IIRC, it's one of the more solid comparative social science observations that increasing levels of education almost always decrease family size, no matter where it is.

          1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes
        4. Show replies
        1. Daniel Takash (rhymes with brackish)‏ @DanielTakash 12 Apr 2019
          Replying to @asymmetricinfo @willwilkinson and

          https://capturedeconomy.com/birth-rates-dropped-most-in-counties-where-home-values-grew-most/ … Indeed. Definitely a negative link, but modest. Entirely possible it's a reverse causation issue, where people waiting for more financial security don't have kids, and have more $ to pay for housing.pic.twitter.com/lClv8UkrDx

          0 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
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        1. The Ultimate Resource Warrior‏ @TheDangerman061 12 Apr 2019
          Replying to @asymmetricinfo @willwilkinson and

          Feel like this discussion overvalues absolute effects and undervalues variability in effects. I.e even if everyone is richer, if the variability in riches is also higher then bad things happen.

          0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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        1. Worried Denizen‏ @WorriedDenizen 12 Apr 2019
          Replying to @asymmetricinfo @willwilkinson and

          We nordics pay for those things through taxes, and the ‘housing bubble’ has been going for almost 10 years now. When asked why they have fewer children than they planned, most common reason given is ‘too expensive’.

          0 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
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