Saturday Links

Another week in the life of my open tabs. I’m not even going to open my phone today as that’s a hoarder nightmare. Instead I’m just using the laptop. I’m downstairs in my hotel’s coffeeshop in beautiful San Sebastián, and I’ve got to get writing done this week before my daughter gets here Tuesday. I know people say phrases like “I am counting the days until you get here”. But I am deep into “counting the days until she gets here” that I sometimes go to bed early so that I can make her come here faster — which is the only time travel I have access to. This weekly post is for paying subscribers only. I also updated this and after 7 days, all free posts go behind the paywall. I hope to get back to Mixtape Mailbag soon, but just have not had a good system at all for taking those letters in, so I may just ask you to write my assistant Kirstin at her email if you want me to do a Mixtape Mailbag. Just put “Mixtape Mailbag” in the subject line and she’ll be sure to make me get it done. Let’s dive into some interesting things from this week, though.

Donald Rubin’s 2008 “Design Trumps Analysis” is an under appreciated classic paper in causal inference. It covers the “design stage” that Rubin thinks we skip over too fast — sometimes entirely — and suggests it is partly because of a prioritization of technical prowess in statistical work. Highly recommend you read this. He’ll be speaking at the Northwestern causal inference workshop later this month, where I’ll be helping Bernie Black organize it, and I’ve asked Rubin to discuss the paper over lunch with us.

RAND has a long document on psychedelic reform for those interested in this topic. I haven’t read it yet, but will once I move forward with my own project on this.