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Assorted links
1. Filipino food is better than you think.
2. Real life mast tying from Google.
3. Betting market on the economics Nobel Prize.
4. Markets in everything: a lego doppelganger of your beloved. Only $60K.
5. What is an economist worth?
6. Heroes of capitalism, a new blog.
I thank a variety of MR readers for the pointers.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on October 8, 2008 at 11:06 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink
Comments
As many Filipinos as I've met traveling around Asia, I've seen very few Filipino restaurants, which always surprised me. Filipino food is not that spicy and they use forks, which would make it much more approachable for westerners.
The worst hamburger I ever ate was at a Jollibees in Manila.
Posted by: Gary at Oct 8, 2008 11:25:02 AM
Regarding Filipino food, I did a bit of quick'n'dirty internet-based statistics to look at the popularity of various foods in Italy (I was able to dig up immigration statistics quickly and easily) compared to the number of immigrants from said country. Filipino restaurants are not popular there, despite there being many immigrants.
http://journal.dedasys.com/articles/2008/05/13/restaurants-immigrants-and-the-popularity-of-various-cuisines
It would be interesting to see someone take those statistics and run with them a bit; doing things a bit more carefully and with more and different data sources.
Posted by: David N. Welton at Oct 8, 2008 11:29:14 AM
Filipino food is perhaps the only asian food I do not care for a second serving. After tasting the food, it is relatively easy to opt for pizza or pasta. I feel so bad for admitting this. Filipino people are beautiful, arts are good, why can't they do something about their cuisine? Is it because they have many asian cuisine substitutes available, which reduces the pressure for innovation?
Posted by: Yan Li at Oct 8, 2008 12:19:55 PM
The Heroes of Capitalism blog is great.
Candace Allen and Dwight Lee Allen wrote a 1996 Journal of Private Enterprise article called “The Entrepreneur as Hero.” It won the best paper award. Perhaps the main point of their article was:
“Just as the society that doesn't venerate winners of races will produce fewer champion runners than the society that does, the society that does not honor entrepreneurial accomplishment will find fewer people of ability engaged in wealth creation than the society that does.”
Posted by: Cyril Morong at Oct 8, 2008 12:35:13 PM
Sorry, it should just be Dwight Lee, not Dwight Lee Allen
Posted by: Cyril Morong at Oct 8, 2008 12:36:45 PM
Best arbitrage ever:
Buy an economist for his worth and sell for his own assesed worth
Posted by: k at Oct 8, 2008 12:40:43 PM
"Heroes of capitalism" is an oxymoron, as capitalism is an anti-heroic doctrine by nature. One of the main differences between "capitalism" and other modes of social organization is that it puts "markets" and "emergent orders" at its core, rather than rely on "heroes" or "philosopher kings" to drive it or guide its path. A successful capitalist is not a "hero" - he is merely the product of the (self interested) actions of other market participants.
Capitalism makes fame and fortune possible, but individual entrepreneurs do not "make capitalism happen" through some "heroic" act.
If that sounds negative, look at it this way: we're all heroes of capitalism!
Posted by: sd at Oct 8, 2008 12:50:24 PM
If you're looking for good Filipino food, the last place you want to go is a Filipino restaurant. You have to become friends with some Filipinos and get invited to one of their family parties (which they hold almost every week). When I get some pancit, lumpia, pork/chicken abobe, and fried rice piled on my plate, I forget what the BBQs I grew up with were like. I finish it off with some buku, and go home with two days of left overs. It's awesome.
Posted by: Rolo Tomasi at Oct 8, 2008 12:50:42 PM
I had been to ... was it The Green Papaya? ... in Tustin CA, and was impressed. It's closed though. The OC Filipino food that I know of now tends to be steam trays in Filipino markets ... pointers?
Posted by: odograph at Oct 8, 2008 1:19:10 PM
Pollo adobo is indeed a good dish not mentioned in the
link about Filipino food.
I predict the betting market on the Nobels will again look
foolish this year as it did last year. I see only one of
the bunch listed by them as having a strong chance this year.
Posted by: Barkley Rosser at Oct 8, 2008 3:23:19 PM
I should not do this, but I cannot resist.
If the prize goes to the top candidate of the
prediction market, it would be going to the least
deserving of those listed. His most famous idea
is simply wrong.
Posted by: Barkley Rosser at Oct 8, 2008 3:41:18 PM
"Filipino food is better than you think."
I cannot agree. Overall it lacks spices and taste, is almost always overcooked and filled to the brim with pork fat. Good kinilaw is all right and theoretically the grilled seafood should be good to, but unfortunately it's almost always overcooked. You can find expensive (30$+) food in Manila that's decent but around the country (and I've been to many of the islands) and any Filipino food in Manila for less than 30$ is almost uniformly quite bad, in my opinion. I'm sorry to say because aside from the cuisine it's really pleasant to be there and friendlier people is hard to find.
Posted by: Recent expat in PH at Oct 8, 2008 3:45:48 PM
As a refreshing change this year, wouldn't it be a good idea to, rather than give out a new Nobel in Economics, instead take back one of the bad Economics Nobels of the past?
Posted by: Steve Sailer at Oct 8, 2008 3:50:38 PM
Is it possible to make up the loss in the stock market from betting who will win the Nobel econ prize? With a 12X odds and if a bet wins, $2,000 would turn into $24,000. In the today's stock market, it is easy for a $100,000 portfolio to loose $2,000 a day. Why don't people cash out, and put a small sum into the betting market of economists, horses, cars, or something else?
Posted by: Yan Li at Oct 8, 2008 5:26:10 PM
French food is better than you think. Really.
Posted by: Critic at Oct 8, 2008 5:34:15 PM
Pro sports have tight rules against their players and umpires betting, does the Nobel committee? What's to keep someone on the committee from getting a few bucks out of this?
Or maybe will someone like Feldstein "throw the game" to make a quick buck?
Posted by: K. at Oct 8, 2008 7:22:39 PM
As for Filipino food, aside from chicken and pork adobo, definitely try the Filipino version of chicken or pork BBQ. Otherwise, especially for people who like other Asian cuisines, give "Bicol Express" a try. It's a spicy curry made with pork and vegetables cooked in coconut milk.
Posted by: Ricardo at Oct 8, 2008 11:14:04 PM
Two observations on Filipino food. First, it's a victim of easy association. People immediately say "Oh it's like _____ (insert Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian, etc.)" .
Second, we (yes I am Filipino) have a very poor way of presenting (even preparing) food. Like what Rolo said, I would never take friends to a Filipino restaurant but would cook for them. It's unfortunate. I know of people who have raved about Asian dishes made by some chefs in expensive places in NY and Chicago only to find out that those chefs were heavily influenced by their stints in the Philippines.
Posted by: Ben at Oct 9, 2008 9:25:11 AM
