181–190 of 528 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right now, in the US, we've given them no reason. But that's not a law of nature. For example a country might have an industrial policy.
Having an industrial policy has been disastrous for most countries that have tried it. Works fine for a few years and then everything falls apart as the grifting builds up and disruptive innovations destroy the underlying reasons for the original policy goals.
Maybe we shouldn't have required 'kissing the ring' segments in every scientific grant proposal
The utter lack of self-awareness needed to post something like this now should humiliate them, of course it's a throwaway account.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right now, in the US, we've given them no reason. But that's not a law of nature. For example a country might have an industrial policy.
Having an industrial policy has been disastrous for most countries that have tried it. Works fine for a few years and then everything falls apart as the grifting builds up and disruptive innovations destroy the underlying reasons for the original policy goals.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Repealing Bayh-Dole is a terrible idea. A lot of research produces enough to get a patent but still requires a lot more development to get a product. Drugs are probably the best example.
Wouldn't a company still be able to patent the additional development they did to turn the original research into a product? E.g. delivery method patents are very common. I don't see why they need to own the original research.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> all shareholders That's the key phrase, they benefit all shareholders. Buybacks on the other hand only benefit the following shareholders: 1. those with regularly vesting stock options and stock grants - basically employees. For non-tech companies especially, this only means high-ranking employees 2. those who intend to sell - that is, soon-to-be-ex shareholders 3. those who borrow against their stock - typically h…
Can't group #2 sell 4% of their holdings, thereby remaining shareholders, and delivering to themselves the tax-advantaged equivalent of a 4% dividend?
Long-term gains and qualified dividends (shares held longer than 60 days) are taxed at the same rate. What's the tax advantage here?
Universities spend ~$109 billion a year on research. ~$60 billion of that $109 billion comes from the National Institutes for Health (NIH) for biomedical research, National Science Foundation (NSF) for basic science, Department of War (DoW), Department of Energy (DOE), for energy/physics/nuclear, DARPA, NASA. Let's talk about the other $49B. I read or heard someplace that at many universities tuition paid by students…
> I read or heard someplace that at many universities tuition paid by students in the social sciences is effectively subsidizing the STEM fields Diploma mill universities in my state are consolidating the smaller STEM universities and trade schools to build football and sports programs, gyms, and "lifestyle" amenities. This university in particular [1] mints basket weaving degrees and has used consolidation to build…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> all shareholders That's the key phrase, they benefit all shareholders. Buybacks on the other hand only benefit the following shareholders: 1. those with regularly vesting stock options and stock grants - basically employees. For non-tech companies especially, this only means high-ranking employees 2. those who intend to sell - that is, soon-to-be-ex shareholders 3. those who borrow against their stock - typically h…
What is your definition of "benefit"? Assuming a buyback increases share prices, why would shareholders in general be indifferent?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> all shareholders That's the key phrase, they benefit all shareholders. Buybacks on the other hand only benefit the following shareholders: 1. those with regularly vesting stock options and stock grants - basically employees. For non-tech companies especially, this only means high-ranking employees 2. those who intend to sell - that is, soon-to-be-ex shareholders 3. those who borrow against their stock - typically h…
This is just nonsense. Anyone can sell the stock if they wish, there is no privilege for the high-net worth. Additionally, shareholders benefit from reduced share count because it increases their claim on future profits thereby increasing compounding.
Borrowing against stock is mostly something for HNW people.
> shareeholders benefit from reduced share count because it increases their claim on future profits
So...dividends? Or when they eventually sell? What if I never want to sell?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> all shareholders That's the key phrase, they benefit all shareholders. Buybacks on the other hand only benefit the following shareholders: 1. those with regularly vesting stock options and stock grants - basically employees. For non-tech companies especially, this only means high-ranking employees 2. those who intend to sell - that is, soon-to-be-ex shareholders 3. those who borrow against their stock - typically h…
4. Those who intend to re-invest all returns in to the stock, who avoid a taxable event when their ownership of the company goes up without having to first pay tax for the dividend. A stock buyback rewards all stockholders equally . Those who sell, get their reward in cash. Those who do not sell, get their reward in the proportion of their ownership of the company going up.
Sell the stock then use the gains to buy the stock? I'm very confused by this.
> without having to first pay tax for the dividend
Long term capital gains and dividends are taxed at the same rate. The only tax-free way to benefit from a higher share price (that I know of) is to borrow against it.
> get their reward in the proportion of their ownership of the company going up.
Which only matters if the company pays dividends, or the shareholders eventually sell.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really? What is so innovative? LLMs are just better google. In the past, you used to google shit, and copy paste from stack overflow, now you just skip the middle man and go directly to Chat GPT. Anyone that has been programming for a while can attest to that the answers aren't any better, its just more efficient to iterate on them now. AI hasn't even begun to be solved yet. Everyone is focused on feedforward transfo…
This is a very surface level analysis like saying that the automobile was just an iterative improvement over a horse. Or a computer is just a better abacus. Fundamental research is all about diving into the weeds and finding new problems to solve. It's true that some of the "low hanging fruit" no longer exists (you won't see someone like Euler or Newton who's names pop up all over the place), but I can promise you th…
What do humans need right now to improve their lives substantially?