Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Fun with Stata: Batch Mode (Part II)

Contrary to my initial findings, running Stata in batch mode does not seem to make programs run faster afterall. I ran the same experiment as last time, alternating between running the same program in batch mode and interactive mode. The main difference this time is that the program is longer. Here are the results:

Trial #. batch time, interactive time
1. 4:57, 4:27
2. 7:29, 5:33
3. 5:47, 8:15
4. 9:14, 5:48
5. 8:38, 7:30

The average batch time was 7:13 while the average interactive time was 6:19 so, if anything, batch mode seems to be slower for longer programs. Darn! The experiment was done under realistic conditions rather than "clean" conditions since I had to use the computer for other things while running the tests (which is probably why there is a lot of variation in the times) so this isn't a conclusive result but it's enough for me to stop using batch mode.

The most interesting result here is how much variance there is in times. I didn't expect this to be the case since I have a dual-core processor which makes it easier to run multiple applications at the same time. The large variance is actually good news since it means there's potentially a lot of room for figuring out how to make Stata run faster. Furthermore, the best lead for trying to reduce times is in figuring out why it was so fast in first trial!





Monday, July 30, 2007

Bad Government! Bad!

Protectionism in (pre-reform) Ghana
The Ghanaians were so eager to have domestic automobile production that they imported kits with a complete set of auto parts from Yugoslavia. They then assembled the cars and sold them. But the international price at which they bought the kits was greater than the international price of the fully assembled vehicle!

Corruption and bureaucracy in Peru
Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto registered a small clothing factory in Lima as an experiment and decided in advance not to pay bribes. During the time it took to get registered, government officials asked for bribes ten times. In two cases, he had to break his own rule and pay the bribes, or the experiment would have come to a halt. In the end, it took ten months to register the clothing factory. A similar procedure takes four hours in New York.

These gems are from Chapter 11 of Easterly's The Elusive Quest for Growth. Having finished it, my previous thoughts on the book stand. After Chapter 6, Chapter 11 is easily the second best of the book.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

School Choice

The argument behind school choice is relatively simple. If parents can choose to send their children to any school, they will send them to the best schools. The best schools will expand and enrollment will drop at the poor schools until they shape-up or shut down.

The theory is persuasive in arguing that school choice would improve education, on average. The most obvious reason is that administrators would have greater incentive to attract good teachers and get rid of the bad ones. But the greatest gains may come from innovations that we can't even imagine at this point. Who knows what could be done if schools were free to experiment with new ideas?

At the same time, the concern about fairness is understandable. Perhaps all of the kids with bad parents would be left behind at the bad schools. Even if this were true, the theory suggests that bad schools would eventually shut down and choice would lead to a better education for these kids as well. Thus, even though the gains may be greatest for kids of affluent parents, most would likely gain. Still, if a policy would help nearly everyone, it should probably be pursued even if it doesn't help everyone equally. There are other means of promoting equality, including giving larger subsidies to poor families. I need to read more of the critics of this policy--I'm sure there are other issues.

Caroline Hoxby's has a nice primer on this topic. She explains why a lot of programs that look like they satisfy true school choice do not. Most importantly, schools must be able to expand and contract flexibly. For example, a state with magnet schools is not expected to reap the benefits of choice even though they don't limit enrollment based on residence. Why? They have no scope for growth. Instead, if there is excess demand, the spots are rationed and lots of kids may be left behind in bad schools. Hoxby also reviews the empirical evidence that points to the possible gains of school choice.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

The Loans That Were, the Growth That Wasn't

A Halfway-through Review...

William Easterly's The Elusive Quest for Growth reads as much like sociology as it does economics. It explains and deconstructs the modern history of thought on why some poor countries develop and others do not including theories related to: low investment, low investment in education, high fertility, and contingent lending. More than that, it tells why outside efforts usually fail to make a difference--as a (now former) economist at the World Bank, Easterly is in a great position to provide insight.

Sometimes the detail makes it read a bit slow but that's okay as long as you don't mind skipping bits because the detail is brilliant and captivating in some parts.

You should read chapter 6. I cannot recommend it highly enough. The Marshall Plan approach characterized by attaching loans to policy reform requirements is often seen as the best way to help countries develop. Theoretically, it gives countries aid through loans and makes them adopt policies that will help them grow. In chapter 6, Easterly explains why this theoretically sound approach has often been a failure. One reason:

Most donor institutions are set up with a separate country department for each country or group of countries. The budget of this department is determined by the amount of resources it disburses to recipients. A department that does not disburse its loan budget will likely receive a smaller buget the following year...so the people in the country departments feel the incentive to disburse even when loan conditions are not met.


London Trip Directory

We're here
Day 1
Day 2 (Ben Johnson Edition)
Day 3 (Football Chants Edition)

Announcement on the Tube
Day 4
Tragedy of the Commons in the Gallery

Day 5 Guess Who? Edition
Day 6
Day 7 (Last Day Edition)

Wrap Up

London Trip: Wrap Up

Top 3 activities:
1. Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park
2. Fulham at Brighton soccer game (probably would have been #1 if it wasn't so expensive and freezing cold)
3. National Gallery

What I wouldn't do again: Natural History Museum (pretty generic)

Where I would like to spend more time: British Museum

Best "British" food: chicken tikka masala (I'm with the masses on this one)

Biggest challenge: eating on a budget which included too many pastries for breakfast or snacks

Favorite picture I took:


Biggest surprises:
-tours were great (too bad we didn't have time at St. Paul's)
-pub food was pretty expensive by my standards
-trash cans are impossible to find on The Underground

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

London Trip: Day 7 (Last Day Edition)

Setting out for our last day in London, we planned a very full day to fit in the last three things we didn't want to go home without having done. We began with St. Paul's Cathedral.



The famous dome, the third largest in the world, was amazing. I didn't know this until I saw it but, within the cathedral, there is the American Memorial Chapel to commemorate the Americans based in Britain who gave their lives in WWII. Each day the page is turned in a huge book listing all their names. There are four levels of the cathedral that you can explore. The Whispering Gallery, on the second level, was neat. It was pretty impressive how far you could hear a whisper across the dome. On the third level was the Stone Gallery, which was on the outside of the dome, had a great view of the city.



What I failed to mention so far is that we had to climb narrow spiral staircases all the way up. A total of 434 steps to the Golden Gallery on the fourth level. But the trek to the fourth level from the third was by far worse than anything that preceded it. I admit that my legs were getting a bit tired at this point but that's not the main reason I started shaking. The fact that these steps were iron and I could see through them absolutely terrified me. I've never experienced anything quite like it before--I was shaking and it was actually somewhat paralyzing. I clutched the handrail on one side and the interior of the staircase on the other and moved forward, slowly. I didn't want to go on, though. If I had any choice, I wouldn't have. Here's a picture of me trying to make light of the situation.


In the end, I made it to the top. The marginal benefit of going to the fourth level was pretty small but I'm a completionist (which is something I hope to work on in the future) so I probably would have done it even if I'd have known. By the end of it, our feet were sore. Note: St. Paul's Cathedral is not a smart way to begin a day in which you plan to do lots more walking.

Next, we headed to The British Museum.


The main galleries we focused on here involved Egypt, Greece, and Mesopotamia. The Rosetta Stone, the key to unlocking the secrets of hieroglyphics, was a highlight along with mummies and lots of Greek sculptures. I fit right in with the latter....


Note 1: Yes, my right arm is strategically placed in the first picture. Gotta keep this PG-13.
Note 2: Jenise did the second picture.
Note 3: Plan to spend an entire day at the British Museum. Rushing through these galleries is about as exciting as spending time at an antique store or garage sale. You really have to do a lot of reading to have any appreciation for what you see. We were thorough with a number of the galleries but I'm sure there's a lot we missed out on that we would have enjoyed because....

We had to make our way to Tate Modern. Before moving on, I should say that I expected to hate much of what I saw at Tate Modern. Indeed, I did. In any case, there were lots of famous artists on display including Monet, Mattisse, Picasso, and Pollack.

We also saw a room full of Rothko's that looked like very much like this (which I made using Paint):


Impressive, ain't it! I thought it was amusing that there were a *ton* of paintings that looked very similar to these. I wonder why? Maybe, ummmm, because it's not that hard? All you have to do is convince a critical mass of well-to-do people to buy into your pretentiousness?

There were also heaps of metal laying around all over the place. I think the janitors didn't pick them up because they happened to fall on the "art" side of the ropes. In all seriousness, is it not commonly agreed that the best literature works on multiple levels? Why should paintings or sculpture be any different? If it's not beautiful, or at least intriguing, I'm done.

All wasn't lost, though, because (besides the fact that I got a kick out of laughing at the terrible stuff) there was a lot of neat stuff as well. The impressionist and realist works were great on the whole. And, I admit it, even some of the "weird stuff" was great. This one was probably my favorite.

To conclude our last night in London, we went to the pub for dinner. Jenise finally got to have a Shandy as was recommended by both Sarah and my mom. It was quite yummy. I knew I'd like it better than my beer!

Monday, July 23, 2007

London Trip: Day 6

Todays post is brought to you by Jenise....

Today we went to the Tower of London. This was our first look at a real castle. As we came out of the underground The Tower was right in front of us!


As Jason and I walked around The Tower we realized we needed to by tickets to go in and look around. Of course there were "loads" (one of my new British words) of people already in line! I didn't know you could purchase the tickets online and we wasted half an hour waiting just to get ours.


We walked through the Main Entrance and immediately saw the Yeomen Warders. The Yeomen, or Beefeaters, live in The Tower and serve as guards so they make wonderful guides as well. They are quite interesting characters (that's "report card talk" for loud and obnoxious). He told us about how the executionor would become friendly with the the prisoner's but not "San Francisco friendly" for us Americans. He also had lots to say about the French and gave the audience a hard time for being bloodthirsty (since we all wanted to hear about the prisoners and executions and whatnot). Like our trip to Westminster Abbey, the tour was pretty awesome.


After the tour we explored the towers, turrets and palace. Our first stop was to see the Crown Jewels in The Jewel House. Of course there were diamonds and other jewels there but the most beautiful thing was Elizabeth II's coronation robe made from spun gold.

Next, we made our way to Traitor's Gate. This is were most of the prisoners entered The Tower of London. Fun factoid: it was initially called "Trader's Gate" because it was first used as an entrance for traders.


We walked through Beauchamp Tower where many important prisoners were kept. These included Lady Jane Gray, one of Henry the VIII's wives, who was beheaded. The people who were kept here often did "graffiti" on the walls which we were able to look at. Then we went to The Bloody Tower. This tower is notorious for the disappearance of two princes in 1483. This tower has set up a sort of "who done it?" on the disappearance of the two boys. The suspects backgrounds and motives are presented and evidence is given, then you get to vote on who you think killed, or kidnapped the princes. A substantial majority holds Richard III responsible as the popular accounts by Thomas More and William Shakespeare.


We then moved on to The White Tower where the royals lived long ago. This later became an armory.

In The White Tower we were able to look at weapons the British used throughout history along with many suits of armor. This is a picture of the infamous Henry VIII. Our yeoman said to make sure we took a look at it: "It is the first use of psychological warfare in history!" You may need to enlarge the photo to understand...er maybe not!


While we were there we had to watch the ravens for a bit, which are very important to The Tower. There is a legend that says that if the ravens ever leave, the entire kingdom would fall. Those are high stakes so what do you think they did? Clip their wings!


We meant to go to St. Paul's today but ran out of time. Instead we went to Tower Bridge, the former site of the London Bridge.


Only one day left in London then its back to sunny California!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

London Trip: Day 5 (Guess Who? Edition)

Today began with a trip to Spitalfields Market. It was filled with vendors selling clothes and handbags mostly. We expected to see good prices since it's a market and all but that wasn't the case. It was fun to browse around, though.


Next we went to Speakers' Corner at Hyde Park. Every 15 yards or so, there was another person standing on a stool speaking. Most of them were very very skilled and charismatic speakers (which wasn't surprising considering most of them seemed to be regulars.) Jenise's brother (Kyle) once told me that some famous philosopher said that eloquence is the highest virtue. Well, these folks made a convincing counterargument. They were mostly (all?) idiots--like shock jocks who actually believed the garbage they were spewing. It was amazingly entertaining. One of the highlights of the trip so far.

Now for the game. Get out a pen and paper and match the description/quotes with their speakers. A few might surprise you. I'll post the answers in the comments.

1. Discussing "Almost anything." Drew the second biggest crowd there. Very funny.
2. Wants foreigners out of England. "You are all peasants!" Evil incarnate.
3. "Muslims civilized Europe." Cited "actual books!"
4. Espoused "the genius of the black people" and listed all of the bad deeds of the white devils. Said one of the biggest problems in the world right now is misogyny. Then went on to say "all you women are completely ignorant" (because of the revealing clothes). Drew the biggest crowd.
5. Generally had nothing to say. Formerly gave "hugs for free" in the park. Was a prick.
6. Glory of Islam.
7. Glory of Christianity.
8. "Islam is evil" and "Mohamed was a killer."
9. Glory of Islam #2. Mostly intended to get audience to convert. "You get double the rewards from Allah if you aren't born in."
10. "It's going to get worse."

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.

Once again, the answers can be found in the comments. Let us know how you did!



Saturday, July 21, 2007

Tragedy of the Commons In the Gallery

The tragedy of the commons refers to a situation in which everyone would be better off if they would cooperate but they don't cooperate because individuals can always do better by cheating the others; since everyone knows that others will cheat them if they get the chance, agreements are never made.

What does this have to do with the Gallery? Well, there was a pretty big crowd around Van Gogh's "Sunflowers." In the abstract, it looked like this (people are o's and the painting is x):
-------x-------
-----o-o-o-----
----o-o-o-o----

Here, only 3 people can enjoy the painting. If only those front 3 would move out of the way, then 4 people could enjoy the painting. But what happens when the front 3 leave? People from the second row move forward (one of them out of luck) and, once again, only 3 people can enjoy the painting! The funny thing is that even the lucky 3 who make it to the front row lose out--they would probably enjoy the painting more if they weren't so darn close. But if they don't grab one of the close spots, someone will jump in front of them and they won't be able to see it at all!

So how can you improve this situation? The two ready solutions are to introduce a market of sorts or to have a benevolent dictator force individuals to do what's best for everyone. Coase theorem (the free market solution) would have the property rights to the space assigned to someone who would rent the space to those who value it the most. Of course, this is downright silly since it would be incredibly costly for an individual to manage all the customers who only want to see it for a short time. Instead, the gallery (benevolent dictator) should rope more area to force people further from the painting. It's so easy, isn't it?

London Trip: Day 4

Today we started with a trip to Buckingham Palace. It was an amazing building with some very nice adjacent parks.


My favorite thing about Buckingham Palace was actually the sculptures on the fountain out front which seemed to glorify the common man. The characters depicted were normal folk as evidenced by the tools they held but they were stoic, strong, and stood next to lions.


Next we walked along St. James Park to the National Gallery.


The National Gallery is separated into four sections: 1250-1500, 1500-1600, 1600-1700, and 1700-1900. In each room, we played the "if you could take any home with you which would it be?" game. We agreed maybe 25% of the time. I tend to prefer slightly simpler and darker works than Jenise. We meant to go in chronological order but we accidentally began with 1500-1600 where the stars were Da Vinci (hyperlinks go to our favorite paintings we saw), Raphael, and Michelangelo. I think I more than quadrupled my knowledge of the Bible here since nearly all of the paintings depicted scenes from it. Next was the 1250-1500 section which starred Bodicelli and a ton of frescoes. The works in this section were pretty disappointing compared to what we just saw so we went through pretty quickly. Next was the 1600-1700 section. Here, Rembrandt was the brightest star. We were getting pretty tired when we got to the 1700-1900 but that didn't last long because it was the best section of them all with Monet, Van Gogh, and Degas. I really didn't want to make a snobby statement like this but it's true. You have to see Monet and Van Gogh in person to fully appreciate them. I've always liked Van Gogh but never knew how thick he laid on the paint--the depth it created was stunning. And, to be honest, I never really liked Monet before--I think seeing them in their true scale made a big difference but the pictures online don't seem to get the colors right either, especially for this one which was my favorite.

We left the gallery on a mission to acquire Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. British editions! We got both an adult version and a kids version which don't differ in content.

Before returning to our hotel, we had dinner at an Indian restaurant. We had chicken tikka masala which has been voted England's favorite food. It was a curry dish that was a little sweet, a tiny bit tangy, with a bit of hotness. Yummy. The best meal since we got here.

That's all folks. Gotta get started on Harry Potter. Any comments having to do with Harry Potter are off limits on the blog. I also will not mention it again. For a good while anyways and if I do I'll give good warning.

Announcement on the Tube

"Ladies and Gentlemen. I just spoke to the technical staff I'm sorry to inform you that we will be delayed. Apparently the technical staff ain't that technical."

Friday, July 20, 2007

Sci-Fi Thriller Meets Philosophy of the Mind

She swears she wants to be a boy when she grows up; she isn't going to hit puberty for another six years, and she may change her mind when her body starts changing.

This is from Charles Stross' Glasshouse which many regard as his best work. (High praise considering he won the Hugo Award for Accelerando.) In the future Stross imagines we are no longer constrained by the bodies that we're born with. We are our minds and we can create and transfer to any kind of body we want. Of course, we also live forever since we back ourselves up just in case of an accident. This scenario raises lots of the questions I remember discussing when I took Philosophy of the Mind as an undergrad but Stross changes their focus to make a reasoned case for acceptance of same-sex relationships. In a world in which individuals can and often do change genders, it just doesn't make sense to think about same-sex relationships as anything but acceptable. How would you define a same-sex couple anyways?

While that was the most interesting aspect of the book for me, it says nothing of the plot which involves a person waking up from memory surgery, trying to figure out who he is, why he had some of his memories removed, and who's trying to kill him. Pretty interesting, right? I thought so, but at the same time, I didn't get as wrapped up in the story as I might have wished. I feel like there is a trade-off between authenticity and accessibility in sci-fi. To make the future "more authentic" the author has to include a lot of things the reader may not understand.

Overall, if you're looking for a fast-paced and accessible book to pass the time, this probably isn't your best choice. But if you're interested in exploring a new world (that just might be in our future), then you shouldn't hesitate to pick this one up.

London Trip: Day 3 (Football Chants Edition)

Today, we started the day at the Natural History Museum. We got our first taste of the "rainy London" on our way there.


We learned lots about creepy crawlees, birds, dinosaurs, mammals, "Earth Today and Tomorrow," and more. Too much to describe, really, but one thing deserves noting. Dinosaurs are amazing. Apparently, lots of people agree with me because this exhibit was by far the most crowded. (Thought experiment: is it good to make a museum free even though it likely leads to overcrowding? The simple fact that I appreciate how nice it is that poor kids can enjoy this type of experience lures me from my default free-market position. But I do wonder if there isn't a better intermediate solution.)

After the museum and a little rest, it was time to make our way to Brighton for the football game. Our adventure didn't really get started until we got to the train station. We couldn't figure out how to buy tickets from the machine so we had to talk to someone at the desk. After harshly telling us that we were at the wrong station (the right one was a 2 minute walk away), he told me how stupid it is that I haven't signed the back of my credit card--he went on to explain that "see ID" doesn't mean anything in England since they don't have IDs and we're not in America anymore. Thanks, jerk. I wanted to cite Tyler Cowan's thoughts on the matter but we were a bit lost and in a hurry and I just wanted to get out of there.

After a bit over an hour on the train, we were in beautiful Brighton.


And then we made our way to Withdean Stadium.


The seats are separated into sections for the home fans and the away fans. We sat in the away section since I have to support our yanks abroad (there are 3 US players on Fulham--two of which started the game.) There was a buzz in the stands before the game began. When each Fulham player was announced, all the Fulham supporters yelled "hey!" Then yelled "ugh!" and "who are you?" for the Brighton players. As soon as the game began, the songs began across the stadium. Only 3 minutes in, Brighton scored. Didn't stop the Fulham supportors from singing their songs, though. A bit later one of the Brighton players "took a knock" and had to be helped off the pitch. The Fulham supporters responded with a nice rendition of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You." Then they took aim at city of Brighton with "you'rrrre city is full of gaaay boys!" followed by "We can see you holding hands" to the tune of "London Bridge." They were ruthless. They even sang "fat bastard" at an overweight man as he walked across Fulham's section towards Brighton's section. And they were constantly taking aim at the stewardess. Every time she would tell people to sit down, they'd sing "Stand up if you haaate Chelsea!" And fulham fans HATE Chelsea so lots of people stood up and sang along. She can't kick out the whole section, right? Clever. They didn't have to be provoked to sing about hating Chelsea, though. It's a part of one of their most popular chants.

Oh yeah, there was a game going on as well. US international, Clint Dempsey, scored the equalizer late in the first half. Fulham scored again in the second half to win 2-1. Woo hoo!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

London Trip: Day 2 (Ben Johnson Edition)

First thing this morning, we accomplished the second most important thing to do on our trip. We got tickets to Fulham's football match against Brighton and Hove Albion! The first most important thing? Getting there tomorrow.

After securing the tickets we headed for the Westminster. As soon as we got out of the station, bam! There's Big Ben.


We spent a fair amount of time just walking around the Houses of Parliament admiring its elaborate architecture, along with the adjacent buildings. Our walk took us to Victoria Tower Gardens where we got our first look at the River Thames.

Next stop, Westminster Abbey. It cost 10 pounds to get in and 5 pounds for the guided tour by one of the Abbey's vergers. (Yes, I had to look up what a verger is too--not a British word for tour guide.) I couldn't be happier about our choice to take the guided tour. Of course, I would have been amazed by beautiful architecture, memorials, and tombs regardless but the historical context our guide provided really made the experience. Plus we got to go in some areas that are restricted to the general public, mainly the tomb of Saint Edward the Confessor (who founded the Abbey) which is the centerpiece of the the Church.

************************************************************************************
Aside: this got me thinking, why doesn't everyone take guided the tour? (I'd say less than 5% of the people there took the tour.)
1. They do their research and know what they're looking for and looking at.
2. They don't know what they're missing out on.
3. Tours take over 1 1/2 hours and people don't want to spend the time or money.

Call me cynical but I think the answer is (3). We didn't plan on taking a tour but once we were inside we were both overwhelmed--there was just so much to see and we thought "it's really beautiful but what's its story?" It was pretty clear that we were missing out on something so that rules out (2), in my opinion. And I'm definitely too cynical to consider (1). So why do I think (3) is probably true? I think people probably just go because it's one of the places you *have* to go. Having gone, they can say they did and (truthfully) say they were impressed by all the sights without having to do any learning.
************************************************************************************
Some neat trivia our guide provided:
1. Rich folk could pay for memorials or burials in the Abbey. This is why there is such an enormous number of beautiful sculptures all over the church.
2. Benjamin Johnson (author of The Alchemist) really wanted to be buried in the Abbey but, despite his early success, he didn't have much money as he was making arrangements for his death. He could only afford a 2 foot by 2 foot square for his burial in the Abbey. They had to bury him standing up.
3. King Edward I, "Longshanks," tomb was the plainest and raggediest of them all but this was intended. He wanted to be moved to a grand tomb in Edinburgh once England finished taking over Scotland. He's still waiting.

Okay, this is getting long so I'll be brief in describing the rest of the day. After we left Westminster Abbey we spent a lot more time just walking around taking in the sights. We ate pasties. Cheap and British. Perfect, we thought. I got the steak and Guinness pasty while Jenise got cheese and bacon. Pretty tasty too--very similar to a Hot Pocket but heartier and more British. Refueled, we headed for Notting Hill--it was as trendy as I expected and more. Unfortunately, most of the stores were closing up already. (I really wanted to go antiquing!) A little later we hit a local pub for a pint and fish and chips.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

London Trip: Day 1

Our 10-hour flight arrived at 2 PM local time (6 AM Pacific). Whereas SFO was eerily empty, Heathrow Airport seemed full of employees doing a whole lot of nothing. After going through Passport Control and collecting our bags, we were off for the Underground. Lucky for us, it stops just a 2 minute walk from our hotel in Earl's Court.

After settling in and taking a bit of a rest, we started exploring the area around our hotel to find someplace for dinner. We ended up at The Blackbird--the guy outside said it had the best pub food in the area. We shared a meat plate with chicken satay, bangers, and beef with a trio of sweet-and-spicy sauces. It was okay. We were amused by the sign that read "We now serve our draught lagers extra cold!" It was still the warmest beer I've ever been served but, to their credit, it was cool.

After dinner, we didn't have much daylight left so we took the Underground to Hyde Park. There were lots of impressive monuments there commemorating those who fought in The Great War (WWI) among other things.



It was really nice just strolling through the park. It *really* made me want to play hide and seek, though. Where's Jason?


We ended up making our way to a cafe on the Serpentine Lake and watched the sunset.


Okay, you know I can't finish on such a sweet note so here's the obligatory funny-in-a-very-immature-way sign we found in the park.

We're here

Semi-rested up and ready to explore. More interesting posts are hopefully on the way.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Fun with Stata: Batch Mode

The other day, Nick tipped me to the fact that you can run Stata in batch mode on Windows (and Macs). At first glance, this didn't seem very useful for me because it's not much of a bother to have the interactive window open. After a little more thought, I wondered if it wouldn't make the program run faster. I have little theoretical basis for why this might be the case (perhaps having to display output sucks up Stata's resources) but I've been rather obsessed with trying to run programs efficiently lately. (Having a program that take days to run will do this to you.)

So I experimented: Run the program in interactive mode. Record time. Repeat for batch mode. 10 trials. To my surprise, the program consistently ran faster in batch mode. The average interactive time was about 1:20 and the average batch time was 1:05. A substantial 15 second (19%) improvement. The next question is to see how results look for longer programs. If you only save fifteen seconds on a ten minute program, it's just not worth it. But if it continues to save 19%, then it just may be. Stay tuned for this experiment.

And, of course, if you're running in batch then you might want make the leap to a fancier text editor like Emacs with the Stata mod. Not fun to get started but it looks like it may pay off in the long-run.

In the meantime, to run a program in batch mode, you just have to:
1. Go to Run.
2. Type "C:\Program Files\Stata9\wstata" /b do "DIRECTORY\PROGRAMNAME.do"

Why I'm starting a blog

First of all, I've been reluctant to start a blog for a while. Mainly because every few years I realize how naive I was a few years ago. A blog today is likely to cause Future Jason embarrassment. Despite this concern, there are a few reasons I've decided to start up.

Short-term reason: Jenise and I are going to London for a week and I want an easy way to chronicle our trip.

Long-term reason: Increasing productivity. At first sight, the idea of increasing productivity by blogging probably seems silly since it will take time away from other activities. My hope is that blogging will help me focus and keep track of my thoughts. I've always found writing to be somewhat painful but a great way to discover new ideas. I also picture the blog as a motivational tool--by committing to discuss certain things, I think I'll be more likely to do them. I'm (tentatively) committing myself to some commentary on economics papers and books I've read.

The beautiful thing is that the blog can be useful for these reasons even if it's completely private.

So, why should anyone else read? Well, if you're friend or family, you might be interested in what I've been up to lately. If you're someone else, I'm not sure--we'll have to see what direction this takes.

Disclaimer: This blog may very well live a very short life.

First Post!

Is the title of this blog an oxymoron?