Central bank papers report larger effects of QE on output and inflation; central bankers are also more likely to report significant effects of QE on output and to use more positive language in the abstract

Fifty Shades of QE: Conflicts of Interest in Economic Research. Brian Fabo, Martina Jančoková, Elisabeth Kempf, Ľuboš Pástor. NBER Working Paper No. 27849, September 2020. https://www.nber.org/papers/w27849

Abstract: Central banks sometimes evaluate their own policies. To assess the inherent conflict of interest, we compare the research findings of central bank researchers and academic economists regarding the macroeconomic effects of quantitative easing (QE). We find that central bank papers report larger effects of QE on output and inflation. Central bankers are also more likely to report significant effects of QE on output and to use more positive language in the abstract. Central bankers who report larger QE effects on output experience more favorable career outcomes. A survey of central banks reveals substantial involvement of bank management in research production.

People are often reluctant to talk to strangers, despite the fact that they are happier when they do so, because of overblown fears of not enjoying the conversation, not liking one’s partner, or lacking conversational skills

Why do people avoid talking to strangers? A mini meta-analysis of predicted fears and actual experiences talking to a stranger. Gillian M. Sandstrom & Erica J. Boothby. Sep 29 2020. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2020.1816568

ABSTRACT: People are often reluctant to talk to strangers, despite the fact that they are happier when they do so. We investigate this apparent paradox, meta-analyzing pre-conversation predictions and post-conversation experiences across seven studies (N = 2304). We examine: fears of not enjoying the conversation, not liking one’s partner, and lacking conversational skills; fears of the partner not enjoying the conversation, not liking oneself, and lacking conversational skills. We examine the relative strength of these fears, and show that the fears are related to talking behavior. We report evidence that people’s fears are overblown. Finally, we report two interventions designed to reduce fears: conversation tips, and the experience of a pleasant conversation. Ultimately, this research shows that conversations go better than expected.

KEYWORDS: Social interaction, conversation, intervention, meta-analysis

Why People Forgive Their Intimate Partners’ Infidelity: Having children, followed by own infidelity, reduced likelihood of future infidelity and dependency on partner

Why People Forgive Their Intimate Partners’ Infidelity: a Taxonomy of Reasons. Menelaos Apostolou & Andriana Demosthenous. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, Sep 29 2020. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-020-00153-1

Abstract

Objectives: Infidelity is a widespread phenomenon, with perpetrators being frequently caught by their partners. Yet, not all instances of revealed infidelity lead to the termination of the relationship, and the current research aimed to study the reasons which lead individuals to forgive their partners.

Methods: Study 1 employed a combination of qualitative research methods in a sample of Greek-speaking participants (N = 164) in order to identify the reasons that motivate people to forgive their partners’ infidelity. Studies 2 and 3 employed quantitative research methods in two independent Greek-speaking samples (N = 1,243) in order to classify these reasons in broader factors.

Results: We identified 32 reasons, which are likely to motivate people to forgive their partners’ infidelity. By using principal components analysis, we classified these reasons in four broader factors. The most important one was having children, followed by own infidelity, reduced likelihood of future infidelity and dependency on partner. In the presence of assurances that they will be unlikely to cheat again in the future, women and older participants were more likely than men and younger participants to forgive their partners. Furthermore, participants who scored high in agreeableness were more likely than those who scored low to forgive their partners’ infidelity.

Conclusions: There are at least four main reasons why people forgive their partners’ infidelity, which are predicted by the former’s sex, age and personality.

Check also Reactions to and Forgiveness of Infidelity: Exploring Severity, Length of Relationship, Sex, and Previous Experience Effects. Menelaos Apostolou, Anna Aristidou, Christina Eraclide. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology, November 26 2019. https://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2019/11/reactions-to-and-forgiveness-of.html

We are all chimeric beings

We are all chimeric beings. Inspired by Rolf Degen, https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1311007544081633287: Remaining cells from a previous fetus can lead to spooky actions in the mother's body

From the book he referenced to, David Linden's Unique: The New Science of Human Individuality > Fetomaternal cell trafficking: a story that begins with prenatal diagnosis and may end with stem cell therapy. Diana W. Bianchi. Journal of Pediatric Surgery (2007) 42, 12 – 18. https://nexthumanproject.com/references/Fetomaternal_Cell_Trafficking_JPS.pdf

Conclusive evidence that cells from a terminated fetus can persist in the mother and differentiate into cells in the mature organ came from the following study by Johnson et al [31], published in the journal Hepatology in 2002. In this study we received liver biopsy material from a woman with hepatitis C. She was a control subject for a study in which we were analyzing the association between fetal cell microchimerism and primary biliary cirrhosis. This woman had a history of having had one son, who was then 18 years old. Using X and Y chromosome–specific probes, we demonstrated that part of her liver contained entirely female (XX) cells, yet another part of her liver contained thousands of cells that were male (XY). We were able to obtain enough cells to isolate DNA and perform PCR amplification of short tandem repeat (STR) sequences. The DNA in the male part of the liver and the female part of the liver appeared related to each other, in that they each shared an allele at each locus tested. However, the STRs in the woman’s son’s DNA did not match the STRs in the male DNA in the liver. We were disappointed to conclude that the male cells in her liver could not originate from her son. However, after requesting and receiving a more detailed reproductive history, we realized that this woman had had 4 additional pregnancies, including 2 elective terminations and 2 miscarriages. We were subsequently able to obtain genomic DNA from 2 of the fathers of her noncompleted pregnancies. One of the fathers appeared to be a biological match for the male cells in the liver. We hypothesized, but can never prove, that these fetal cells originated from an elective termination of pregnancy that had been fathered by the man whose DNA we tested. Thus, in one woman, cells from a fetus that was terminated 17 to 19 years earlier remained for a long time in her body. We hypothesize that these fetal cells survived, migrated to her liver, which was a clinically diseased organ, and repopulated a significant portion of her liver. Interestingly, she did well clinically despite not taking her medications and not complying with medical care [31].

Algorithms consistently learn to charge supracompetitive prices, without communicating with one another; the high prices are sustained by collusive strategies with a finite phase of punishment followed by a gradual return to cooperation

Artificial Intelligence, Algorithmic Pricing, and Collusion. Emilio Calvano, Giacomo Calzolari, Vincenzo Denicolò, and Sergio Pastorello. American Economic Review. Oct 2020, Vol. 110, No. 10: Pages 3267-3297. https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aer.20190623

Abstract: Increasingly, algorithms are supplanting human decision-makers in pricing goods and services. To analyze the possible consequences, we study experimentally the behavior of algorithms powered by Artificial Intelligence (Q-learning) in a workhorse oligopoly model of repeated price competition. We find that the algorithms consistently learn to charge supracompetitive prices, without communicating with one another. The high prices are sustained by collusive strategies with a finite phase of punishment followed by a gradual return to cooperation. This finding is robust to asymmetries in cost or demand, changes in the number of players, and various forms of uncertainty.

JEL D21, D43, D83, L12, L13