The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon is opening retail stores in cities.  On one level, this poses a puzzle because Amazon's rise was fueled by its cost savings due to the fact that it is a virtual store.  Over the decades, Amazon has assembled a huge database about each of its customers.  Such data (and knowing where each of us lives) allows it to make educated predictions about what goods we will want to buy at its retail stores.  Amazon will stock their stores with such products.

So, the point of this email is that spatial coded micro data allows a retailer to pinpoint exactly what to have in inventory at each week of the year.  This creates gains to trade.  Consumers anticipating that the store will have what they are looking for will be more likely to go to the store.

Michael Mann has co-authored a witty letter to the Wall Street Journal.  Here is a photo for you to appreciate his insights.

His letter makes an analogy between climate change and Clint Eastwood in the first Dirty Harry movie. For those of you who are too young to have watched this then watch this YouTube Video.

In this scene, the Bad Guy is uncertain about whether Clint still has a bullet in his gun. He guesses wrong and dies due to his decision.

In a series of pieces, I have explored how the for profit insurance industry can accelerate climate change adaptation progress. Here is my recent RMS interview. Here is my 2017 co-authored Harvard Business Review piece. 

Imagine a free market economy where there is no government regulation of insurance markets and those who seek insurance can contract with for profit insurers. The for profit insurers will do their homework.

A few months ago, I posted a Twitter tweet about how to use REPEC data to rank academic couples.  I followed a symmetric transparent method.  My criteria takes the REPEC Ranking for one spouse + REPEC ranking for the other spouse.  I treat them as equals.  If an economist is not married to an economist or if a highly ranked economist is married to another economist who is not ranked on REPEC, then they are not included.  

I used this list to find the top ranked women in economics.

Across all of the world's economists;

#9 in Environmental Economics

#25 in Urban economics

#4 in Resource Economics

#27 in Energy Economics
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