Scott defends liberalism against claims it has failed by explaining that happiness scales logarithmically with income, so our 225x wealth increase since medieval times correctly predicts the 3-point happiness gain we've actually seen, and recent declines are due to COVID rather than systemic failure. Longer summary

Scott responds to Cassie Pritchard's argument that liberalism has failed because people aren't happier despite massive increases in wealth. He explains that happiness scales logarithmically with income, not linearly - meaning a 225x increase in GDP since medieval times should only produce about 3 points more happiness on a 1-10 scale, which it has (from ~3/10 to 6-7/10). He shows that recent happiness declines are primarily due to COVID and its aftermath, not liberalism itself, and that while other systems might add 0.5-1 points of happiness, economic growth has delivered 3 points and will continue delivering more over centuries. The post includes analysis of happiness data, comparisons across countries and time periods, and addresses why we don't feel as happy as we should be. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander defends his criticism of the GOP tax bill, arguing that even if taxes should be lowered, there are more effective ways to cut taxes that would directly benefit the poor and middle class. Longer summary

Scott Alexander responds to criticism of his previous article on the GOP tax bill, reaffirming his position that the bill is a poor approach to tax cuts. He argues that even if one believes taxes should be lower, there are better ways to implement tax cuts. Scott suggests that halving income taxes for the bottom 80% of earners would be a more effective alternative. He critiques the argument that corporate tax cuts boost economic growth, citing economist opinions, CEO statements, and historical trends. The post emphasizes that direct tax cuts or welfare programs for the poor and middle class would be more beneficial than the proposed corporate tax cuts. Shorter summary