Chaw'Se

Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park, near Pine Grove, is one of my favorite places in this place of places, California. Chaw'Se is the Miwok word for grinding rock. The site features some broad low rock outcroppings with nearly 1200 mortar holes that were used for grinding acorns and other grains, "the largest collection of bedrock mortars in North America." Around and between many of the holes were carved simple petroglyphs, some of them as many as two or three thousand years old and now very difficult to see, and a true rarity at grinding rocks.

The place is very quiet. It's not the most popular park in the state, especially on a hot weekday afternoon in late summer. On my most recent visit, the ranger had just closed the empty museum and was pulling out of the parking lot at 4:30, leaving me the whole place to myself.

The largest grinding rock is in an open grove of mature valley and black oaks, with some reproductions of Miwok dwellings and other structures nearby. A fairly large roundhouse is used on occasion for ceremonies by local tribes.

What makes it special? Aside from the very tranquility and simple harmony of the setting, for me it is the mystery of the grinding rock itself. Standing at the edge, I find myself trying to imagine the life and work of these people. It was not an easy existence, living off acorns. And so many holes... Were they all used at once? If so, it must have been a veritable mass production enterprise. Or more likely, were the holes worn down a few at a time over many years... many centuries? If the latter, it implies an extraordinary continuity of lifestyle, at least in technological terms: one generation could look a few feet away and see object evidence of the same work done by ancestors many generations past. Was the labor pure drudgery, or was there song and familial camaraderie, and special meaning provided by the strange markings carved into the stone?

Not far from the largest grinding rock is a grand old valley oak, a wonderful specimen, its furrowed bark riddled with the holes drilled by acorn woodpeckers. Their purpose is well understood to us, as is the utilitarian purpose of the Miwoks' grinding holes. But their place in a system of human meaning remains obscure, enigmatic.

Myra Melford Residency, Part 8

Pretty swinging. Dave Douglas hiding off in the shadows somewhere.

Blue-foot

Whole Foods was selling these gorgeous violet-tinted mushrooms today, referring to them as blue-foots. Presumably not Psilocybe caerulipes, but a version of the blewit. Given the price, they sure ought to be hallucinogenic... I'll let you know after I eat the pasta...

Guide to R for SCU Economics Students

New and improved... videos to come soon...

Danilo and Rudresh

Two of my faves. Made for each other.

Myra Melford Residency, Part 7

Very nice. I do like Chris Speed, but James Carter is still ringing and singing in my ears. What could he and Myra accomplish together?

Is a $15 national minimum wage too much?

Bernie Sanders has introduced legislation to boost the federal minimum wage to $15. The NY Times has a good article comparing $15 per hour with the median wage in various U.S. cities. Roughly speaking, the higher the ratio of the mandated minimum to the median, the more "binding" the minimum, and the more likely it is to lead to job losses as low-skilled workers are priced out of the local market.

Of course, there is no magic ratio at which the minimum wage becomes "too high." And even if the adverse employment effects became significant, those effects would have to be weighed against the benefits to those receiving the pay boost. But it is definitely worth thinking about whether a much higher uniform national minimum wage (Bernie's proposed $15) makes sense, when $15 is only about 50% of the median wage in some places (e.g. San Francisco) but more than 75% in others (Miami).

Furthermore, from a justice perspective, the goal of a legal minimum is to help the lowest-paid workers afford a reasonable minimum standard of living. But the cost of living varies dramatically across locations. For example, according to this widely used calculator, the cost of living in Miami is about 75% of the cost of living in my area, San Jose. In Miami, then, an hourly wage of about $11.25 would support the same standard of living as $15 here.

Regardless, Sanders's $15 minimum is a political non-starter in the U.S. Congress, so we will no doubt continue to see a low (in my view too low) federal minimum, and a wide range of much higher local minimums. A fantastic set of natural experiments for smart young economists like Arindrajit Dube.

On "political correctness"

Regarding the Donald, one must deal with this as one would with an annoying 12-year-old boy. Since the youngster's goal is seeking attention, ignoring bad behavior is often called for. This is the proper Skinnerian response: Don't reward him with what he wants, lest you reinforce the behavior. But when the behavior is inappropriate enough to call it out, you call it out. Political correctness got nuthin to do with it. In fact, 95% of the angry white men who are so taken with the Donald would smack their own son upside the head if he said anything remotely close to what the Donald has said to any lady they respect. Unless they don't respect any ladies at all... but how PC of me to say so...

My last Trump post, unless/until he gets the nomination...