Andrew Leigh: Five science breakthroughs that will transform politics: #1: Driverless cars, #2 Space elevators. This is via Robin Hanson who discusses Ems.
Via JW: Technology Review: GM Tests a Self-Driving Cadillac [Note, it is really only semi-autonomous, which is like being a little-bit pregnant, except the opposite] [Man said if we wanna shoot nails, this here’s the Cadillac. He mean Lexus, but he ain’t know it. — Snoop]
David King deconstructs: Land Use Regulations, School Quality and Metropolitics, noting that school quality is not somehow fixed if you change the neighborhood.
David Levinson, Transportist 
I got cognitive dissonance from the five science breakthrough article.
I think it’s an example of how little understanding some people have of science and how magical thinking is confused with science.
My objections are that the technology for driverless cars has been demonstrated and there are ongoing demonsration projects being carried out by several groups. I’m not sure why he links electric cars and driverless cars. They are two completely separate science breakthroughs. In my mind the utility of electric cars is still questionable.
In contrast, space elevator technology does not exist and seems unlikely to exist in the near future.
Likewise, nanotechnology is here, though nanotechnology is more than one thing and the technology does not exist for many of the more futuristic applications.
I’m also a bit confused with why Leigh asserts that policy makers must do certain things. He offers no evidence that policy makers can make things better. It is simply an a priori arguement. He should read “The Fatal Conceit”.
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