Tootfinder

"despite the law being very clear, actually, a few very determined transphobes have crawled their way to the heart of the law like maggots in an apple. A system that has been working perfectly well since 2010 has now been unnecessarily tampered with – and Starmer has capitulated because he’s spineless"
#TransRightsAreHumanRights

Juno Dawson: I had gender reassignment surgery – then the Supreme Court said I wasn’t a woman
I have the same choices over my life and body that I would want for every single person on earth. I’m not trying to make a statement about what a woman is, I just want to be one, writes Juno Dawson – who appears on The Independent’s Pride list 2025

This Wednesday afternoon April 9th from 3-6pm there's an end of life information event at the Westbury Community Centre.
Speakers include myself, the northern Palliative Care Tasmania coordinator and a social worker with palliative care.
There will also be a short film.
I'll be discussing rights, options, choices, and money saving tips.
#tasmania

With new questions about his acuity, Biden's pardon choices should be revisited (The Hill)
https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/5325492-with-new-questions-about-his-acuity-bidens-pardon-choices-should-be-revisited/
http://www.memeorandum.com/250602/p123#a250602p123

"I changed my passport in 2015, but now I can’t get a visa to the USA for my book tour unless I say I’m male? Will I get detained at JFK? My birth certificate was lawfully reissued in 2018 as a female birth certificate, but now I’m not a woman legally?"
#TransRightsAreHumanRights

Juno Dawson: I had gender reassignment surgery – then the Supreme Court said I wasn’t a woman
I have the same choices over my life and body that I would want for every single person on earth. I’m not trying to make a statement about what a woman is, I just want to be one, writes Juno Dawson – who appears on The Independent’s Pride list 2025

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.03152 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_sta…

Orthogonal calibration via posterior projections with applications to the Schwarzschild model
The orbital superposition method originally developed by Schwarzschild (1979) is used to study the dynamics of growth of a black hole and its host galaxy, and has uncovered new relationships between the galaxy's global characteristics. Scientists are specifically interested in finding optimal parameter choices for this model that best match physical measurements along with quantifying the uncertainty of such procedures. This renders a statistical calibration problem with multivariate outcomes. …

Self-ensemble: Mitigating Confidence Distortion for Large Language Models
Zicheng Xu, Guanchu Wang, Guangyao Zheng, Yu-Neng Chuang, Alexander Szalay, Xia Hu, Vladimir Braverman
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.01951

Self-ensemble: Mitigating Confidence Distortion for Large Language Models
Although Large Language Models (LLMs) perform well in general fields, they exhibit a confidence distortion problem on multi-choice question-answering (MCQA), particularly as the number of answer choices increases. Specifically, on MCQA with many choices, LLMs suffer from under-confidence in correct predictions and over-confidence in incorrect ones, leading to a substantially degraded performance. To solve this problem, we propose Self-ensemble in this work. Our method splits the choices into se…

"If one uses the word “fascism”, people accuse you of hysteria – but isn’t this precisely what fascism looks like? A minority group is unfairly demonised until public opinion sours sufficiently for lawmakers to impose restrictions on said group"
#TransRightsAreHumanRights

Juno Dawson: I had gender reassignment surgery – then the Supreme Court said I wasn’t a woman
I have the same choices over my life and body that I would want for every single person on earth. I’m not trying to make a statement about what a woman is, I just want to be one, writes Juno Dawson – who appears on The Independent’s Pride list 2025

When It Comes to SSRIs, Are Our Only Choices “Safe & Effective” or “More Dangerous Than Heroin”? Awais Aftab
“The public deserves advice about psychiatric medications that does not oscillate between stupor and alarmism. Antidepressants, like all medical interventions, come with benefits and trade-offs. If psychiatry refuses to engage seriously with patients’ concerns, if the mantra of “safe and effective” is all it is willing to publicly say, it will lose credibility. We cannot…

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.14708 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_eco…

Human Misperception of Generative-AI Alignment: A Laboratory Experiment
We conduct an incentivized laboratory experiment to study people's perception of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) alignment in the context of economic decision-making. Using a panel of economic problems spanning the domains of risk, time preference, social preference, and strategic interactions, we ask human subjects to make choices for themselves and to predict the choices made by GenAI on behalf of a human user. We find that people overestimate the degree of alignment between GenAI'…

Introducing multiverse analysis to bibliometrics: The case of team size effects on disruptive research
Christian Leibel, Lutz Bornmann
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.03726

Introducing multiverse analysis to bibliometrics: The case of team size effects on disruptive research
Although bibliometrics has become an essential tool in the evaluation of research performance, bibliometric analyses are sensitive to a range of methodological choices. Subtle choices in data selection, indicator construction, and modeling decisions can substantially alter results. Ensuring robustness, meaning that findings hold up under different reasonable scenarios, is therefore critical for credible research and research evaluation. To address this issue, this study introduces multiverse an…

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.20227 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_hept…

On the CFT dual of superstring on AdS$_3$
In this work, we study the proposed duality between superstring on AdS$_3\times$S$^3\times\mathbb{T}^4$ with pure NS-NS flux and a deformed symmetric orbifold CFT. We extract the residues of 3-point string correlators at their next-to-leading poles, which can be expressed as integrals. Because of picture changing, the integrand is not unique. We make an ansatz for its proper form which linearly combines three different picture choices. On the CFT side, we obtain the corresponding residues by do…

CLUES III: Do User Choices Impact The Results of SED Fitting? Tests of 'Off-The-Shelf' Stellar Population and Dust Extinction Models in the CLUES Sample
Andrew Mizener, Daniela Calzetti, Angela Adamo, Aida Wofford, Matthew J. Hayes, John Chisholm, Michele Fumagalli, Svea Hernandez, Matteo Maria Messa, Linda J. Smith, Arjan Bik, Kathryn Grasha, Mattia Sirressi

CLUES III: Do User Choices Impact The Results of SED Fitting? Tests of 'Off-The-Shelf' Stellar Population and Dust Extinction Models in the CLUES Sample
The simple stellar population models produced by stellar population and spectral synthesis (SPS) codes are used as spectral templates in a variety of astrophysical contexts. In this paper, we test the predictions of four commonly used stellar population synthesis codes (YGGDRASIL, BPASS, FSPS, and a modified form of GALAXEV which we call GALAXEVneb) by using them as spectral templates for photometric SED fitting with a sample of 18 young stellar clusters. All clusters have existing HST COS FUV …

I am noticing that many websites are no longer giving cookie choices, rather they merely say "we are spying on you" (they use nicer words, but that is the meaning) with only one option:
"I Understand".
To my mind that knocks out the last prop underneath website operators' argument that those of us with ad blockers (and more) are somehow on the wrong side of the ethical fence.

Classification and enumeration of solid-solid phase transition mechanisms
Fang-Cheng Wang, Qi-Jun Ye, Yu-Cheng Zhu, Xin-Zheng Li
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.05105

Classification and enumeration of solid-solid phase transition mechanisms
Crystal-structure match (CSM), the atom-to-atom correspondence between two crystalline phases, is used extensively to describe solid-solid phase transition (SSPT) mechanisms. However, existing computational methods cannot account for all possible CSMs. Here, we propose a formalism to classify all CSMs into a tree structure, which is independent of the choices of unit cell and supercell. We rigorously proved that only a finite number of noncongruent CSMs are of practical interest. By representin…

Anybody who's thinking right now whether :ruby: #ruby or #rails might be a good fit:
Start-ups like 🗓️ #attendlist are using the

Our production Ruby on Rails stack
Explore the gems and infrastructure choices I've made while building my Ruby on Rails app, AttendList.

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.07802 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_csRO_…

Improving Trajectory Stitching with Flow Models
Generative models have shown great promise as trajectory planners, given their affinity to modeling complex distributions and guidable inference process. Previous works have successfully applied these in the context of robotic manipulation but perform poorly when the required solution does not exist as a complete trajectory within the training set. We identify that this is a result of being unable to plan via stitching, and subsequently address the architectural and dataset choices needed to re…

I had set up a Gumroad account years ago to experiment with some digital sales and subscription stuff but after reading that the CEO of Gumroad worked for DOGE and Musk I deleted that fucking account.
Most of us don't have a lot of power individually but we can still make choices about the platforms we use (and don't use).
➡️

WIRED Talked to a Fired DOGE Staffer About Who Was Really in Charge
Sahil Lavingia, who says he was fired from DOGE after speaking out about his experiences there, told WIRED about how he communicated with the group, who appears to be in charge, and what might be coming next.

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.23908 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_csIR_…

Transforming Podcast Preview Generation: From Expert Models to LLM-Based Systems
Discovering and evaluating long-form talk content such as videos and podcasts poses a significant challenge for users, as it requires a considerable time investment. Previews offer a practical solution by providing concise snippets that showcase key moments of the content, enabling users to make more informed and confident choices. We propose an LLM-based approach for generating podcast episode previews and deploy the solution at scale, serving hundreds of thousands of podcast previews in a rea…

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.01136 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_csSE_…

Descriptor: C++ Self-Admitted Technical Debt Dataset (CppSATD)
In software development, technical debt (TD) refers to suboptimal implementation choices made by the developers to meet urgent deadlines and limited resources, posing challenges for future maintenance. Self-Admitted Technical Debt (SATD) is a sub-type of TD, representing specific TD instances ``openly admitted'' by the developers and often expressed through source code comments. Previous research on SATD has focused predominantly on the Java programming language, revealing a significant gap in …

Eye-tracking-Driven Shared Control for Robotic Arms:Wizard of Oz Studies to Assess Design Choices
Anke Fischer-Janzen, Thomas M. Wendt, Daniel G\"orlich, Kristof Van Laerhoven
https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.23147

Eye-tracking-Driven Shared Control for Robotic Arms:Wizard of Oz Studies to Assess Design Choices
Advances in eye-tracking control for assistive robotic arms provide intuitive interaction opportunities for people with physical disabilities. Shared control has gained interest in recent years by improving user satisfaction through partial automation of robot control. We present an eye-tracking-guided shared control design based on insights from state-of-the-art literature. A Wizard of Oz setup was used in which automation was simulated by an experimenter to evaluate the concept without requir…

YouTube advice request:
How to watch shared YouTube posts without influencing my algorithms.
Context: A family member keeps sending me links that I should occasionally review but I don't want to end up with that person's choices changing what I'm offered up.
#YouTube
#algorithm

Join the millions using their voices and everyday choices to tackle the climate crisis! #climate

The Climate Reality Project
Get the tools, training, and network to fight climate change and together build the world we want.

If making choices about your belongings or about acquiring feels really overwhelming or impossible or it’s something you put off, this could just be the episode for you. https://www.overcomecompulsivehoarding.co.uk/podcast-ep-188-decision-making-hoard…

There is only one Farey map
Giovanni Panti
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.02984 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2506.02984

There is only one Farey map
Let A_0, A_1 be nonnegative matrices in GL(n+1,Z) such that the subsimplexes A_0[Delta], A_1[Delta] split the standard unit n-dimensional simplex Delta in two. We prove that, for every n=1,2,... and up to the natural action of the symmetric group by conjugation, there are precisely three choices for the pair (A_0, A_1) such that the resulting projective Iterated Function System is topologically contractive. In equivalent terms, in every dimension there exist precisely three continued fraction a…

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.11283 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_mat…

Cyclic polytopes through the lens of iterated integrals
The volume of a cyclic polytope can be obtained by forming an iterated integral along a suitable piecewise linear path running through its edges. Different choices of such a path are related by the action of a subgroup of the combinatorial automorphisms of the polytope. Motivated by this observation, we look for other linear combinations of iterated integrals that are invariant under the subgroup action. This yields interesting polynomial attributes of the cyclic polytope. We prove that there a…

Data warehouses, lakes, lakehouses, and more – our choices significantly affect operational costs and development speed. Join Lars Albertsson at Berlin Buzzwords to explore how different data processing paradigms impact deployment, failure handling, and data quality. Learn strategies to minimise costs and latency, bridge between paradigms, and enhance development iteration and operational efficiency.
Learn more:

Prestige in Numbers: How Test Scores and Choices Reveal School Rankings
Federico Echenique, Michael Olabisi
https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.21063 https://

Prestige in Numbers: How Test Scores and Choices Reveal School Rankings
This paper introduces a novel revealed-preference approach to ranking colleges and professional schools based on applicants' choices and standardized test scores. Unlike traditional rankings that rely on data supplied by institutions or expert opinions, our methodology leverages the decentralized beliefs of potential students, as revealed through their application decisions. We develop a theoretical model where students with higher test scores apply to more selective institutions, allowing us t…

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.06956 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_hepp…

Updated Determination of Ellis-Jaffe Sum Rules up to $\rm N^{3}LO$ QCD corrections
In this paper, we explore the properties of the Ellis-Jaffe Sum Rule (EJSR) by employing the Principle of Maximum Conformality (PMC) approach to address its perturbative part up to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order ($\rm N^{3}LO$) QCD contributions. By applying the PMC, we achieve a precise perturbative QCD prediction for the EJSR, free from conventional ambiguities associated with the renormalization scale choices. Considering the presence of the $α_s$ Landau pole near the asymptotic scal…

Structured Column Subset Selection for Bayesian Optimal Experimental Design
Hugo D\'iaz, Arvind K. Saibaba, Srinivas Eswar, Vishwas Rao, Zichao Wendy Di
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.00336

Structured Column Subset Selection for Bayesian Optimal Experimental Design
We consider optimal experimental design (OED) for Bayesian inverse problems, where the experimental design variables have a certain multiway structure. Given $d$ different experimental variables with $m_i$ choices per design variable $1 \le i\le d$, the goal is to select $k_i \le m_i$ experiments per design variable. Previous work has related OED to the column subset selection problem by mapping the design variables to the columns of a matrix $\mathbf{A}$. However, this approach is applicable o…

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.14879 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_eco…

Limited attention and models of choice: A behavioral equivalence
We show that many models of choice can be alternatively represented as special cases of choice with limited attention (Masatlioglu, Nakajima, and Ozbay, 2012), singling out the properties of the unobserved attention filters that explain the observed choices.For each specification, information about the DM's consideration sets and preference is inferred from violations of the contraction consistency axiom, and it is compared with the welfare indications obtained from equivalent models. Remarkabl…

Just started playing #NorcoGame. It's a beautiful opening.
I love the simplicity of the way the choices are presented. I don't know yet how much they matter; whether I can only choose one; or should I choose and read them all? (Don't tell me yet, if you've played)

Packed up my XBOX and large TV in the basement today :-(
I don't play video games every day, but 2 or 3 days a week, my daughter, who lives in Toronto, and I will play Halo online and defend the universe from Covenant forces. It's now 22 days until the moving trucks arrive, and planning for activities each day is underway. We have to allocate time for yard maintenance, packing, and cleaning. Accompanying music choices are important...
#MyPlaylist #RandomTune
https://youtu.be/t267aQJcwjs?si=jb8_X470NFFXY6Yp

Join the millions using their voices and everyday choices to tackle the climate crisis! #climate

The Climate Reality Project
Get the tools, training, and network to fight climate change and together build the world we want.

Join our #Luanti server they said. A few days have passed and I built this. Now what?
Contemplating my life choices.

Sparse Imagination for Efficient Visual World Model Planning
Junha Chun, Youngjoon Jeong, Taesup Kim
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.01392 https://

Sparse Imagination for Efficient Visual World Model Planning
World model based planning has significantly improved decision-making in complex environments by enabling agents to simulate future states and make informed choices. However, ensuring the prediction accuracy of world models often demands substantial computational resources, posing a major challenge for real-time applications. This computational burden is particularly restrictive in robotics, where resources are severely constrained. To address this limitation, we propose a Sparse Imagination fo…

Conversational Alignment with Artificial Intelligence in Context
Rachel Katharine Sterken (University of Hong Kong), James Ravi Kirkpatrick (University of Oxford,Magdalen College, Oxford)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.22907

Conversational Alignment with Artificial Intelligence in Context
The development of sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) conversational agents based on large language models raises important questions about the relationship between human norms, values, and practices and AI design and performance. This article explores what it means for AI agents to be conversationally aligned to human communicative norms and practices for handling context and common ground and proposes a new framework for evaluating developers' design choices. We begin by drawing on th…

Interesting piece, especially when taken in conjunction with FFOTUS' crazy tariff wars.
"How America Lost Control of the Seas"
Of course, as with many things that have gone wrong in the US, it begins with Ronnie Reagan.
https://www.theatlantic.…

How America Lost Control of the Seas
Thanks to decades of misguided policy choices, the U.S. has an astonishing lack of maritime capacity.

I’m buying computer parts from Germany thanks to the peculiar political choices of the nearby island

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.09386 has been replaced.
link: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=a

On the Distortion of Multi-winner Election Using Single-Candidate Ballots
In this paper, we study the distortion bounds for voting mechanisms in multi-winner elections in general metric spaces. Our study pertains to the case in which each voter only reports her favorite candidate amongst $m$ possible choices. Given that candidates' locations are undisclosed to the mechanism, the mechanism has to form a $w-$winner committee based solely on the number of votes received by candidates. We establish distortion bounds for both truthful and non-truthful mechanisms. Our rese…

In this post "Consent-Based Computing", I think Heidi Waterhouse is articulating some my own feelings, reflections and choices about the tools around us today and the tradeoffs I'm prepared to make. #linkTuesday

Updated Post: Podcast ep 188: 12 ways to make decision-making easier (and why people who hoard find it so hard to make decisions in the first place!) https://www.overcomecompulsivehoarding.co.uk/podcast-ep-188-decision-making-hoarding-disorder…

“On a warming planet, as scientific truth is subject to political distortion and where autocracy is on the rise, scientists should be prepared to make many such "impossible choices" as we attempt to protect the resources of the past in the face of an uncertain future.”
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sci…

You know the character has made poor life choices when they’re shown driving a Maserati.

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.10208 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_eco…

Irrational Random Utility Models
The Random Utility Model (RUM) is the leading model to represent the aggregate choices of a heterogeneous population of preference maximizers. We show that if (and only if) preferences are sufficiently uncorrelated, RUM choices can also be generated by a population of decision makers who do not maximize any preference. In proving this result, we also characterize the general class of choices generated by such irrational populations, with applications beyond the RUM framework. We discuss the rel…

f4ncgb: High Performance Gr\"obner Basis Computations in Free Algebras
Maximilian Heisinger, Clemens Hofstadler
https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.19304 https…

f4ncgb: High Performance Gröbner Basis Computations in Free Algebras
We present f4ncgb, a new open-source C++ library for Gröbner basis computations in free algebras, which transfers recent advancements in commutative Gröbner basis software to the noncommutative setting. As our experiments show, f4ncgb establishes a new state-of-the-art for noncommutative Gröbner basis computations. We also discuss implementation details and design choices.

Choices or constraints: decoding financial empowerment among women entrepreneurs in France
Jonathan Labb\'e (CEREFIGE, IAE Nancy, UL), Typhaine Leb\`egue (VALLOREM, UT), Abdel Malik Ola (VALLOREM, UT)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.10064

Choices or constraints: decoding financial empowerment among women entrepreneurs in France
This research examines the empowerment of women entrepreneurs in the context of entrepreneurial financing in France. It explores the factors that allow some women entrepreneurs to access certain categories of external finance more easily. The theoretical framework used is based on the concept of empowerment, explored through its personal and relational dimensions. The study relies on a quantitative approach, using data from a representative of women entrepreneurs. The results show that the stat…

New: Podcast ep 188: 12 ways to make decision-making easier (and why people who hoard find it so hard to make decisions in the first place!) https://www.overcomecompulsivehoarding.co.uk/podcast-ep-188-decision-making-hoarding-disorder

Impact of Rankings and Personalized Recommendations in Marketplaces
Omar Besbes, Yash Kanoria, Akshit Kumar
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.03369 https://

Impact of Rankings and Personalized Recommendations in Marketplaces
Individuals often navigate several options with incomplete knowledge of their own preferences. Information provisioning tools such as public rankings and personalized recommendations have become central to helping individuals make choices, yet their value proposition under different marketplace environments remains unexplored. This paper studies a stylized model to explore the impact of these tools in two marketplace settings: uncapacitated supply, where items can be selected by any number of a…

My latest aspires-to-be-monthly newsletter went out the door this morning with an essay on banning words and some interesting reads from others. Click through if you're interested.
https://www.wordsbywes.ink/newsletter/notes-on-editing-17/

Notes on Editing 17
I’ve been churning this article around in my head for a few weeks now. While I have tried to avoid getting political in this newsletter, I can’t do that this time. The theme I planned for this issue is clarity, which often involves choosing which of a handful of choices is the most appropriate word — or words — to use to make our point. But that’s not really where I wound up with this piece.

“When you worry that you’re missing out on something by not making both choices simultaneously by quantum superposition, that’s called phomo.”
👏👏👏
https://xkcd.com/3076/

The Roads Both Taken

Symplectic semi-characteristics
Hao Zhuang
https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.14496 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.14496

Symplectic semi-characteristics
We study the symplectic semi-characteristic of a 4n-dimensional closed symplectic manifold. First, we define the symplectic semi-characteristic using the mapping cone complex model of the primitive cohomology. Second, using a vector field with nondegenerate zero points, we prove a counting formula for the symplectic semi-characteristic. As corollaries, we obtain an Atiyah type vanishing property and the fact that the symplectic semi-characteristic is independent of the choices of symplectic for…

LLMs are now part of our daily work, making coding easier. Join Ivan Dolgov at this year's Berlin Buzzwords to learn how they built an in-house LLM for AI code completion in JetBrains products, covering design choices, data preparation, training and model evaluation.
Learn more: https://

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.16904 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_eco…

Endogenous Barriers to Learning
Building on the idea that lack of experience is a source of errors but that experience should reduce them, we model agents' behavior using a stochastic choice model (logit quantal response), leaving endogenous the accuracy of their choices. In some games, higher accuracy leads to unstable logit-response dynamics. Starting from the lowest possible accuracy, we define the barrier to learning as the maximum accuracy which keeps the logit-response dynamic stable (for all lower accuracies). This def…

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.12093 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_eco…

Learning Macroeconomic Policies through Dynamic Stackelberg Mean-Field Games
Macroeconomic outcomes emerge from individuals' decisions, making it essential to model how agents interact with macro policy via consumption, investment, and labor choices. We formulate this as a dynamic Stackelberg game: the government (leader) sets policies, and agents (followers) respond by optimizing their behavior over time. Unlike static models, this dynamic formulation captures temporal dependencies and strategic feedback critical to policy design. However, as the number of agents incre…

My latest aspires-to-be-monthly newsletter went out the door this morning with an essay on banning words and some interesting reads from others. Click through if you're interested.
https://www.wordsbywes.ink/newsletter/notes-on-editing-17/

Notes on Editing 17
I’ve been churning this article around in my head for a few weeks now. While I have tried to avoid getting political in this newsletter, I can’t do that this time. The theme I planned for this issue is clarity, which often involves choosing which of a handful of choices is the most appropriate word — or words — to use to make our point. But that’s not really where I wound up with this piece.

This https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.03554 has been replaced.
initial toot: https://mastoxiv.page/@arXiv_eco…

Categorize and randomize: a permissive model of stochastic choice
We model stochastic choices with categorization. The agent preliminarly groups alternatives in homogenous disjoint classes, then randomly chooses one class and randomly picks an item within the selected class. We give a formal definition of a choice generated by this procedure, and provide an axiomatic characterization. The characterizing properties allow an external analyst to elicit that categorization is applied. In a broader interpretation, the model allows to describe the observed choice a…

Geopolitical Tensions and Financial Networks: Strategic Shifts Toward Alternatives
Antonis Ballis
https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.21480 https://

Geopolitical Tensions and Financial Networks: Strategic Shifts Toward Alternatives
Global financial systems are undergoing strategic shifts as geopolitical tensions reshape international trade and payments. The United States (US)-China trade war, sanctions regimes, and rising concerns over the weaponization of financial infrastructures like SWIFT have led countries to seek alternative networks, including China's CIPS and emerging cross-border CBDCs. This letter presents a dynamic theoretical framework where sanction risks, investment choices, and network effects drive payment…