Thousands of TWEETS, Posts, Articles, Pages, chapters, Notes, Diagrams, drafts, sketches and Quotes from 2009 to present
Question: “Can you be anti-capitalist and pro market?”
On Straight Dope, there is a thread on whether one can be anti-capitalist but pro-market. I’ve captured my response below. DEFINITIONS 1) Capitalism (distributed planning and control using the technologies of property and the pricing system). Or politically: a bias toward letting the market solve problems of production. 2) Socialism (centralized planning and control in…
Higher social classes have a significantly higher average IQ than lower social classes
Reposted here for reference. Social class IQ differences and university access By Bruce G Charlton A feature for the Times Higher Education – 23 May 2008 Since ‘the Laura Spence Affair’ in 2000, the UK government has spent a great deal of time and effort in asserting that universities, especially Oxford and Cambridge, are unfairly…
The Economics Of Spies: What Spies Really Do
via What Spies Really Do | Capital Gains and Games. Bruce Bartlett, in reference to the recent Russian spy case, uses an example from his past to pick on the behavioral economics of spying. But I think, like anything else, there is more to be understood here than meets the eye. He writes: I remembered all this some…
Reason Is Insufficient To Reform Immigration. Violence Is The Only Political Option.
A friend posted an article on immigration reform. It’s yet another appeal to perceived wisdom. [callout]We can be free, or we can be exploited, or we can be oppressed or we can be enslaved, or we can be murdered. Choose your position on that spectrum. [/callout] Once an argument is understood in that it possesses…
A Life In Denial: The Scripture Of Democratic Secular Humanism
Tenets Of Democratic Secular Humanism (DSH). 1) IQ Denial: The belief that people are, all things considered, equal. When instead they are unequal in ability, and demonstrate that inequality both in testing and by the demonstrated result of their actions in real life. 2) Class and Status Denial: Classes Do Not Exist or are irrelevant.…
From Modeled Behavior: On The Religions Of Positivism, Secular Humanism and Monotheism
Karl Smith, writing on Modeled Behavior, in response to Ron Rosenbaum falls into a rational argument between theism and atheism. And demonstrating that both he and Rosenbaum err. Even the early theologians did not make this mistake. Religious debate is allegorical, not scientific. Only fundamentalists argue for the sicentific basis of gods and religion. And…
The Wheel? It’s Part Of A System Of Innovation. Or It’s Pointless.
Peter Gordon notes in passing that the pre-columbians had wheeled toys, despite leaving no record of using the wheel for carts. He directs us to evidence, where the authors posit the reasons for not having adopted wheels. They give a number of reasons with the seventh being the closest: With a abundant human workforce throughout…
CONTROVERSIAL REALITY : A CONTRARIAN’S VIEW OF THE AGENCY, BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
AdAge and The Decline In Car Driving Among The Young The advertising industry’s most important publication, Ad Age, recently posted an article entitled “Is Digital Revolution Driving Decline in U.S. Car Culture?” wherein the author describes the decline in driving among the young, and the readership leaves comment after comment positing reasons for the change,…
Angry Old White Men? Hardly.
Claude Fischer is a sociologist at UC Berkeley who published a piece entitled “Angry Old White Men” in which he categorizes the Tea Party movement as a rural movement of old white men. Mark Thoma, a left-leaning economist picked up the article and posted it on his blog The Economist’s View, where he adds: “Rural…
We Won’t Stop Bloggers From Telling Us Otherwise. This Isn’t A Pursuit Of Truth.
In an essay that has attracted some interest from the blogging community, Kartik Athreya of the Richmond Fed, correctly states that there are political hacks misusing economic arguments. But she misses the point. Economics is Hard. Don’t Let Bloggers Tell You Otherwise “In the wake of the recent financial crisis, bloggers seem unable to resist…
The Humble Libertarian And Flat Taxes.
The humble libertarian makes an argument for flat taxes in order to quell the state’s tendency to foster class warfare. with a flat tax, they can’t just pick on the winners anymore. In order to get more revenue, their best tactic would be to incentivize overall growth. Lower trade barriers. Lower the costs of doing…
Do Not Assume Freedom Is A Desire Of The Majority. Security Is. But But Freedom.
People do not seek freedom. They seek the security that is provided by the prosperity of the creative class in a free society. But they do not seek freedom. They seek security. [callout]the classical liberal fantasy that rhetorical debate can convince a majority to favor freedom over security is simply a conservative utopian fantasy. It…
The Economist: Why Are Companies Hoarding Cash? My Answer: Uncertainty.
THERE is a new question posed to our panel in the Economics by Invitation section: Much of the recent increase in private-sector saving comes from businesses. What explains the rise in corporate thrift? How long will it last, and what policies might reduce it? As an article in this week’s edition explains, the build-up of…
Postcards From Hell: The Reason For Failed States
Postcards from Hell A terrifying photo essay from Foreign Policy on the world’s failed states. Note that with just a few exceptions, the 60 or so states the magazine had determined to be “failed” are located in tropical climates. Someone recently sent me this fascinating video related to the new book by sociologist Philip Zimbardo…
Invert The Tax System And Give Control To The States?
The wealthy states export leftism and money to the poorer states. This redistribution is hidden by the ‘money laundering’ that occurs when taxes are pooled then redistributed through the tax and legal bureaucracies. [callout]The wealthy states export leftism and money to the poorer states. This redistribution is hidden by the ‘money laundering’ that occurs when…
The Nonsense Alternative Called “Solidarity.” Throwing The Peasants A Bone.
This bit of ridiculously regressive Luddism was posted on a left leaning blog. It touts “A Solidarity Economy”. Which is a nice name for voluntary organizations that circumvent the pricing system. Yet another example of enduring marxist silliness. There is no alternative to free-market capitalism, Margaret Thatcher used to say, and about this, like so…
Krugman Watch: Paul’s Beginning To Admit Failure And Here Is Why
In a series of recent posts, Paul Krugman is starting to admit that he’s failing to be able to use his pulpit, position and his credibility to encourage government spending. What I find most interesting is that he argues that proletariat sentiments of inequality (injustice) are the driving social force, while failing to understand that…
Krugman Watch: Paul Thinks It’s Envy. (What is it with these people?)
Paul Krugman argues that envy and inequality pop the bubble. He asks “Correlation or Coincidence?” To which I reply: …. or completely unrelated causality. I don’t think you’re making any argument and I think you’re inventing a correlation, and hoping it sticks via the contrivance of sentimental association rather than reason. The cause isn’t income…
Why Are So Many Equatorial Nations ‘Failed States’?
This posting is in response to “Postcards From Hell: Images fom the world’s most failed states” and commentary on The Agitator. Why are so many equatorial nations ‘Failed States’? “All happy families are the same. All unhappy families are different.” Which means that a lot of things go into making a successful state, and there…
Who Was Hayek, What Are Austrians, And Why Should I Care? (In 1500 Words)
On Old School Economics, someone asks: Can anyone summarize the basic tenets of this school of economics and what are Hayeks contributions? I’ve been looking all over the place and have found some websites that are a bit confusing so if you could make a list, it would be helpful. Hayek is one of a…
