Knowing and Making

Leigh, reading this for a second time because you ...

2012-01-26T05:34:02.676Z

Leigh, reading this for a second time because you linked to it on twitter. You've hit the nail on the head three ways.

Michael Lewis is an AMAZING writer. I hadn't ...

2012-01-05T17:15:50.489Z

Michael Lewis is an AMAZING writer. I hadn't realized he had written this book, so its a great tip! I read the Big Short and loved.

Ooooops. My click-jerk reflex of opening tabs from...

2012-01-04T13:46:37.193Z

Ooooops. My click-jerk reflex of opening tabs from your post kicked in before the irony of my action was felt.

"To further confuse matters, many right-wing ...

2012-01-02T10:26:23.078Z

"To further confuse matters, many right-wing Republican politicians supported corporate bailouts and corporate welfare far beyond what was necessary to stabilize the economy, in doing so further muddying the difference between productive and predatory capitalism."

Jeezus this thing is dishonest. Is he trying to imply that corporate welfare was invented in 2007?

Actually, reading that article, it's just trul...

2012-01-02T10:21:47.032Z

Actually, reading that article, it's just truly awful. I continue to not know why people like Tyler Cowen.

" Still, the left-wing vision does not sufficiently appreciate the power — both as reality and useful mythology — of the meritocratic, virtuous production of wealth through business."

Since the #occupy protests are mainly based on trying to mark the

While I agree that open-mindedness is a relatively...

2012-01-02T10:18:28.790Z

While I agree that open-mindedness is a relatively positive trait, one place you will have little difficulty locating it is on "the left," since intellectual honesty is a "lefty" value. The right-wing value system concentrates on hierarchy and in-group/out-group conflict at such a level that "open-mindedness," rather than a minor positive, is viewed as a major

From a fellow tab-maniac with hundreds of tabs: -...

2011-12-31T16:11:44.145Z

From a fellow tab-maniac with hundreds of tabs:

- upgrading RAM and, on a desktop, hard drive seek speed is relatively cheap. A small SSD can easily store the most gargantuan Firefox profile. For Chrome you may have to use a portable version.

- you can run simultaneous Firefox profiles that won't block each other using -no-remote. Firefox Sync will maintain passwords,

Your analogy shows a far better appreciation of th...

2011-12-17T19:53:29.004Z

Your analogy shows a far better appreciation of the situation at hand than I've found elsewhere. In 40 year's of amateur observation of central banker's seeming penchant for manipulation of governments and economies, I have gone from disdain to appreciation for the function of a good central banking system. Primarily for the more rapid advancement allowed by the disciplined use of

Thanks for the comments. Rob: yes, the analogy is...

2011-12-14T11:00:03.368Z

Thanks for the comments.

Rob: yes, the analogy is imperfect. However, people's capacity to spend money is limited by their ability (and willingness) to earn it with their labour - just as with oil, which they buy with cash instead of time. But yes, this does make money a bit harder to manage macroeconomically than oil.

Ralph - good find of the Hume stuff. I am reading up

The idea that money supply increases do not necess...

2011-12-14T09:12:12.185Z

The idea that money supply increases do not necessarily cause inflation was set out by David Hume in his essay “Of Money” in 1752. See: See para starting “It is also evident…” here: http://socserv.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/hume/money.txt

It would be nice if humanity’s understanding of economics had improved since then. Arguably it hasn’t.

Re the need to supply

Nice analogy though I think it breaks down a bit w...

2011-12-13T08:30:09.507Z

Nice analogy though I think it breaks down a bit when you consider that people need to use a fairly capped amount of oil to cover heat and transport. But most people have an almost limitless capacity to spend money.

Exactly! What a naive criticism. Just ask any bel...

2011-11-29T05:27:15.716Z

Exactly! What a naive criticism.

Just ask any below-average-intelligence person something about their job, and they will be very knowledgeable and rational about it (if they've had the job for a while).

Thanks for your comment, Anonymous. I did mention ...

2011-11-08T14:31:47.560Z

Thanks for your comment, Anonymous. I did mention the mispricing of credit in the article, but your comment brings out the argument more clearly.

I see the most fundamental difference between Keynes and Hayek as follows. When things change in the economy, as they always do, should we:

(Keynes) collectively help cushion the adjustment by supporting employment and investment?

Interesting idea but I'm unclear about who is ...

2011-11-06T16:58:33.324Z

Interesting idea but I'm unclear about who is changing the information sets of whom. In the welfare econ lit, Pareto optimality is an assessment by 'benign dictator', or rather some kind of 'objective' assessment. I can see how you introduce constraints into that framework, but not quite how you introduce change via prompts. Kaushik Basu's book http://press.princeton.edu/

I haven't published anything, but I have sketc...

2011-11-05T20:43:38.902Z

I haven't published anything, but I have sketched out a model of persuasion that looks almost exactly like what you're talking about here. Unfortunately, I've been too ill for the past five years to do anything with it. If you're serious about discussing this, let me know and I'll give you some of what I have. Maybe we can work together, I dunno.

This post totally misses the whole Austrian argume...

2011-11-04T17:18:02.415Z

This post totally misses the whole Austrian argument for how booms and busts are created. The focal point of Austrian analysis is not just how government impedes the efficient allocation of resources, but how artificially low interest rates created by central banks cause bad investments to be made in certain sectors of the economy (particularly in capital goods). This investment cause growth in

No I dissagree whit you, there are way to many pro...

2011-10-17T12:57:04.241+01:00

No I dissagree whit you, there are way to many problems around it if he would do that!

I have always been a big fan of artists waiting to...

2011-10-08T15:04:46.093+01:00

I have always been a big fan of artists waiting to make an expensive music video AFTER they find out if their single is a hit or not.

-Bump
therealbumpusmcgee.blogspot.com

Hi the charity I would like to vote for is Sweet D...

2011-09-17T21:29:00.926+01:00

Hi the charity I would like to vote for is Sweet Dreams Our Angels. This is a charity that supplies memory boxes to hospitals for the parents who suffer the pain of still births and neonatal death. The memory boxes contain such special and thoughtful keepsakes for the parents and baby. These are all put together by people who have lost a child too. This charity could really do with the funds as

There is no way to realistically get Congress to t...

2011-08-16T21:14:32.362+01:00

There is no way to realistically get Congress to think over ten years. The mechanism would either be gamed to sweep problems under the rug until 2 years out and/or accumulate until you run into the equivalent of a gigantic debt-ceiling crisis where the last 10 years of accumulated error would come crashing down.

On the other hand, this might be a genius political idea: attaching Obama&

Hi Leigh- It sounds good on the surface but a bala...

2011-08-15T13:34:09.494+01:00

Hi Leigh-
It sounds good on the surface but a balanced budget amendment is no different than the Grover Norquist pledge to never raise taxes ever. How can you sign on to something that is static in nature especially in a dynamic economy? You say enabling investment but as you know when we give the purse strings to Congress they tend to think its their money. They will never approve to any

Exactly - that's why I propose doing it over t...

2011-08-14T20:07:49.315+01:00

Exactly - that's why I propose doing it over ten years, not one, and why I suggest that countercyclical investment programmes are built into it. The proposal is in fact about enabling investment at exactly the times it is needed, by creating a credible commitment to long-term balance.

The Big problem with a balance budget amendment is...

2011-08-14T20:01:13.338+01:00

The Big problem with a balance budget amendment is that policy then becomes inherently pro cyclical. During times of contraction policy would be to lower taxes and reduce spending. These are times when you need spending to make up for lack of demand in private sector. During times of expansion, we would need less spending and more taxes. BBA thus would get monetary/fiscal policy in reverse.

Nice Post. Thanks for sharing the information. I r...

2011-08-05T11:11:36.641+01:00

Nice Post. Thanks for sharing the information. I really liked it. I have bookmarked your post. I will also share it with my friends.

Both Hayek and Keynes did consider how slumps aros...

2011-08-04T12:28:06.625+01:00

Both Hayek and Keynes did consider how slumps arose, and almost reached the Marxist point that capitalist profitability fell to a point where investment was not worth the return, leading to a slump, though they could not explain why profit rate declined over a long period.
The short debate could not really go into much depth, of course, but I was interested to hear that the main Hayek point