Rumford

58 ms·

1.
by Rumford 11y ago
Sounds like a really interesting book! I read the synopsis and the mainstream is sorely in need of a approach that acknowledges the extreme complexity and heterogeneity of an economy. Nothing irks me more than to see Paul Krugman speak of t
2.
by Rumford 11y ago
Your instincts are not wrong, believe it or not. Unfortunately most economists fall short of the current state of their science. The first thing one needs to understand about economics is how rife it is with special pleading from selfish in
3.
by Rumford 11y ago
The truth will out, complicated character-assassination plots notwithstanding.
4.
by Rumford 11y ago
Imagine what would happen if the Pentagon were held to Sarbanes-Oxley the way private businesses are.
5.
by Rumford 11y ago
The existence of central planning anywhere in Western financial systems is even more insulting. After watching the examples of our good neighbors to the East you'd think we would have learned our lesson by now.
6.
by Rumford 11y ago
The latter half of the 19th century up to WW1 was the USA's longest sustained period of high growth and high economic mobility. No central bank. Moderate deflation was the norm. According to the likes of Paul Krugman Americans should h
7.
by Rumford 11y ago
Well, one satirical short story and actual historical socialism's mountains of corpses.
8.
by Rumford 11y ago
Like maybe don't put a Soviet-style central committee in charge of the money supply? It's depressing to me that modern economies like the US and Europe can be so shot through with central planning, and then when they produce bad r
9.
by Rumford 11y ago
Ever read Harrison Bergeron? Making everyone equally happy is impossible, so the regime ultimately resorts to making everyone equally miserable.
10.
by Rumford 11y ago
Past experience makes me pretty confident of what I'll find this time.
11.
by Rumford 11y ago
Point taken, and I'm glad you see the merit in the discussion about what things the state has any right to do. After all, sometimes trespassing is the right thing to do. I certainly hope the fire department doesn't wait to be invi
12.
by Rumford 11y ago
What if they already are? I can think of a handful of newsletters that command a three-figure annual subscription price. The people who buy them must regard them as useful and of sufficient quality. It could be that the rabble of news sites
13.
by Rumford 11y ago
> "Don’t ever take a fence down until you know the reason why it was put up" I'm a big believer in Chesterton's Fence too, but what do you do about fences put up by someone who had no right to put it there? If someone
14.
by Rumford 11y ago
The simplest thing I could suggest is to repeal all government-enforced occupational licensing. For heaven's sake you need a state license just to give manicures. In America. This includes everything from manicurists to medical doctors
15.
by Rumford 11y ago
Okay, so the 50 million number emerges gradually. What do you suppose the first million are doing while the other 49 gradually emerge? Unless they're complete derelicts, they're going to be looking for ways to make themselves more
16.
by Rumford 11y ago
You're probably right. For example: Even though you can buy a Thinkpad directly from Lenovo, Best Buy still exists.
17.
by Rumford 11y ago
There are some interesting comments in here about how tough the struggle is for car dealerships, but I don't think that necessarily justifies their existence or mitigates the point of this article. If what the dealerships do is valuabl
18.
by Rumford 11y ago
Oh not this again. First of all, Friedman advocated a negative income tax as a replacement to the ad-hoc mess of redistributive taxes, grants and welfare programs that exist now. Add a UBI to food stamps, unemployment benefits, farm subsidi
19.
by Rumford 11y ago
Please elaborate. Is that a reason to dismiss the argument? Is it not obvious that tax payers are naturally at odds with tax eaters?
20.
by Rumford 11y ago
Is it not an option to just stop visiting these sites?
21.
by Rumford 11y ago
I suppose they should be commended for the effort, but the other issue is that the experimental group is unlikely to represent what things would be like under a truly universal basic income. Incentives throughout the economy will shift and
22.
by Rumford 11y ago
The Friedman negative income tax would surely be better than the complicated patchwork of taxes and welfare programs modern countries have today, if only for its simplicity. I would not mind seeing an experiment in putting everyone on a BI
23.
by Rumford 11y ago
Economic experiments can never really have a control group, so what the Dutch government learns from this will depend greatly on the theory they already have when interpreting the data.
24.
by Rumford 11y ago
At least they have avoided giving it an Orwellian name including the phrase "free trade". Free trade can be described in a few sentences. These voluminous inter-governmental managed trade agreements are just protectionism by anoth
25.
by Rumford 11y ago
> You've built up this imaginary view of the world where every woman is just waiting to catch you out. You've really got to stop doing that. I've already explained this isn't about women in particular. This is about a
26.
by Rumford 11y ago
> Treating that person the same as anyone else is your group is what is appropriate. Are you sure? It seems quite likely to me that this sensitive person would lodge exactly the same complaint for totally different behavior. "They d
27.
by Rumford 11y ago
> This is an example of a problem where you think you're being helpful but all you're doing is separating someone from the group and probably harassing them. Choosing to interpret clumsiness as "abuse" is EXACTLY the
28.
by Rumford 11y ago
Sure, that's pretty much my point. It's all about the incentives. When the job description and rewards say "take people's stuff," then that's what they'll do.
29.
by Rumford 11y ago
I'd argue that the profit motive is fine, private security works without this problem. The issue with asset forfeiture laws is that they create an incentive to violate the fourth amendment. The funny thing about this New Mexico law --
30.
by Rumford 11y ago
Exactly. If economic growth was just like microbe growth in a petri dish, sure, a simple equation would suffice. But people choose and act based on their own thoughts, opinions, and goals, and they are always readjusting to new input and in

More ›