Archive for the ‘economics’ Category
Sunday, June 18th, 2006
My friend Eric recommmended that I read some essays by Paul Graham, an "essayist, programmer, and programming language designer" for some insight on careers, start-up companies, and business. Here's a great passage about funding new business ventures from an essay titled Inequality and Risk, where Graham shows that ...
Posted in economics | 1 Comment »
Monday, April 17th, 2006
I just watched the Penn & Teller Bullshit! Episode on the Endangered Species Act. I couldn't help to think about the theory of Rational Irrationality, i.e., how it's economically "rational" to be epistemologically irrational, or how little incentive people have to be informed about the effectiveness and unintended consequences ...
Posted in economics, ethics, politics, purpose | No Comments »
Thursday, February 16th, 2006
This is not the first post of this nature. Anyway, the show included a riff from Jonathan Richman's "Lonely Little Thrift Store" after a segment on Walmart's banking service. Good choice! They've used this riff before, and the album is sold on the Public Radio Music Store. Speaking ...
Posted in economics, gratitude, music | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, October 11th, 2005
I learned from Will Wilkinson's blog that economist Thomas Schelling won the Nobel Prize in Economics. I'd first read about his works through the term "Schelling Point" in an article by David Friedman.
Oddly enough, I think I experienced this phenomenon yesterday with my landlord. A few weeks ago the ...
Posted in economics, vignettes | No Comments »
Friday, April 15th, 2005
Next week Patri Friedman will speak at the University of Colorado about seasteading that is, creating sovereign floating cities at sea. Such ventures have been tried before, and failed. Yet, Patri is well informed, and credentialed, in economics, history, business, and engineering, and seems to have thought ...
Posted in economics, heroes, technology | No Comments »
Friday, March 18th, 2005
Two cool articles this week:
Nestle chief rejects the need to `give back' to communities, via e-mail from Heather. it's about time. The CEO must have read Milton Friedman's article from 1970 or the new CSR Watch website.
Also, John Stossel did a report on modern "art" last week.
Posted in art, economics, ethics | No Comments »
Saturday, February 12th, 2005
If you commit a crime, that is. Because forensic geologists will, uh, track you down. Or so says Raymond Murray, author of Evidence of the Earth: Forensic Geology and Criminal Invstigation. He tells some good true-crime stories. As an academic, he's found a career applying ...
Posted in economics, science | No Comments »
Friday, January 28th, 2005
This New York Times story, linked above, relates how customer services lines are monitored "to assure quality assurance" -- even when we're on hold. So be careful! Fortunately, most of the worst things I've said were about Barnes and Noble's dismal prices, selection, customer service, etc., when on ...
Posted in economics, politics | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 10th, 2003
People are killing each other over black-market cigarette sales. Surely some will respond to this by advocating stricter laws and taxes on cigarettes. Idiots.
The Salvation Army volunteers outside of supermarkets would do better, I suspect, if they did not constantly ring their bell. Instead, they should pause ...
Posted in economics, psychology, rant | No Comments »
Saturday, November 22nd, 2003
Quote of the week:
To teach how to live with uncertainty, yet without being paralyzed by hesitation, is perhaps the chief thing that philosophy can do. -- Bertrand Russell
Article of the month is The Onion's Americans Demand Increased Government Protection
from Themselves, which for some reason I cannot find on ...
Posted in economics, humor, philosophy | No Comments »
