Homines libenter quod volunt credunt
Posted in Methodology on Apr 23rd, 2015
I suppose I should be less inclined to do so, but when I see the term “democratic” used, that is a pretty sure signal for me to go. My hypothesis is that when you see someone invoke the term democratic in an argument, it is just shorthand for saying something closer to “undemocractic.” It seems […]
Posted in Methodology on Apr 18th, 2015
Disagreeing to agree is a far better way to proceed than “agreeing to disagree” if in fact folks are having a scientific discussion. In the latter, you would be acknowledging that there are no deeper and absolute truths to seek out. In the former, you engage in argument in the same spirit as JS Mill […]
Posted in Economics Problems, Methodology on Dec 23rd, 2014
Ask almost anyone to define “capitalism” to you and you will inevitably get a blank stare. If you try and push the question I suspect you’ll get people answering something like the way people are asked to identify “porn” … they can’t, but they know it when they see it. Except, of course, with capitalism, […]
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Economics Problems, Inequality, media, Methodology, Standards of Living on Oct 24th, 2014
If the income and wealth of every single American were to double over the next decade in REAL terms, then in a decade, the amount of measured poverty would remain unchanged. You’d also very likely see no change in inequality according to the way most people talk about it, i.e. “the income share of the […]
Posted in Disingenuous, Environment, Methodology on Oct 14th, 2014
What data would be sufficient to falsify your thesis? This question need be asked not just in the physical science, where observations about the world are where the theoretic rubber meetings the road, but also in the social sciences. When it comes to the hard sciences, you can imagine laying out conditions that would encourage […]
Posted in Methodology, Taxation on Sep 2nd, 2014
This research paper hit my desk this morning: Positive Long Run Capital Taxation: Chamley-Judd Revisitedby Ludwig Straub, Ivan Werning – #20441 (EFG PE)Abstract:According to the Chamley-Judd result, capital should not be taxed inthe long run. In this paper, we overturn this conclusion, showingthat it does not follow from the very models used to derive them.For […]
Posted in Inequality, Methodology on Apr 25th, 2014
Yes, I said the “R’ word. In order to persuade folks about the problems of “inequality” it would of course be nice to: Define precisely what inequality is. Are we talking about absolute inequality? Relative inequality. Tell us how we can actually measure it. Follow the SAME people over time. I’m sorry, but there is […]
Posted in Environment, Methodology on Apr 11th, 2014
Yesterday I suggested that the articles on both Picketty’s super-duper-mega-important book of the century on capitalism as well as the Yglesias piece on the gender wage gap were deserving of a fine toothed comb. Here, Matt Rognlie (whose blog I used to follow but for some reason I can’t get his feed to work for […]
Posted in Methodology, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Mar 5th, 2014
Don’t you just love how the word “conventional” as in: conventional farming conventional building conventional energy sources … has taken on a disparaging meaning … except when people get it in their idea that the “climate” should be “conventional” forever and ever and ever. And ever.
Posted in Economic Illiteracy, Methodology, Price System on Jan 16th, 2014
In this short Youtube clip, author and food activist Michael Pollan argues: Milk will always be the maximum number of paces from the door, and the reason is that most people want to get a quart of milk and they want them to pass as many other things as possible on the way — so […]
