Re: Destruction and keynesianism
Well worth reading, thanks. One should read the NYT before accusing Keynesians to have become economists! I would still think that we heard the Krugmans less that we could have expecetd. One interesting thing in Krugman's letter is his model of government. He says something like, "It's too bad, but politicians may not be as altruist as I would want them to be (and as I am myself)." At 14:50 16/09/01, you wrote: on 9/16/01 12:27 PM, Pierre Lemieux at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Thanks, but where? http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/14/opinion/14KRUG.html > At 13:04 16/09/01, you wrote: >> Pierre Lemieux wrote: >>> >>> Following Tuesday's tragic events, isn't it surprising that we don't >>> hear much the Keynesian argument that repairs and reconstruction >>> (plus, presumably, military purchases) will boost "aggregate demand" >>> and pull the economy out of the recession it was drifting into? We >>> even did not have to dig holes and refill them to boost aggregate >>> demand as Keynes would have suggested, for some barbarians did the >>> first part for us. >> >> Paul Krugman already has said this! >> -- >> Prof. Bryan Caplan >> Department of Economics George Mason University >> http://www.bcaplan.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> "'When a man thinks he's good - *that's* when he's rotten. Pride is >> the worst of all sins, no matter what's he's done.' >> >> 'But if a man knows that what he's done is good?' >> >> 'Then he ought to apologize for it.' >> >> 'To whom?' >> >> 'To those who haven't done it.'" >> -- Ayn Rand, *Atlas Shrugged* > > PIERRE LEMIEUX > C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 > http://www.pierrelemieux.org > [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) > PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 > Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 PIERRE LEMIEUX C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Re: Destruction and keynesianism
Thanks, but where? At 13:04 16/09/01, you wrote: Pierre Lemieux wrote: > > Following Tuesday's tragic events, isn't it surprising that we don't > hear much the Keynesian argument that repairs and reconstruction > (plus, presumably, military purchases) will boost "aggregate demand" > and pull the economy out of the recession it was drifting into? We > even did not have to dig holes and refill them to boost aggregate > demand as Keynes would have suggested, for some barbarians did the > first part for us. Paul Krugman already has said this! -- Prof. Bryan Caplan Department of Economics George Mason University http://www.bcaplan.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] "'When a man thinks he's good - *that's* when he's rotten. Pride is the worst of all sins, no matter what's he's done.' 'But if a man knows that what he's done is good?' 'Then he ought to apologize for it.' 'To whom?' 'To those who haven't done it.'" -- Ayn Rand, *Atlas Shrugged* PIERRE LEMIEUX C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Destruction and keynesianism
Following Tuesday's tragic events, isn't it surprising that we don't hear much the Keynesian argument that repairs and reconstruction (plus, presumably, military purchases) will boost "aggregate demand" and pull the economy out of the recession it was drifting into? We even did not have to dig holes and refill them to boost aggregate demand as Keynes would have suggested, for some barbarians did the first part for us. Is this because the Keynesians think that general pessimism (and the businessmen's animal spirits) will more than compensate for this increased demand? Or is it because nobody (except perhaps bank economists) really believes in Keynesianism anymore? PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Co-director of the Groupe de Recherche Économie et Liberté (GREL) Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Dismal science
According to a Harris poll (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydate.asp?NewsID=356), 65% of American shareholders think that stocks will go down when the market opens on Monday, but only 1% intend to sell -- presumably out of patriotism. The fact that markets are down elsewhere in the world also points to a bearish Monday. Now, if I am a patriot and believe that stock prices will go down but that nobody else will sell, I will reason that I am better off selling. Then, I don't contribute to the crash (for there won't be one) and don't lose my money either. (Moreover, not all stock holders are patriots, nor Americans for that matter.) Consequently, one would expect a drop on American exchanges on Monday (5%-6%?). Any other ideas? PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Co-director of the Groupe de Recherche Économie et Liberté (GREL) Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Re: Preference revelation
At 15:30 01-01-24, you wrote: I think Anand raises a more interesting question than is addressed in the responses so far. I bet it's been addressed in some literature, but I think the interesting question implied by Anand's post is "how similar are preferences made in absence of prices to prefences developed with full knowledge of prices?" I am not sure what you mean by that. In neoclassical theory, preferences (represented by the indifference map) are independent of prices. Choices, of course, are made on the basis of preferences, relative prices, and consumer budgets. Perhaps you are talking about choices? Or do you want to incorporate non-price costs in choices? P.L. PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Co-director of the Groupe de Recherche Économie et Liberté (GREL) Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
Re: More Guns, Less Crime?
At 03:55 01-01-20, you wrote: I would suggest if you already have strong belief's about the value of gun control laws, your opinion on the issue is unlikely to be swayed by statistical studies counter to your belief, regardless of the quality of the study. If the issue is close to what A.K. Sen calls "fundamental values" (values which you ultimately have to fight for), you would have the same result. As a model of how to help break this deadlock, I would like to see more studies funded by organizations modelled along the lines of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Health Effects Institute. From a I don't see how the incentives of government, public-health bureaucrats, or the way they are selected, makes them more impartial. The EPA's manipulation of evidence in the secondhand-smoke case illustrates this quite strikingly. U.S. District Judge William Osteen: The court is faced with the ugly possibility that EPA adopted a methodology for each chapter, without explanation, based on the outcome sought in that chapter. The record and EPAs explanations to the court make it clear that using standard methodology, EPA could not produce statistically significant results with its selected studies (Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative v. EPA, No. 6:93CV00370 at 60, 77, M.D.N.C. July 17, 1998). PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Director of the Groupe de Recherche Économie et Liberté (GREL) Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
Re: More Guns, Less Crime?
At 19:59 01-01-19, you wrote: another way to see if there is a correlation between gun ownership and crimes would be to see if there is any between estimated number (or percentage) of guns owned "illegally" and crime rates. Is that true? Assume that the proportion of illegally owned guns belonging to criminals is higher that the proportion of legally owned guns belonging to criminals -- which seems to be a safe assumption. Now, since guns reduce the cost of commiting crimes (the criminal is not obliged to have, or carry, one if he does not want to), the more guns in the hands of criminals, the more crime indeed; but this is "other things being equal", including the number of non-criminals having, or carrying, guns. Consequently, you may have a different correlation between guns owned illegally and crime rates and between general ownership of guns and crime rates. At the limit, if all guns are owned by criminals, obviously you have a strong correlation between guns and crime. PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Director of the Groupe de Recherche Économie et Liberté (GREL) Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
Re: More Guns, Less Crime?
Culture is a key variable here. Given the culture, the freedom to defend oneself may well be correlated with lower crime rates. Vermont in the US has the most liberty in self-defense and low crime rates relative to other states. Indeed, global, country-wide statistics don't tell a reliable story (especially, of course, if Switzerland and Israel are excluded). One interesting piece of evidence is Brandon S. Centerwall, Homicide and the Prevalence of Handguns: Canada and the United States, 1976 to 1980, American Journal of Epidemiology, 134 (1991): 1245-1260. Centerwall shows that, if we compare ADJACENT American States and Canadian provinces (to control for the cultural factor), it is generally the case that there is more guns and less crime on the American side of the border. Another piece of evidence is indeed Canada, where the same gun legislation (which is federal) applies to all provinces, while violent crime rates range from the low European or Vermont type, to quite high rates. Finally, consider indeed Canada where there were relatively few controls before 1977 -- except on handguns, which had to be registered, but for which a carry permit was not difficult to obtain. Fully automatic weapons and sawed-off shotguns were legal. For some reason, guns did not kill then. What one has to remember is that gun control increases the total price of guns, and carrying guns, more for the honest citizen than for the criminal. P.L. PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Director of the Groupe de Recherche Économie et Liberté (GREL) Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
Re: Canada
You might want to have a look at the op-ed I had on the prohibition of private insurance in the Nov. 18 Financial Post. The piece is reproduced at www.pierrelemieux.org/arttwotier.html. At 18:44 01-01-04, you wrote: Is there a good website or book that discusses the failures and successes of the health care system in Canada? John -- John A. Viator, Ph.D. Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinlic 1002 Health Sciences Road East University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92612 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: 949-824-3754 Fax: 949-824-8413 PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Director of the Groupe de Recherche Économie et Liberté (GREL) Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
Re: Buchanan Palm Beach Statistics
I like the toin coss idea because it would be incredibly entertaining. Which brings back an old idea. If "we" really wanted to have representative representatives, they could be chosen randomly. The fact that most people would not agree with this proposal probably means that they are after something else than democracy. Whatever it is that they are after, what they get with elections (and elected representatives hiring other individuals to do their dirty jobs) is unending growth in state power. PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Director of the Groupe de Recherche Économie et Liberté (GREL) Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
Assassination terminology
If I am not mistaken, an homicide justified by moral reasons is called "execution", not "assassination". P.L. PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Director of the Groupe de Recherche Économie et Liberté (GREL) Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
Re: Economics of Love
I am not sure one can talk of the "demand for love" more than about a "demand for happiness". As Rothbard said, people make choices at the margin, they demand a certain type of love relationship in a certain period of time. Formulated this way, it becomes clear that substitution phenomena occur in love. People who are not perfect homosexuals or heterosexuals on the Kinsey scale will substitute for their more preferred alternatives it the cost of the latter is too high. If the gorgeous citizen's daughter next door is not approachable, the classical 30-year-old male Greek will substitute the closest alternative, i.e., a teenage boy. Of course, everybody's elasticity of substitution will be different, and will be zero in some cases: not anybody will substitute a goat in the desert. On all this, see the remarkable book of Richard Posner, Sex and Reason. It is full of substitutable love objects. The demand for the most gorgious kind of woman has a negative slope. Now, even if we can conceive of a demand curve for love in general, it probably has a negative slope too for any consumer, and certainly for the market as a whole. Other plesaures are substitutable for love: it depends on the price. Monks are only one instance of this. P.L. At 20:12 00-09-28, you wrote: In a recent discussion I had (off-line), someone described the demand for heroin (by heroin addicts) as perfectly inelastic. I responded that that was a bit off; if demand for heroin were perfectly inelastic, I would charge $1 billion a hit, and inevitably find a buyer. I offered, as a possible alternative for a good with perfectly inelastic demand, love. Then I thought - is the demand for love *perfectly inelastic* (meaning, people desire one quantity, but at any price), or *perfectly elastic* (meaning, people desire any quantity, but demand will be infinite below a given price), or something else entirely? Any ideas? PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Director of the Groupe de Recherche Économie et Liberté (GREL) Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key: 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
Re: How to own the world
Fred, At 06:48 00-08-03, you wrote: The economy grows at 2.5%, but the stock of capital goods grows at 5%. There is a 2.5% increased flow of goods, with a 5% increased stock of capital goods. Since we are dealing with a flow and a stock, can they not grow at different rates? Return on capital is 5%, and is allocated half to incomes (which then grow at 2,5%) and half to investment. (See simple illustration on attached spreadsheet.) P. Growth & investment, simple.xls PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Research Fellow, Independent Institute http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
Re: How to own the world
At 18:47 00-08-02, you wrote: Suppose you invest in the stock market and reinvest all dividends. Thus earning (conservatively) 5%-6% a year. The world economy grows at (conservatively) 2.5% a year. Thus, in a surprising short time (around 700 years supposing you begin with one million dollars) you will have more wealth than all of WP (world product), indeed your dividends will be more than WP. Is thus a theoretical conundrum or just an empirical one? The problem there is that the stock market investor A is not considered part of the economy. Suppose you start at year 1 with capital in the economy of K1=100+C1, where C1=1=the initial investment of A. Let's say that "the economy" grows at 2.5%, i.e., national income (or net domestic product) grows at 2.5% per year. Let's say that return on investment is 5%, which amount to saying that gross domestic product grows at 5%. The difference between the two seem to be the rate of invesment: half of income is reinvested. So, C and GDP increase at 5% per year: this is the rate of return in the economy. Half the return (of other people) is reinvested, which means that net national product (or national income) increases by 2,5%. With every body investing half of what he earns, except for A who invests 100% of his returns (he lives out of love and fresh water), the latter's capital will soon reach the capital of all other individuals combined. If you make the calculations, you will find that this will happen in year 317, where roughly half the $500.000 in capital is equally shared between A on one hand, and all other individuals on the other hand. After year 317, C/(C+K) will continue to increase, and will approach 1 as time tends to infinity. Total wealth in the economy is C+K. So, our skinny investor will never own C+K. The only way to own the world in finite time would be to own all productive capital now. PIERRE LEMIEUX C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Re: How to own the world
At 18:47 00-08-02, you wrote: Suppose you invest in the stock market and reinvest all dividends. Thus earning (conservatively) 5%-6% a year. The world economy grows at (conservatively) 2.5% a year. Thus, in a surprising short time (around 700 years supposing you begin with one million dollars) you will have more wealth than all of WP (world product), indeed your dividends will be more than WP. Is thus a theoretical conundrum or just an empirical one? First crack: Since dividends are, by definition, part of GDP (and WP), you can't have dividends higher than WP! P. PIERRE LEMIEUX C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 http://www.pierrelemieux.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Re: DNA and the Death Penalty
At 14:44 00-07-26, you wrote: There is a rational possibility. Suppose you believe the rate of error is X and the new DNA technology applied to the stock of old cases shows the rate to be at least Y, Y>X. And further suppose that even with the new DNA technology you think the new rate of error is Y' where Y>Y'>X then you may rationally reduce your support for the death penalty. I think this scenario has low probability but it is possible. I am not sure I understand why, with DNA technology, it can be that Y'>X. On the other hand the irrational response is to focus attention solely on the reevaluation of the stock of death penalty cases ignoring the new lower rate of error in the flow. That's what I think is going on. Two other hypotheses: 1) Ordinary people forecast (not incorrectly, in my opinion) that the death penalty may, in the future, be imposed in matters where THEY might be caught -- like, say, drug trade or illegal gun ownership, or killing BATF cops in self-defense. Then, the DNA technology does not decrease, but increases, the probability of a peaceful individual being executed. This might be called the "Boston-Tea-Party" hypothesis. 2) People are not really in favor of the death penalty, except in extreme cases. (This may be related to the punishment-dilemma argument by Buchanan; call it the Punishment-Dilemma hypothesis.) And they believe (are they wrong?) that the DNA technology will actually increase the number of guilty people being executed, including moral borderline cases that they would not want to punish so severely. P.L. PIERRE LEMIEUX C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 <http://www.pierrelemieux.org> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Re: Are progressive taxes misconceived?
At 15:37 00-07-22, you wrote: >From my limited experience, most tax protesters/activists are middle class (I have not numbers to support this observation). I do not see too many of the wealthy step up to bat against high tax rates. Do they accept money in government coffers as currency for the influential, i.e. limousine liberalism at its worst? Your hypothesis is intriguing, but I would think that a better way to explian why rich tax protestors are rare is simply that the opportunity cost of their time is high and, so, the cost of collective action is much higher for them. (It is true, though, that their expected benefits might be higher since, indeed, they are more likely to have an influence.) Moreover, some wealthy individuals do support libertarian organizations, which is a way to be a tax protestor at a lower cost (for them). A standard anomaly: people like Bill Gates, who supports all the PC causes espoused by the tyrant who persecutes him! PIERRE LEMIEUX C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 <http://www.pierrelemieux.org> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Re: Economics of crazy ideas
At 06:48 00-07-22, you wrote: Indeed. Now, this only becomes a problem when "public good" is concerned by decisions taken "in common", based on the opinion of people not able to pay the price of deeply understanding the issues, rather than the opinion of people directly concerned, and thus with a rational incentive to pay this price. You are right: rational ignorance is generally associated with collective choices. But the problem is somewhat larger: even if the state does not have an opinion on the shape of the earth, when do people start beleiving Galileo? Where can I find more material about that particular problem, and interesting analyses of it? Information and reputation cascades in the context of the smoking debate are treated by Bertrand Lemennicier in a paper he presented at my "Individual Choices and Liberty Seminar." Go in the Papers (or "Communications") section at http://www.uqah.uquebec.ca/lemieux. P.L. PIERRE LEMIEUX C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 <http://www.pierrelemieux.org> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Privatization of roads and streets
At 23:57 00-07-21, you wrote: Empirical evidence tells us that most marginal ideas (ranging from PETA's "Your kids ought to drink beer, rather than milk, because beer isn't ripped from a cow's udder" campaign to the libertarian "Privatize the roads" campaign) are typically ignored or ridiculed by popular culture and non-intellectuals. If we stick to the assumption that 'people make rational choices,' the obvious This raises another issue (not related to crazy ideas defined as ideas though to be crazy in popular culture). What's wrong with privatizing roads and streets? What's more wrong with this than privatizing religion? It seems to me that there are good arguments against privatization of SOME public domain, but that these arguments are not those commonly adumbrated. In two words, the argument against privatization would go this way. The existence of a non-regulated, non-excludable domain, the public domain, is a public good. Or, at least, it is a public good provided it remains relatively small: it is wanted by some individuals, and the others don't care. Alternatively, in a somewhat Lockean sense (the famous Lockean proviso), it could be said that the maintainance of a public domain is required by a Buchanan-type social contract. Hence, the necessity of some public authority maintaining public roads and streets. This argument would imply that minimum regulation is part of the definition of the public domain. For instance, private owners could (of course) exclude smokers or institute any kind of private apartheid, but NO-smoking in real public places would be forbidden. P.L. PIERRE LEMIEUX C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 <http://www.pierrelemieux.org> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Re: Economics of crazy ideas
At 23:57 00-07-21, you wrote: Empirical evidence tells us that most marginal ideas (ranging from PETA's "Your kids ought to drink beer, rather than milk, because beer isn't ripped from a cow's udder" campaign to the libertarian "Privatize the roads" campaign) are typically ignored or ridiculed by popular culture and non-intellectuals. If we stick to the assumption that 'people make rational choices,' the obvious conclusion would be: Evaluating crazy ideas requires more time / effort than would likely be rewarded. Yet, there are crazy ideas (defined as ideas that were once thought as completely unrealistic) that become accepted -- e.g., the earth is round, freedom of religion is not disruptive or, say, "the White Pine Tree Act was not strong enough".* Why these and not others? Do we have to resort to information-cacade explanations? -JP "In the long run, John Maynard Keynes is dead." God for us! * A British law that allowed the seizing of pine trees on the colonists' lands before the American Revolution. As Jim Bovard notes, this was nothing to the power that environmental laws give the current American tyrant. PIERRE LEMIEUX C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 <http://www.pierrelemieux.org> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Economics of crazy ideas
Why do people have crazy opinions? What are the social consequences of crazy opinions? More importantly, How are promising ideas selected among crazy and non-crazy opinions? What makes an opinion sound crazy, and another one look serious? For example, why do libertarians look more or less crazy in public discourse, and are often absent from public debates, while PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) runs half a dozen websites (including cowsarecool.com) and wage campaigns with slogans like "Help chickens in China"? Any ideas? PIERRE LEMIEUX C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 <http://www.pierrelemieux.org> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Economists and broken things
I am not sure this is proper on this serious list, but here are a couple replies (including by economists of two different schools) to the popular saying: "If it ain't broken, don't fix it." Calvinist: "There is no such thing as a non-broken thing." Epicurean: "It is too much trouble fixing it." PC: "If they aren't broken, don't fix them." Businessman: "It depends on the subsidy." Public-school non graduate: "Without no broken thing, you motherfucker!" Randian: "A broken think is a broken thing." Neoclassical economist: "It ain't broken!" Austrian economist: "Being broken is a discovery process." Sociologist: "It is broken." Politician: "If it ain't fixed, don't break it." Government bureaucrat: "Fix it." PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Research Fellow, Independent Institute <http://www.pierrelemieux.org> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
Other re-fills
And, of course, in France, every restaurant is expected to re-fill your bread (or your matches, in case you want to commit another sin). PIERRE LEMIEUX C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 <http://www.pierrelemieux.org> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16
Re: Free Re-fills
At 21:16 00-07-08, you wrote: Related question: Why no free re-fills in Europe? -- It depends what you re-fill. If you have dinner in a Paris "Bistrot roman" (a chain of upper middle class fast food) and you take the smoked salmon, they will re-fill you as much as you want. Same with their chocolate pudding. If my previous hypethesis is true, this would mean that there is, in Paris, a large clientèle with an elastic demand for smoked salmon, and a small clientèle with a low, non-elastic demand. You want to price discriminate against the former, but not chase away the latter. Interestingly, the Bistrot romain serves very thin slices of smoked salmon, which they re-fill at will. There is no point to give customers more than they would be willing to pay for. PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Research Fellow, Independent Institute <http://www.pierrelemieux.org> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
Re: Free Re-fills
At 18:53 00-07-08, you wrote: Is there any logic to whether restaraunts offer free refills for soda drinks?An hypothesis: Suppose there are two clienteles for restaurant sodas: one with a high elasticity of demand and a higher demand curve, and the other one with a low elasticity and a lower demand curve. A restaurant owner (and his competitors) cannot price discriminate -- if only because he is unable to differentiate the two types of clients when they walk into the shop -- so the same price is charged to everybody, but a rebate is given to the high-elasticity, high-demand customers in the form of a refill. I assume here that price discrimination would be feasible in this market even if there is no monopoly because it could be enforced at a low cost in any restaurant. Indeed, in non-American, non-soft-drink, cultures, refills seem to be unknown for, presumably, the high-demand clientèle does not exist. I've observed one street alone among three restaraunts serving similar clientele all three main forms of refill policy: free, discounted and full price. If the above hypothesis is true, AND if indeed the non-free-refill restaurants do cater to the same clienteles, they will not be able to sustain this policy for very long. PIERRE LEMIEUX Visiting Professor , Université du Québec à Hull Research Fellow, Independent Institute <http://www.pierrelemieux.org> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Backup: [EMAIL PROTECTED]) Montréal address: C.P. 725, Tour de la Bourse, Montréal, Canada H4Z 1J9 Fax: 1(819)585-4423 PGP Key 0xBDFFCD16 Fingerprint: CF3E 4A3F 57AB 8AB2 88FB A1D8 C83D 2E15 BDFF CD16 ** "L'homme vivant sous la servitude des lois prend sans s'en douter une âme d'esclave." The man who lives under the servitude of laws takes, without suspecting it, the soul of a slave. (Georges Ripert, Le Déclin du Droit, Paris, Librairie Générale de Droit et de Jurisprudence, 1949, p. 94) **
