Monthly Archives: February 2010

Blogging Break

By Charlie Deist | Published: February 28, 2010
In lieu of upcoming midterms and essays, I will not have an opportunity to blog about a number of things that have been on my mind lately. I’m going to outline a few things that I expect to have time to blog about later on this week: Thinking clearly about health-care reform. Book review of Albert Jay [...]
Posted in Self Interest | Tagged , | Leave a comment

More on Ideas

By Josh Weil | Published: February 27, 2010
A successful implementation of an idea in a particular time and circumstance may not produce the same results elsewhere. This recognition of the indispensable role of local knowledge is critical to understanding why top down solutions are dangerous. When an unsuccessful top down solution is forced upon a people through government, the accountability feedback mechanism does not [...]
Posted in Innovation, Knowledge problem | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

“Whose street? Our street!”

By Josh Weil | Published: February 26, 2010
The internet was abuzz this morning with the social chatter of another Southside riot instigated by activists upset with the University. What started as a dance party became a destructive and violent mob that clashed with the police. The news story from the Daily Cal can be found here. I’m going to focus my attention on [...]
Posted in Berkeley | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Unsupported Statement

By Josh Weil | Published: February 26, 2010
Everyone will be twice as wealthy under minimal (to no) government. Social Bookmarking
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Going Meta: Part 1

By Charlie Deist | Published: February 25, 2010
I’ve always suspected that I have an above-normal predisposition towards analyzing the nature my thoughts and beliefs, putting me in the company of one of my favorite philosophers, Robin Hanson. For example, ever since I began forming opinions about the way the world works, I have been obsessed with understanding why my beliefs about reality differ [...]
Posted in Knowledge problem, Philosophy, Psychology & Behavior, Self Interest | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Ron Paul on Assassinations

By Charlie Deist | Published: February 25, 2010
Interesting stuff. Social Bookmarking
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Ideas Lead to Tragedy in Rural India

By Charlie Deist | Published: February 24, 2010
This WSJ article offers a textbook case of a “good” idea gone wrong because of the unintended consequences. Last week, a commenter on this blog defended the Federal government’s early involvement in agriculture: “As for agriculture, again, you don’t seem to understand either history or the functioning of free markets. Making recommendations about what to plant [...]
Posted in Knowledge problem, Unintended Consequences | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Mental Illness and Consumer Choice Theory

By Josh Weil | Published: February 21, 2010
I just read a very interesting paper by GMU economist and Econlog blogger Bryan Caplan on the economics of mental illness. He builds on psychiatrist Thomas Szasz’s non-mainstream philosophy of the mind and argues that most mental illness is an expression of extreme preferences and not a constraining disease. Caplan puts mental illness into a framework [...]
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Stealing from the Politically Weak

By Josh Weil | Published: February 20, 2010
“First they came …” The city of Berkeley is facing a $14 million budget shortfall this year and expects a larger gap the year after. The three main ways of covering a municipal shortfall are borrowing, reducing spending, or increasing taxes. Borrowing without a plan to increase revenue would be disastrous. Spending cuts are unfeasible: no [...]
Posted in Berkeley, Econ 101 | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Enjoy Capitalism

By Josh Weil | Published: February 18, 2010
I’m proposing a $100 (current USD) bet for anyone to take. In 40 years, a supermajority of households in the United States with a television set will have a 3D high definition tv in their homes. Obviously collection of this bet will be difficult, but I promise to pay out if I lose. It will be [...]
Posted in Innovation | Tagged , | 1 Comment