I. Gross domestic product can be calculated in many ways, but one of the most common is: (Government expenditure)+(Consumption)+(Investment)+((Exports)-(Imports)) To see why government expenditure is under-counted consider two countries, one of which provides all of its health care through the public sector, the other through the private sector. In the latter case, health care is … Continue reading GDP undervalues government services
Informal musings on the self-organisation of authoritarianism
You know how everyone has realizations they make far later in life than is normal? This is one of mine. Nonetheless, in the possibility that this essay might be helpful to someone who was similarly slow on the uptake, I've decided to share it. I. I’ve come to realize that most pro-authoritarian action can be self-organised- … Continue reading Informal musings on the self-organisation of authoritarianism
The Culture Novels and the deaestheticisation of politics
I. You know that old cliche in science fiction? The hardy explorers find a society that appears to be a utopia- but not all is as it seems! In many ways, The Culture novels by Iain Banks are an inversion of that. Characters either live in, or encounter, The Culture- a society that appears to … Continue reading The Culture Novels and the deaestheticisation of politics
The paradox of high expectations: The more you demand, the less you get
In various fairly common situations, demanding more can result in receiving less. I. The kinds of situation I am talking about are ubiquitous, but we'll start with employee hiring. Suppose you are running a job search, and are primarily interested in some desirable talent T. Perhaps T is years of experience using some application or … Continue reading The paradox of high expectations: The more you demand, the less you get
The Greens are suddenly much stronger in Western Europe
Across Western Europe, in many (though not all) countries, a bunch of Greens parties occupying the space between "left" and "centre-left" have suddenly become much larger. I thought readers might be interested in this phenomena so I've gathered the evidence here. I make no value judgements about this- maybe it's just neoliberalism with a new … Continue reading The Greens are suddenly much stronger in Western Europe
We’ve done so well, so we musn’t stop now: An ethical & political homily on Peter Abelard
In the high medieval ages, the philosopher Peter Abelard- who in many ways is considered quite modern in his outlook- discusses the case of a slave being attacked by his owner. Knowing that he will die otherwise, the slave strikes out with a sword, killing his master. There is no equivocation in Abelard that the … Continue reading We’ve done so well, so we musn’t stop now: An ethical & political homily on Peter Abelard
Yet another case in which minimum wage increases can raise employment
In a very simple supply and demand model the minimum wage increases unemployment. Yet there are many plausible models under which the minimum wage can actually increase employment, or have no effect on unemployment. This is fortunate because much of the empirical literature tends to suggest that the minimum wage as no effect, or only … Continue reading Yet another case in which minimum wage increases can raise employment
On critical social-technological points
1. Critical Social-Technological Points I want introduce the idea of a critical social-technological point (CSTP). A CSTP is a technological discovery or implementation after which the existing hierarchies and ruling class of a society is locked in, in the sense that removing them from power, or even resisting them in any measurably important way, becomes … Continue reading On critical social-technological points
By my scoring, over half the items in the generic conspiracist scale are literally true
EDIT: These days I write at this free Substack, if you're interested in seeing more of my work: https://philosophybear.substack.com/ I recently had the good fortune to find this great article on what we do wrong in studying "conspiracy theories". There is a long history of laziness, even complicity, of social scientists wrapping up all sorts of … Continue reading By my scoring, over half the items in the generic conspiracist scale are literally true
Rising age based polarisation in American presidential politics
Most people think of left-wing politics as the province of the young, and right-wing politics as favoured by the old. This is true, but at least when it comes to American presidential politics, it hasn't been true for as long as you think. In 2010 Gallup posted an article suggesting that Obama’s support was bifurcated more … Continue reading Rising age based polarisation in American presidential politics
DePonySum 