Cross-posted from The Mandarin . I Since I used the term ‘policy hack’ in my presentation “What economic reform thinking might look like if we’d bothered to do it” , I’ve had a number of exchanges with Martin Wolf, my discussant that evening, about what I mean. Here’s how I de...

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[caption id="attachment_32663" align="alignleft" width="3411"] Verily this is a very nice looking AC. Made of gold I believe and sitting on maroon velvet. It's got wattle on the ribbon, is inlaid with semi-precious stones with the crown sitting at the top. Lucky we got rid of...

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The probability of a massive nuclear war the next 10 years between any of the 8 current nuclear powers (US, UK, France, Russia, India, Pakistan, NK, Israel) seems low. The bluster of the leaders is supposed to make the threat look a bit bigger than it is in order to get negoti...

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Today's Fin Review column What would Abraham Lincoln think of the Productivity Commission’s report into Australia’s super system? A funny question I know, but amongst his charms those eight-score years ago was a lively interest in economics and an original mind – seriously. He...

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Yes folks, the PC's Final Report on Super tells us that the regulation of self managed super funds (SMSFs) is "appropriate" and plumps for more attention to 'advice' in setting up SMSFs. Verily, my gob was truly smacked and smacked again. In any event, there's not much more to...

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I'm afraid this post won't live up to the title above. It has its genesis in a long email I wrote someone who told me I just had to read Jeremy Lend's critique of 'Enlightenment Now' . I've mainly just topped and tailed it and stuck it up here – very much FWIW. I’ll pass I’m a...

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As Orwell put it “there are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them.” At least in economics one of the things that sets up intellectuals for this is the way so much of their discipline seeks to get 'below' the level of immediate intuition to something...

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There are so many pitfalls here. Mathematics enables us to construct moving pictures of almost any possible state of affairs. But no picture can say that there is a real state of affairs corresponding to it in the real world. Much less can it say the picture explains or predic...

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In the context of my writing about public goods, John Burnheim sent me the email below. (Note his use of the word 'comedy is intended as Dante meant it – as a story where things turn out in the end). The park in question is the wonderful park in which I walk every day, stretch...

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Y3YOo7G3M&t=3096s Well, Happy New Year all. Here's a post introducing you to two people I admire. At least from the little I know of each, they lead lives that exemplify the virtues I believe in. They're common virtues, lots of people have the...

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