Ian McAuley circulated the summary below and I asked him for permission to make it available here – which he agreed to. Piketty's books remind me of one of John Clarke's lines. Back in Fred Dagg's ten minute History of Western Civilisation, he commented that "The Russians expe...
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“men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses more slowly, and one by one.” MacKay, 1841. Right now, London and much of Europe are in peak covid-mania, entering another two months of lockdowns on to...
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Posted in Uncategorized, Politics - international, History, Economics and public policy, Science, Libertarian Musings, Political theory, Cultural Critique, Death and taxes, Social Policy, Employment, Coronavirus crisis
2020 was certainly a roller coaster for a social scientist, full of surprises. Let me not once again bemoan the increasingly coordinated attack on all sources of vitality in Western civilisation, but look ahead and openly wonder about what 2021 will bring in terms of 7 specifi...
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Posted in Uncategorized, Politics - national, Politics - international, Humour, IT and Internet, Economics and public policy, Science, Social, Cultural Critique, Medical, Social Policy, Democracy, Coronavirus crisis
Guess which countries in Europe have had the lowest average restrictions on individual behaviour from March to December according to researchers at the Blavatnik school of government in Oxford ? Guess which countries in the world have had the most or least stringent government...
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Filed under "Studies that confirm my priors". Long-Term Effects of Equal Sharing: Evidence from Inheritance Rules for Land Charlotte Bartels, Simon Jäger, and Natalie Obergruber #28230 Abstract: What are the long-term economic effects of a more equal distribution of wealth? We...
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[caption id="attachment_34478" align="aligncenter" width="509"] Quite a cool mural that popped up when I searched Google Images for 'neoliberalism'.[/caption] In his powerful critique of Neo-liberalism, Nicholas Gruen draws heavily on the work of Michael Polanyi. The following...
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[caption id="attachment_34474" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Wellbeing: As you can see from the picture, everyone's a winner.[/caption] I was asked to respond to this question by the Mandarin as part of their ‘select committee’ of worthies (note: the link is behind the 'Pre...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfrDNgDL1Dk Here's a presentation to the annual Communities in Control conference run by the amazing outfit Our Community established in the 1990s by Denis Moriarty who had previously been a Deputy Secretary in the Victorian bureaucracy. (If you...
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Those interested in my article on Polanyi might be interested in the chapter of Peter Drucker's memoirs on the Polanyis. An amazing lot whom he introduces thus: The Polanyis – father and children – were the most gifted family I have ever known or heard of. They were also the m...
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[caption id="attachment_34459" align="alignright" width="220"] Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, one of central Europe's brightest and best, fresh from a stint as Einstein's research assistant arrives in Manchester in 1933.[/caption] I have now finished the second draft of an essa...
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Stock markets give us a glimpse what people with money have deduced about world events before they happen. Investors can make mistakes, sometimes terrible mistakes, but they are honest mistakes: you don’t buy a stock at a 100 if you actually honestly believe that same stock wi...
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The animosity between the Chinese and Australian authorities is heating up, so we Westerners need to understand some of Chinese culture and politics. I do not have all the answers, but some 10 years of working and teaching on China have taught me about three traits that I hope...
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How will Western historians in 2050 remember 2020? In scenario 1, "The Great Panic, a lost generation", I sketch my best guess. Scenario 2, "A job well done" is the one I imagine many current Western governments hope is told. Scenario 3, "The dark path of the Great Panic", is...
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Posted in Politics - national, Politics - international, Life, Philosophy, History, Humour, Society, Libertarian Musings, Geeky Musings, Health, Dance, Innovation, Cultural Critique, Public and Private Goods, Social Policy, Coronavirus crisis
Another post from John Burnheim who wrote this following up on having received some questions from some Spaniards. (Reminding me of the title of John Lennon's book, or perhaps it was just a joke of his somewhere: A Spaniard in the works) NG Demarchy is not a comprehensive plan...
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Cross-posted from The Mandarin (and written about ten days ago, so it fails to mention Adelaide's latest snafu). Lockdowns, border closures, masks, apps and eradication. Where do you stand? One can’t sensibly address any of these issues without knowing more about context. But...
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Last week I gave a masterclass lecture at University College London on the costs and benefits of lockdowns and other covid-policies in the UK. A recording is here (Passcode: f@$?y9J9 ), and the powerpoint slides are here . A key piece of evidence was the sudden 0.7 drop in lif...
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[caption id="attachment_34406" align="alignright" width="320"] Kind of a fun graphic[/caption] Well, we look like getting a vaccine! Of course managing the policy response to the virus could know of this only as a possibility. But, looking like it is coming to pass, that possi...
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[caption id="attachment_34398" align="aligncenter" width="736"] There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy[/caption] It’s a supreme finding of Hume’s clever reasoning that ought cannot be derived from is. The claim is so irrefutab...
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How are we going to escape the authoritarian nightmare and regain our liberties and zest for life? This long read is written for organisers of new Covistance initiatives, explaining the logic of what others have done and what could further be done. So I am speaking to those of...
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Posted in Politics - national, Politics - international, IT and Internet, Science, Journalism, Media, Libertarian Musings, Geeky Musings, Health, Law, Information, Parenting, Death and taxes, Democracy, Coronavirus crisis
https://youtu.be/qHos8FlzMOE Here's a great lecture by Martin Wolf who's writing a book on capitalism and democracy. It's well worth watching I think. And, as is my custom, and despite Paul's thinking that the result is so buggy it may not be worth it, below the fold I append...
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