Author Archives: Nicholas Gruen

Saving democracy: one secret ballot at a time

Posted on February 18, 2021 by Nicholas Gruen

  Though I have a deep interest in and faith in sortition as “the other way of representing the people”, my own view of a good system and of the path of activism to get there is protean, eclectic and … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, History | 11 Comments

The sound and the fury signifying nothing: some observations on the new politics

Posted on February 3, 2021 by Nicholas Gruen

Back in the day, (which is to say for most of the 20th century until things began changing in the 1980s, each of the major political parties had a few percentage points of the population as members. In addition to … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Philosophy, Political theory, Sortition and citizens’ juries | 8 Comments

The Toyota Production System: a milestone and revelation in human affairs, or just a rightward shift of the supply curve?

Posted on January 30, 2021 by Nicholas Gruen

About a year ago, I happened upon the video above and it reminded me of the revelation that the Toyota production system was to me when I first encountered it in 1983. I was working for Industry Minister John Button … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Science, objectivity and the separation of knowing and doing

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Nicholas Gruen

I. Given its astonishing success, modern minds are mesmerised by science. So much so that various disciplines adopted certain mannerisms of science in order to make themselves more ‘scientific’. This is the intellectual sin Hayek and others called ‘scientism’. Having … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Science | 1 Comment

History is repeating: Dennis Glover on the Capitol Hill riot

Posted on January 15, 2021 by Nicholas Gruen

If something can happen once, it can happen again. This is the oft-ignored first lesson of history. The second lesson is that humans usually forget lesson number one. Watching the attempted coup unfold at the Capitol building, those two lessons … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Economics and public policy, History, Political theory, Politics - international | 62 Comments

A brief summary of a long work – Piketty’s Capital and Ideology: by Ian McAuley

Posted on January 10, 2021 by Nicholas Gruen

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Economics and public policy, History | 1 Comment

Long-Term Effects of Equal Sharing: Evidence from Inheritance Rules for Land

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Nicholas Gruen

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? … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, History, Political theory | Leave a comment