Category Archives: ECONOMICS

Progressive? No thanks … or at least only if I’m at the helm …

The other day I had a somewhat depressing run in with our city councillor who mistook his election as a mandate when it was a strong rejection of the development mad woman whom he replaced. We discussed two recent neighbourhood … Continue reading

Posted in ECONOMICS, LIFE | 2 Comments

Well, call me a broken record (but don’t call me Shirley)

A topic close to my heart, that human cooperation is key to survival, crops up again through the inestimable Russ Roberts, within the context of our use of narrative, our ancient history (including the use of cooperation to destroy other species, … Continue reading

Posted in ECONOMICS, LIFE | 21 Comments

Back to Russ Roberts, and an almost argument breaks out!

I nearly always enjoy these podcasts and when Russ is throwing his net wide and doesn’t hesitate to interview people with whom he has a fundamental disagreement it is extra interesting. Add in nostalgia for the early days of computers … Continue reading

Posted in ECONOMICS, LIFE | 31 Comments

Maybe it’s just me, but I find this post-conspiracist most entertaining ..

I have touted this podcast before, and cannot resist re-touting it. Still time to go back to the beginning, and it only comes out once a month (sadly) so no big time commitment, but if you ever feel you narrowly … Continue reading

Posted in ECONOMICS, LIFE, RANDOM | 65 Comments

Cooperation innate and key to survival? Who’d of thunk it …

Well, me, for one. And I sure took a lot of heat (and vitriol and even metaphoric urine) for mentioning it at the Swamp: humans tend to be naturally cooperative. Or so argues Paul Robinson in Pirates, Prisoners and Lepers. I … Continue reading

Posted in ECONOMICS, LIFE | 109 Comments

He does call them fanatics and someone goes to jail …

Bitcoins, they just won’t go away … unless they were mean’t to be in your wallet .. I do find bitcoins an intriguing approach to currency, but have a great deal of trouble taking them seriously. I think owning gold … Continue reading

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Leaning on Russ Roberts, but a monetary constitution is an interesting idea

I feel like the old me, advocating for some system of sounder money, but there can be no doubt that a government monopoly on currency is fraught with dangers, and the current system of rewarding some and not others as … Continue reading

Posted in ECONOMICS | 31 Comments

You could feel a giant sucking sound and fine, blame the third year of a drought …

Water, water, nowhere and not a drop to drink … You could feel a giant sucking sound and fine, blame the third year of a drought but all those showers and dishwashers and hotels doing laundry and too green golf … Continue reading

Posted in ECONOMICS, LIFE, RANDOM | 34 Comments

One can be excused from thinking the fix is in, when the fix is in …

Here’s a frustrating topic dear to our hearts, and seems to tell the story of how the Americans took advantage of the carnage of World War Two to make their dollar the only equivalent to gold and created a ‘new … Continue reading

Posted in ECONOMICS | 49 Comments

It’s funny how ideas can have a moment … or how did Nassim Taleb manage to worry about what we were just worrying about, i.e., what to worry about?

It is here in the comments on the last thread, and then just this morning a headline flashed past me, Fitch: Greek Election Uncertainty Raises Banks’ Liquidity Risks, as I checked on the current status of the U.S. dollar, and I remembered a … Continue reading

Posted in ECONOMICS, LIFE | 29 Comments