and well aware these aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, I find they seem to go awfully well with mine.
Robert Frank on Coase
Robert Frank
Hosted by Russ Roberts
Robert Frank of Cornell University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the implications of Ronald Coase’s views on externalities. Drawing on his book, The Darwin Economy, Frank explores the implications of Coase’s perspective for assessing public policy challenges where one person’s actions affect others. Examples discussed include pollution, cigarette smoking and related issues.
There is no point in my trying to explain Coase’s theory of externalities, because I don’t understand it myself, and apparently when they wrote the description of the interview they also failed to make it sound in anyway exciting, but I do find the discussion the discussion of Coase’s theory leads to very interesting, if ultimately tautological.
Again Professor Roberts seems to bridge a gap in ideology, focusing on the ideas themselves and why disagreement occurs, to the point that I have no real understanding of how they disagree, other than to say the fellow being interviewed just calls good whatever result he likes, a common end to many a discussion with an intelligent but undisciplined mind. By extending the timeframe, any choice can be made to appear to have the lowest transaction cost, with perfect hindsight and a shifting yard stick. But that’s a pitfall of all post facto analysis. We can only see what happened, not what didn’t happen but might have.
But if we aren’t allowed to sit around making up narratives about posts, facto or otherwise, then what the heck are we meant to do? Enjoy Ash Wednesday? Well, yes. So may your Ash Wednesday be ashless, unless you think there is a lower transaction cost to its being ashful.
And, let me add parenthetically [how could they stop you, ed.?] because it is on my ‘mind’: why does less get to keep both ss’s but full has to lose an l? Careless, but careful, seems a particularly silly example. As if careful would lose a letter and careless keep them all!
Madness abounds, but have a great day anyhow.
Careless with only 1 ‘s’ might be mistaken for the plural of the noun ‘carele’ Kuh’-reel
And they did used to put both ‘L’s on “carefull”… but the cultural phonetic usage of double letters caused the more informal english speakers living in warmer climates to start accenting the first syllable… like “Care’-ful”. so they nixed the second ‘l’, for the common good.
How about ’till as a “short form” for until. 5 letters each – I mean shouldn’t a contraction be shorter than the parent? Just quibbling but I take my quibbling seriously.
it is just too damn cold to comment. see you in a few days.
Hibernation … a little late in the season, but enjoy.
you’re subject is a good one. will read tomorrow.
had to try to function outside today. brutal, and even worse is on the way. people around here are coming unglued.
i was looking for a good video of a pile driver crane, but no such luck. not sure people know what that means – it is not a fake wrestling move. but that is what this winter looks, sounds, and feels like to me. look it up.
send sunshine and booze. actually screw the sunshine – it’s not warming us up at all.
for the Dude…
😯
If any of you guys got an email from me today, I’m sure you were savvy enough to see that it really wasn’t from me. It was spam. Just delete. Anybody who has been around the block these days can recognize spam even if it looks like it’s from your own mother.
Here’s the interesting thing though. The contact list that it went out to was from when my account was hacked last year. Not even remotely resembling my current contact list. Some spambot somewhere is just reusing an old hack, not doing a new one. I think…
I got home early enough today to sneak in a dog run. Wow, the wind is howling out there. I think I’ve been colder this winter, but I really don’t remember when.
After listening to some of the Russ Roberts interview, I must say- Mr. Roberts seems very nice and is always so patient and kind to his guests.
This week’s guest, Mr. Frank, a Professor at Cornel University, seemed to really enjoy their discussion.
It is good that like-minded people can find comfort and security conversing with one another in such a polite manner. And what a conversation these gentlemen did have, so warm and cordial.
Having chosen to listen to the audio version of the interview, and knowing that DP intends to soon read the entire text version, I look forward to hearing his in-depth review, and hope he will be able to spend ample time with the sharing of his thoughts on the specifics of it’s contextual details.
As for Ash Wednesday, I am aware of the concept from years past, having seen coworkers go about their day with black smudge marks on their foreheads.
I didn’t happen to see any participants this year, but do hope that all smudge marks and any other rituals were conducted safely and appropriately.
All I know about Ash Wednesday is what Google tells me, and it tells me that it’s next week, March 5. Is it different in Canada? Something tells me that is unlikely.
I checked because I was hoping to snag a fish fry at one of my favorite watering holes today, but Google said to wait.
It turned out to be a perfectly good Woden’s Day after all, even if silver did crap the bed. I mean, the Arizona governor finally had to eat shit and veto that bill, so that’s some pretty fine entertainment there.
Well, my sources for it being Ash Wednesday actually were discussing making pancakes for Shrove Tuesday (because nothing says faith like a stack of flapjacks) and being young were perhaps jumping the gun. I will let them know that it was just a dry run.
As to the wind – agreed! The temperature isn’t that low but it is really bitter. Finger tips not happy.
And also agree as to cordial gentlemen with cushy jobs discussing esoteric things without rancour. And have had much discussion at home about the utility of certain branches of philosophy and philosophers. Bur these guys really do influence public policy, and as a person with a keen interest in freedom, good governance and social “justice” to talk like my lunatic children, I feel it is important to go to the roots of ideas if possible. It is a luxury of the modern world, and one that Keynes actually talked about – a time when we would be rich enough to do things that didn’t overtly lead to a bigger material pie to share. And it is an interesting question – do you write laws that state things you “just know” to be true, like laws discouraging murder. Or do you write laws that lead to practical outcomes, like ever changing zoning, or where what was once principle, like capital punishment, is no longer principle, do you allow laws to morph to new principles? Deterence, a phenomenological concept, protecting society, or redemption, more ontological, saving the individual. So abstruse but practical discussion.
But I share your distrust of the cozy academic – I grew up in a fantasy world of their construction, and know who buttered what is left of their bread.
I stumbled onto these links yesterday. Very witty writing that I think should appeal to anyone with their own checkered history in trading, or a history of being in and out of love with various indicators, or who is currently settled on a basic momentum, trend following, asset allocation approach. I happen to be all three, so maybe that’s why I like them so much.
It’s the sort of stuff I wish I were clever enough to write. And, I most wholeheartedly agree with all his points, which is a plus.
The Trouble With Indicators
Adventures In TAA
Here’s another good one from the same guy. Introducing (to me, at least) a new acronym, NASAYAYA (Not As Smart As You Assume You Are).
Ignorance Can Be Bliss
This of course is in direct opposition to all the precious metals swamp creatures out there who are absolutely firm in their convinctions to the point of financial suicide. Cultish myopia.
OK, myopia was a bad analogy. “Can’t see the forest for the trees”. No, actually precious metals doomsday bugs obsess about the forest all the time, that an asteroid will eventually flatten the whole thing (if there were any justice an asteroid WOULD flatten the whole thing, as far as they are concerned) and you had better be prepared.
But then they go around routinely walking smack into trees. It’s Comedy Gold, pun intended.
Wow – he is a pan dimensional being. I had to click on this tab – and it was also well worth it:
Temporal Spatial Arbitrage
I wonder what lurks under his humour tab!
Once you are angry that disaster isn’t arriving fast enough to teach others a lesson, you have gone off the rails. That was a common sentiment that drove me crazy – a maniacal delight that all would be murder and mayhem. Imagine actually worrying about whether you were going to have to eat the dead. And not finding any humour in it!
Yes! Financial stuff is only a tiny sliver of what’s there on his blog. I think I may spend some time catching up.
Josh Brown has his snarky pants on this morning. I like it! It’s like one huge run on sentence of snark. Go, Josh, Go.
Everything is Awesome!
I’m thinking about throwing on a FB short, just for sport.
Well here’s an interesting tidbit from over at another Famous Swamp. Just the sort of thing that certain people would just eat up without a nanosecond of second thoughts or due diligence.
The National Debt Cannot Be Paid Off
The article itself is pure boilerplate that I’ve seen a thousand times. My eye was drawn to the bio at the end. Who is this guy? Never heard of him!
Let’s read it together and then I’ll go over it piece by piece.
“Keith Weiner is CEO of Monetary Metals, a precious metals fund company in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is a leading authority in the areas of gold, money, and credit and has made important contributions to the development of trading techniques founded upon the analysis of bid-ask spreads. He is founder of DiamondWare, a software company sold to Nortel in 2008, and he currently serves as president of the Gold Standard Institute USA. Weiner attended university at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and earned his PhD at the New Austrian School of Economics*. He lives with his wife near Phoenix, Arizona. ”
Very nice. Now let’s take a closer look. He’s CEO of something, sounds nice, in…wait for it…Scottsdale, Arizona!? Holy Shitballs, this should be enough for you to run, not walk, but RUN away as fast as you can. It’s a truism in the markets that Florida and Arizona are the Capitals of the Boilerroom Industry. Gadzooks. But hey, let’s keep going.
Leading authority, blah, blah, trading techniques…bid-ask spreads? OK, just google up Bernie Madoff for some background on that one.
Founder of blah, blah, sold to Nortel in 2008. How nice for him. At least he knows a sucker when he sees one. Where is Nortel today? Bankrupt, that’s where.
President of Gold Standard Institute USA. Wow, that almost sounds like a real thing. Really laying his bona fides on us now. I wonder if the GSI, USA is much more than a PO Box and a checking account in Scottsdale.
…attended university at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “attended”??? That screams that he never actually was bothered to graduate. Good hockey program out there at RPI, I gotta admit that.
…and earned his Phd at at the New Austrian School of Economics. Wow. Online diploma mill anyone? Hit the link and you’ll see that the NASE is “not accredited”. Actually, all of it is so absurd that the original is better than any ridicule I can lay on myself.
“The New Austrian School of Economics (NASE) is not accredited. NASE was founded by Professor Antal Fekete, who previously taught mathematics at the University of Newfoundland and other accredited universities, as a forum in which he could teach his radical, new approach to monetary science. Professor Fekete is one of two examiners of Keith Weiner’s dissertation. The other is NASE faculty member Professor Juan Ramon Rallo, professor of economics at accredited King Juan Carlos University in Madrid.”
Heh, heh, so Fekete, who you may have heard of for all the wrong reasons, and some other guy from Madrid that nobody ever heard of at all read his dissertation. I should be impressed. But I’m not.
…and he lives with his wife in Phoenix. Well, we should all be reassured that at least he’s not a fag.
But hey, the guy has a blog! That must mean he’s for real, right? And no doubt if you hit enough links he’ll offer to sell you something that will protect you from…something scary.
Sounds eerily similar to the whole “end of the Keynesian experiment” schtick, doesn’t it?
haven’t read the interview or looked at any links. i’m still on my freeze about. but i felt the need to stop by and post something off topic.
“Many online communities attempt to block sockpuppets.” well, i think some online communities are all sock puppets at their core. it is fun to watch as the grand illusion implodes. but first, a little background…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sockpuppet_%28Internet%29
ugh, “SOCK” pupp…. i had to wear socks A”F”n”GAIN Today!!! And i know i get no sympathy from the northerners, but this sucks. I still went and got a large Steak & Shake Milkshake about an hour ago. with my socks on.
i permanent marker numbers on the toes of all my pairs of socks. And as disorganized as i am, i never wear socks unless the toe numbers match.
i think it’s about time for a big false flag world econ/currency crash. maybe break the monotonous <–thank you mr. spell checker, i wasn't even close.
Xty, how about writing about something scandalous or something? Like when you reported on the goings ons at that hotel, with the desk clerk… It seems you left us in suspense about something going on there. just a thought.
Barring some sort of bond debacle in today’s trading, my models will be giving a BUY signal on the bond market today. This aught to put any self respecting Fed Hater into a frickin’ tizz. Hard numbers later after the close.
Doug Casey coined the phrase “certificates of guaranteed confiscation” in reference to treasury bonds some 30-odd years ago. Of course, actual data has shown it to be a generational 30 year bull market in bonds, which apparently ain’t over yet, so go figure. I assume Casey still sleeps at night, though I don’t know how. Probably “on a bed made of money”, in Don Draper’s immortal phrase.
This is interesting. On the meme of supposed entrepreneurs actually feeding at the government trough.
Elon Musk: Visionary or Rent-Seeker?
Have a great day, everyone!
I immediately noticed the Nortel reference. They clearly were showing great judgment around about then.
I read Everything is Awesome to the end, and have to concur with the conclusion: where is the 2 x 4 coming from and can we duck. But trying to out guess the market has not worked so well, and if everything is contained in the price, then we all pretty much have the same info. I buy into the unlikelihood of somehow being the sharpest tool in the investment shed and noticing something no one else, even someone who spends their working life worrying about it, failed to spot. No looking for home runs. Bunt. Just bunt.
Isn’t that just an embarrassing word? Or am I too juvenile? Can’t help but think of the Monty Python sketch, about the fellow who can’t say the letter c.
My problem with “Everything Is Awesome” is that I also played the youtube at the end and now I have that tune stuck in my head.
1:50 my favorite… “uh….don’t you have to tell me when to talk”… lol
OK – i did finally read the interview. just a few comments…
surprised they did not mention Pareto efficiency – look it up if you want.
as usual, both the deontologists and the consequentialists have good solid points, and as usual, there is no fool proof, black and white, works every time solution. but it helps to read debate like this to soften confidence in hard and objective (autocratic) policies! and also true, if more people could debate like this, you know the idea that maybe no one knows the perfect answer, perhaps there would be less need for so much regulation. maybe the doctor and the candy maker could work out their own deal? and then there is that thing called the Golden Rule. wow. could it really be as simple as that? i believe that we get the government we deserve. duh.
The TIP etf is my proxy for the bond market. I’ve got a weekly close above the 200 day, at a price of 112.70. As a trend follower, that’s my buy signal. The last sell signal was May 10, 2013 at a price of 119.09. So, stocks, bonds, and gold are all pulling in the same direction. Up. Can this continue? Which will blink first? Your guess is as good as mine, and as good as anyone else’s. Tons of statistical analysis suggests that a trend, as defined in this way, tends to persist for the short run, but mean revert in the long run. But these time frames are hard to define. The short run is nearer at hand, and therefore somewhat more certain, and that’s why I’m a trend follower, rather than a contrarian. It’s the surer bet over the long haul and over many trials. As that article I posted above said of mean reversion, “it may stubbornly refuse to revert in your financial lifetime”.
But in the meantime, like the man said…
Your word of the day, tautology, seems to have precious little in relation to it’s apparent root, taut. My only known usage comes when, for example, a young fellow is hanging out near a college campus, watching the girls go by, as young fellows are wont to do, and might think, here and there, “that one’s nice and taut”.
Not that I would ever do or think such things, but let’s just say I knew a guy, who knew a guy, in a former life, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away… 😉
have you been working on your screen play?
someone i met at the old place, who i still follow around the globe, told me to look up this quote. so i did.
“Do not pursue what is illusory – property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade and can be confiscated in one fell night. Live with a steady superiority over life – don’t be afraid of misfortune, and do not yearn after happiness; it is after all, all the same: the bitter doesn’t last forever, and the sweet never fills the cup to overflowing. ”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
CHAPTER ONE
The Man Who Ate Everything
And Other Gastronomic Feats, Disputes, and Pleasurable Pursuits
https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/s/steingarten-everything.html
man, this guy is picky. (or was.)
The synopsis is in mothballs at the moment. I have a pretty good idea of what kind of edits could/should be made, but then I feel like “who am I changing it for?”
Certainly not for me. I like it the way it is. Some of it is a little raw, and it’s supposed to be raw. Plain vanilla is boring. I’d be changing it for some other reader who I imagine might find it more palatable/sellable. So I’m thinking…fuck that. For now anyway. Got to please yourself first. So it will sit as is until some bolt of inspiration comes along for a major revision/ expansion that appeals to ME. 🙂
In my fantasy vision, some Hollywood hack rewriter can take all the life out of it at some later date to make it sellable. I’m not going to eviscerate it myself ahead of time.
hope i didn’t kill the thread for the whole month. it is March now, and so far all the posts are mine. here is a picture of my back yard. if you look closely you can see my garden and barbecue pit.
Look above your post. I’m in there for the month!
Anybody remember my post about how “The Car Is Dead”?
Found two more articles on that meme.
The end of the car is coming
Woes of Megacity Driving Signal Dawn of ‘Peak Car’ Era
Feels like a bandwagon now.
Google is a wonderful thing. I couldn’t remember when or where my Car Is Dead post was, so I just typed into the search box “search xtybacq.com the car is dead” and there it was.
Nice, but a little spooky too.
sorry EO. i don’t know how it happened but you were on iggy.
my other car is a jet.