Creative Commons
Blogs I Follow
Category Archives: Politics
“On Constitutional Disobedience”
That is the title of this thought-provoking book by Louis Michael Seidman, a professor of constitutional law at Georgetown University. In summary, Professor Seidman’s thesis is that the Constitution of 1787 is not binding on us. While a strong case can … Continue reading
Posted in Cooperation, Law, Philosophy, Politics, Questions Rarely Asked
Tagged Constitution, Louis Michael Seidman, Sophistry
Leave a comment
Legislative lotteries?
Did you know the U.S. House of Representatives uses a lottery to allocate office space to its new members? Why doesn’t the Congress use a lottery system for budget appropriations as well? By way of example, why not (a) set … Continue reading
Ideological Turing Tests
Now that the midterm elections in the U.S. — as well as the presidential contest in Brasil — are finally over, can you pass an Ideological Turing Test? For example, let’s say you support gay marriage or oppose legalizing the sale of marijuana. Could you … Continue reading
Infinite regress, bias, and the Coase theorem
In their paper “Motive attribution asymmetry for love vs. hate drives intractable conflict,” Adam Waytz, Liane Young and Jeremy Ginge appear to extend the logic of the Coase Theorem into the domain of politics. Specifically, Waytz, Young, and Ginge study the problem of … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Law, Philosophy, Politics
Tagged Bias, Coase Theorem, Infinite Regress
Leave a comment
“The moral tragedy of Scottish independence”
That is the melodramatic title of this short essay by Emile Simpson, an English scholar and former British infantry officer. (Thanks to Tyler Cowen for the pointer.) Although we are not certain when a tragedy becomes a “moral tragedy,” Simpson’s paper is worth reading because he … Continue reading
Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Current Affairs, Deception, Politics, Rules, Voting
Tagged Scottish independence referendum
Leave a comment
Scottish non-independence prediction markets
Scotland about 50% support for independence, but markets still only about 25% that it actually passes in 2 weeks: http://t.co/rm2GgyPurz — David Rothschild 🌻 (@DavMicRot) September 7, 2014 The Scottish Independence Referendum is scheduled to take place on 18 September 2014. Some … Continue reading
Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Current Affairs, Politics, Voting
Tagged Prediction Markets
Leave a comment
Questions for Richard Epstein
On page 71 of his beautiful book The Classical Liberal Constitution, Richard A. Esptein acknowledges “how difficult it is to deal with systematic errors in [constitutional] interpretation that perforce creep into all interpretive efforts with the passage of time” (emphasis ours). … Continue reading
Posted in Law, Logical Fallacies, Politics
Leave a comment
Women against feminism …
Check out this funny and controversial Women Against Feminism tumblr where women of all ages and races post selfies explaining why they reject feminism. Is this a sign of progress, or a step backwards? What would Rosie say?
Posted in Bayesian Reasoning, Current Affairs, Politics
Tagged Anti-feminism, Feminism
Leave a comment
Our peace plan for Palestine
How about a “one-state” solution? That is, what if the Government of Israel were to annex the Gaza Strip outright; (ii) extend full Israeli citizenship as well as voting rights to every person living in Gaza, (iii) allow all political parties incorporated in Gaza (including Hamas) … Continue reading
Posted in Current Affairs, Game Theory, Justice, Politics
Tagged Gaza Strip, Israel, Peace Plan
Leave a comment
prior probability 