Category Archives: Uncategorized

Is Adam Smith’s impartial spectator a deity or just a heuristic device?

As I have mentioned in my last few posts, my colleagues Daniel Klein, Nicholas Swanson, and Jeffrey Young have published a new paper in Econ Journal Watch about one of the most original and fascinating ideas in the work of … Continue reading

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A second-order question about Adam Smith’s impartial spectator

Thus far this week (see here and here), I have posed a first-order question about Adam Smith’s “impartial spectator”: who, or what, is this imaginary moral judge? (See, for example, the short video posted below.) I, however, will now have … Continue reading

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Das Adam Smith Impartial Spectator Problem

I began my previous post by asking, Who (or what?) is the “impartial spectator” in Adam Smith’s first magnum opus, The Theory of Moral Sentiments? (This is just one of the many open “Adam Smith problems” my colleague and friend … Continue reading

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Who (or what) is Adam Smith’s impartial spectator?

My colleagues Daniel Klein, Nicholas Swanson, and Jeffrey Young provide their interpretation of Adam Smith’s imaginary being in their essay “The Impartial Spectator Rises” in the most recent issue of Econ Journal Watch (see here or below). As it happens, … Continue reading

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Sunday song: She’s somebody’s daughter

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The case against former FBI director James Comey

All I will say (for now) is that the incumbent FBI director, Kash Patel, better be careful, as his political enemies may want retribution when they resume control of the White House in the future. In the meantime, here is … Continue reading

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Friday funnies: Internet scraping for me but not for thee

I hate to have to defend such an unlikable CEO as Mark Zuckerberg, but what’s also funny about this anti-Meta meme are its logical and legal fallacies. Can you spot them?

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Fall readings

In addition to my usual fare of scholarly papers and erudite essays, below are some of the books that I am reading (or in the case of item #4, re-reading) this fall:

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PSA to my fellow academics

Delete your academia.edu accounts, if you have not done so already. Here’s why. See also the screenshot of their super-scammy updated user agreement below:

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More assorted links re: A.I.

Bonus link: ChatGPT is eating the world

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