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Markets in law evasion? A fun example of “collective action” in Stockholm
A group in Sweden known as Planka.nu (rough translation: “free-ride.now”) believes that public transit should be financed through general taxes, not individual fares. Their rationale is that a greater share of the costs of public transit should be borne by affluent citizens and drivers. Moreover, … Continue reading
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Tagged Collective Action, Free Riding, Planka, Public Transport, Stockholm
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Three questions for Nate Silver
1. “If people are so inclined to see the world through their tunnel vision, why suppose they are able/willing to be explicit about their biases?” 2. “If priors are to represent biases, shouldn’t they be kept separate from the data … Continue reading
The Science Wars & the Statistics Wars: More from the Scientism workshop
Originally posted on Error Statistics Philosophy:
Here are the slides from my presentation (May 17) at the Scientism workshop in NYC. (They’re sketchy since we were trying for 25-30 minutes.) Below them are some mini notes on some of the talks. Now for…
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El 20 de mayo …
Today (May 20th) is a holiday in many countries around the world, like Cameroon (National Day), East Timor (Independence Day), Indonesia (National Awakening Day), and Cambodia (Day of Remembrance). It’s also Cuban Independence Day (or used to be, see below), for on this day in 1902 … Continue reading
Cuban Economics
In the United States, we have a minimum wage; Cuba has a maximum wage—$20 a month for almost every job in the country. (Professionals such as doctors and lawyers can make a whopping $10 extra a month.) Sure, Cubans get “free” health … Continue reading
Why isn’t Puerto Rico the 51st State yet?
Or why aren’t California and Texas sovereign republics?
Free riding in Trinidad & Tobago
TEDx never ceases to amaze us … Bravo!
Infinite regress in law (a theoretical critique of the Hand formula)
Adjudication is the process of making decisions in law, but decision-making is a costly activity. For simplicity, we can model the process of adjudication (and decision-making generally) as a function consisting of two costly inputs: (i) RESEARCH or information-gathering and (ii) … Continue reading
Don’t freak out …
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner’s third (and possibly last) “Freakonomics” book — Think like a freak — is out. It’s a breezy though entertaining mish-mash of assorted anecdotes and sundry stories … and an excellent graduation gift for any 6th graders you … Continue reading
The self-reference test …
Can your favorite academic theory pass the self-reference test? What is the self-reference test, you ask? It’s a little test we devised after unintentionally stumbling upon (yet again) this perceptive quotation, which appears on page 776 of Gunther Teubner’s essay with the … Continue reading
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Tagged Dialectics, Gunther Teubner, Paradigms, Self-Reference, Theories
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