http://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/Nyepositional.htmlMy postion is that Positional Goods (Status Signals, Signaling, Status Cues), are not redistributable. And that’s because status signals are NECESSARY, not preferential.
Source date (UTC): 2011-10-19 13:45:00 UTC
http://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/Nyepositional.htmlJohn Nye writes more on Status Signals: “because the West is much richer, positional or status goods are consequently more important. The struggle over status goods can be masked when you have rapid growth and a lot of mobility. But ultimately, middle and upper middle class people DO care more about health care, location of housing, and elite schooling than poorer people. “
In marketing, advertising and politics, social signaling matters. Now, my argument is that it’s impossible to have a complex society without social signals. So my argument is that social signals are NECESSARY. Just like money and numbers are necessary. Because we would would literally not be able to THINK if we didn’t have status signals. Just like we wouldn’t be able to THINK if we didn’t have prices.
Source date (UTC): 2011-10-19 12:38:00 UTC
“The Department of Transportation found that, in 2009, commutes by private car took, on average, 23 minutes. Public transportation, by contrast, took an average of 53 minutes. “
Public transportation is slow. It’s loud. It’s ugly, and it’s dirty. It’s only suitable for people with very regular schedules. It dampens consumption. It’s absurdly expensive per person – particularly rail. It feeds the public sector bureaucracy. It allows large corporations to get subsidized labor rather than pay increased wages. And frankly, it’s unsanitary. So, it’s all well and good that downtown cores make use of public transportation. But otherwise, we’d be better off giving people zero interest used car loans. I realize some people love it. And as a resident of downtown Boston I appreciated it – when I wasn’t freezing to death in the wind chill. But I don’t have the regular schedule, the extra hour a day to waste, plus the extra time on either side of the work day, nor the time to make separate trips for groceries and what-not. Even in Germany almost eighty percent of the population commutes by car. I’m glad that some people think it’s sensible. But the math doesn’t make sense to me at all.
Source date (UTC): 2011-10-18 06:30:00 UTC
http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=10259The types of inequality
Source date (UTC): 2011-10-17 15:01:00 UTC
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/does-americas-99-percent-represent-the-top-1-percent-on-earth/2011/10/12/gIQA5JVQfL_blog.htmlPerspective
Source date (UTC): 2011-10-17 15:00:00 UTC
http://www.eif.org/news_centre/publications/eif_wp_2011_009_EU_Venture.pdfAn interesting paper on the weakness of the VC community, and general entrepreneurship in Europe vs the USA. Personally, my experience is that too much money is captured in government hands where it does not seek speculative (high) returns. (And therefore does not create jobs.) The authors also note that VC’s in europe are predominantly from finance, not entrepreneurs, engineers or scientists and therefore lack the knowledge to invest in risk ventures. Personally, I think the cultural issues ( Americans are very tolerant of risk and willing to work very, very hard in startups) are not insignificant. Nor is the anti-capitalist sentiment very helpful.
Source date (UTC): 2011-10-13 21:25:00 UTC
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/opinion/how-to-stop-the-drop-in-home-values.htmlSomeone else catches on.
If we had written down mortgages in 2007 when I suggested it, we’d have had almost NO recession and saved ourselves something on the order of ten trillion in value.
This was one of the very few boom-bust cycles that was eminently fixable.
Source date (UTC): 2011-10-13 13:30:00 UTC
Well, technically speaking, she’s NOT in the 1%.
Someone ELSE made the money and gave it to her.
So that person is in the 1%.
And she’s hoping everyone can inherit like she did? Right?
Is that her logic?
Source date (UTC): 2011-10-11 17:23:00 UTC
Aggregationists Vs Individualists http://www.capitalismv3.com/index.php/2011/09/aggregationists-vs-individualists/
Source date (UTC): 2011-09-29 16:43:59 UTC
Original post: https://twitter.com/i/web/status/119452371901353985
http://www.capitalismv3.com/index.php/2011/09/aggregationists-vs-individualists/An analysis of Keynesians Vs Austrians
Source date (UTC): 2011-09-29 12:41:00 UTC