Curt Doolittle

Theme: Incentives

  • By Lee Tucker Some of my thinking was ‘catalyzed’ by Matt Levine at Bloomberg di

    By Lee Tucker

    Some of my thinking was ‘catalyzed’ by Matt Levine at Bloomberg discursively talking about gold.

    Sure, the modern Cathedral can dismiss gold as a negative carry, non-interest bearing flight of fancy valued by fools (disclosure: I do own gold but not in size).

    Mr Levine basically said (paraphrased) well, hang on, gold historically has been a social-proofing status enhancer.

    Why? To woo a Prince or Princess with a Golden Crown embedded a statement that one is in control of mining technologies, distribution networks, protected storage, rendering skills into consumer goods, and marketing technology.

    Is crypto mining really that different?

    Instead of digging dirt we are digging digital constructs.

    The successful arbitrage is ruthlessly exploiting tax, energy, labor and chip technology to maximize coin intake. And not inconsiderable skill to choose which coin to mine.

    For all of my friends who challenge me crypto is utter chaff, please deliver me 5　bitcoins 3 ethers and 2 moneros within four weeks that you did not purchase on an exchange or off-market swap.

    Coins that you mined. Is it free?

    Is it money for nothing? Do academic credentials mint pure profit?

    It is utter chaff, right? No serious men could be competing.

    A Milton Friedman license to print. A James Bond license to kill. A PT Barnum Bailey Bros license to thrill.

    Live Free & Mine LT

    Source date (UTC): 2018-05-28 10:33:00 UTC

  • “SHOULD I STUDY (FOR A PHD IN ) AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS?”—- If you study to be an A

    —“SHOULD I STUDY (FOR A PHD IN ) AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS?”—-

    If you study to be an Austrian Economist at GMU you will be in demand. (Ask them, and they’ll tell you. Look at placement data.) Why? Austrian Econ (bottom up, micro, entrepreneurial, and political economy) is a rare specialization that is methodologically rigorous and extremely valuable to certain sectors, certain governments, certain political parties, and to the financial and investment sector in particular.

    If you just want to teach orthodox (Leftist) econ (top down macro and public choice) you are better off in the orthodox camp. If you want a balance, study at Chicago.

    I think we are within twenty years of catastrophic reorganization of the field, and that if you are young, and interested in Austrian Econ, your long term prospects are quite good.

    -cheers

    Source date (UTC): 2018-05-27 14:55:00 UTC

  • The Problem with The Category ‘psychology’.

      I distinguish between freudianism, psychologism, therapy, incentives/biases/limits/logic, neurochemistry, and cognitive science. When a person says “psychology” I usually have to deduce which of those they’re referring to. In my understanding psychology is used to refer to each of those. However, the first two are pseudosciences, therapy/self/help is something else, and the rest are sciences. Usually I am criticizing the use of the first two or the conflation of the first two with others. May 25, 2018 5:03pm

  • The Problem with The Category ‘psychology’.

      I distinguish between freudianism, psychologism, therapy, incentives/biases/limits/logic, neurochemistry, and cognitive science. When a person says “psychology” I usually have to deduce which of those they’re referring to. In my understanding psychology is used to refer to each of those. However, the first two are pseudosciences, therapy/self/help is something else, and the rest are sciences. Usually I am criticizing the use of the first two or the conflation of the first two with others. May 25, 2018 5:03pm

  • THE HIERARCHY OF REVOLUTIONARY ARGUMENTS Think of revolutionary arguments as a p

    THE HIERARCHY OF REVOLUTIONARY ARGUMENTS

    Think of revolutionary arguments as a pyramid:

    – The theory (strategy)

    – The Incentives (science) of that strategy

    – The law (constitution) reflecting those incentives

    – The generational institutions (“government”) utilizing those incentives

    – The Intergenerational institutions (“education, religion”) retaining the strategy, incentives, law, and institutions).

    – The benefits for members (“rewards”) produced by those incentives, law, and institutions.

    – The motivations (“agitations”) that they produce by those what would obtain those benefits.

    – The Plan (“revolution”) that provides the opportunity for those whose motivations are sufficient to act – to do so.

    ||> Intellectuals > operators > citizens > agitators, revolutionaries: Arguments(solutions) for each. And let the weight of self interest drive the revolution – just like the enlightenment did and the eastern conquest of the western empire by levantine christianity did.

    I start at the top and work down. Most people start at the bottom and never make it past motivations.

    I expect others to take the ideas and communicate the benefits, inspire the motivations, and to organize the revolution according to plans that are fairly tactical.

    And I expect to pay a pretty high price for doing all of this work, and I”m ok with it.

    Source date (UTC): 2018-05-26 10:31:00 UTC

  • The Problem with The Category ‘psychology’.

    I distinguish between freudianism, psychologism, therapy, incentives/biases/limits/logic, neurochemistry, and cognitive science. When a person says “psychology” I usually have to deduce which of those they’re referring to. In my understanding psychology is used to refer to each of those. However, the first two are pseudosciences, therapy/self/help is something else, and the rest are sciences. Usually I am criticizing the use of the first two or the conflation of the first two with others. May 25, 2018 5:03pm

  • The Problem with The Category ‘psychology’.

    I distinguish between freudianism, psychologism, therapy, incentives/biases/limits/logic, neurochemistry, and cognitive science. When a person says “psychology” I usually have to deduce which of those they’re referring to. In my understanding psychology is used to refer to each of those. However, the first two are pseudosciences, therapy/self/help is something else, and the rest are sciences. Usually I am criticizing the use of the first two or the conflation of the first two with others. May 25, 2018 5:03pm

  • THE PROBLEM WITH THE CATEGORY ‘PSYCHOLOGY’. I distinguish between freudianism, p

    THE PROBLEM WITH THE CATEGORY ‘PSYCHOLOGY’.

    I distinguish between freudianism, psychologism, therapy, incentives/biases/limits/logic, neurochemistry, and cognitive science.

    When a person says “psychology” I usually have to deduce which of those they’re referring to.

    In my understanding psychology is used to refer to each of those. However, the first two are pseudosciences, therapy/self/help is something else, and the rest are sciences.

    Usually I am criticizing the use of the first two or the conflation of the first two with others.

    Source date (UTC): 2018-05-25 17:03:00 UTC

  • THE BASIC THEORIES OF ECONOMICS You should be at least casually aware of them. I

    THE BASIC THEORIES OF ECONOMICS

    You should be at least casually aware of them.

    I recommend just reading Investopedia from front to back (it’s what I did to make sure I could translate all the terms into propertarian language)

    -Schools of Thought-

    Classical

    Marxism

    Keynesian (positive)

    Neoclassical synthesis

    Austrian School

    -Economic Systems-

    Free market capitalism

    Market socialism

    Central planning

    Mercantilism

    Shock therapy

    Washington consensus

    -Economic Cycles-

    Keynesian (normative)

    Monetarism

    The Phillips curve

    Permanent income hypothesis

    Rational expectations

    Time consistency

    Financial accelerator

    Financial instability hypothesis

    Lender of last resort

    -Growth-

    Neoclassical growth

    New growth theory

    Creative destruction

    Human capital

    The rule of law

    Limits to growth

    -Global Trade-

    Comparative advantage

    Heckscher-Ohlin trade model

    New trade theory

    Optimal currency area

    The impossible trinity

    Purchasing power parity

    -Choice-

    Rational choice

    Game theory

    Public choice

    Expected utility theory

    Prospect theory

    -Tax & Spend Policies-

    Tax incidence

    Excess burden

    Supply-side economics

    Crowding out

    -Markets-

    The invisible hand

    Marginalism

    The tragedy of the commons

    Property rights

    Polluter pays principle

    Adverse selection

    Moral hazard

    Efficient market hypothesis

    Rent seeking

    -MORE Theories To Get You Started-

    Supply and Demand (Invisible Hand)

    Neo-Malthusian (Resource Scarcity)

    Solow Model (growth comes from capital, labor, and technology)

    New Growth Theory (Romer & endogenous growth)

    Institutions and Growth (rule of law, property rights, etc.)

    Efficient Markets Hypothesis

    Permanent Income / Life Cycle Hypothesis

    Something Behavioral (e.g., Prospect Theory)

    Adverse Selection and the Lemons Problem

    Moral Hazard

    Tragedy of the Commons

    Property Rights as a solution to the Tragedy of the Commons

    Game Theory (e.g., Prisoner’s Dilemma)

    Comparative Advantage

    New Trade Theory

    The Trilemma (exchange rates, capital flows, and monetary policy)

    -EVEN More Theories-

    Washington Consensus

    Financial Accelerator

    Theory of Independent Central Banks

    Bagehot Theory of Central Bank Lending

    Creative Destruction (Schumpeter)

    Ricardian Equivalence

    Dynamic Consistency

    Diversification and Investment Portfolio Design

    Capital Asset Pricing Model

    Option Valuation (Black-Scholes et al.)

    Austrian Economics

    Speculative Bubbles (e.g., Minsky)

    Liquidationist View of Downturns

    Time Value of Money (incredibly important but very old)

    Public Choice / Economic Theory of Regulation (politicians and government workers as self-interested maximizers)

    Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem

    Welfare Theorems

    Veblen and Conspicuous Consumption

    Polluter Pays Principle (e.g., Piouvian Taxes)

    Offsetting Behavior (e.g., people drive safe cars more aggressively)

    Heckscher-Ohlin Trade Theory

    Optimal currency areas

    Exchange Rates and Purchasing Power Parity

    Mercantilism

    Rubinomics

    Supply-side Economics

    Laffer Curve

    Phillips Curve

    Theories of Economic Geography

    Fisher Theory of Interest Rates

    Liquidity Traps

    Resource Curse (Dutch Disease)

    Exchange Rate Overshooting (Dornbusch)

    Auctions

    Mechanism Design

    Principal-Agent Theory (e.g., separation of management and ownership)

    Theory of Optimal Taxation (e.g., broad base, low rate, tax less-elastic activities)

    Source date (UTC): 2018-05-24 12:40:00 UTC

  • –“curt What Do You Make of High Iq White Male New Englanders Voting Blue?”–

    —“Curt what do you make of high IQ white male New Englanders voting blue? I’ve heard you argue it’s signaling for status but is it reducible entirely to that?”—Tim Spillane It’s actually pretty simple: Connecticut: Yale, Trinity, Wesleyan, Fairfield County (Essentially Long island in ct), dead-manufacturing( old GM, current United Technologies.) Irish, Italian, puerto rican. Massachusetts: Harvard, MIT, Boston College (Women outnumber men in Boston 5 to 7. Irish Catholic, Italian, / Unions. New York: Columbia, NYU, Arts, Advertising, Marketing, (Women outnumber men). IN GENERAL: Puritanical Value System = Virtue Signaling. Vermont is French Catholic – french immigrants were ALL underclass, while British immigrants were biased middle class. Which is the causal relationship between protestantism and catholicism. May 23, 2018 11:49am