"[T]he great lesson of humility which science teaches us, that we can never be omnipotent or omniscient, is the same as that of all great religions: man is not and never will be the god before whom he must bow down." (1)
(1) Cohen, Morris. Reason and Nature. 1931-Houghton Mifflin Harcourt-. Page 449. Significantly enough, this exact quote is used by Hayek to close the part one of his The Counter-Revolution of Science.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
A Nobel for professor Kirzner
It would be an honor for the Nobel Prize in Economics to go to professor Israel Kirzner.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Egalitarianism and constructivism in flat tax
In (even classical) liberalism, there's egalitarianism and constructivism. As I'm absolutely neither an egalitarian nor a constructivist, I happen not to be able to be a liberal. I'm a conservative.
Take for instance, taxes. Many liberals support a flat tax on grounds of egalitarianism (everyone paying proportionally for government) and, by believing they can re-design the spontaneous order of the tax constitution, they give themselves away as constructivist. They overlook the unintended consequences a tax reform (even a flat tax reform) can bring about.
Take for instance, taxes. Many liberals support a flat tax on grounds of egalitarianism (everyone paying proportionally for government) and, by believing they can re-design the spontaneous order of the tax constitution, they give themselves away as constructivist. They overlook the unintended consequences a tax reform (even a flat tax reform) can bring about.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Just to be clear
One thing is the moral obligation to help the needed. This is on what Christian love for others is based on.
Other thing is the right to demand the help of others. This is on what the State usually is based on.
On the one hand, the Christian teaching compels to help others, but doesn't promote any right to demand the help of others. Quite on the contrary, from its very origin, Christianity instructs to stoically put up with in facing need, without even trying to resort to others help, not to speak of doing it by force.
On the other hand, according to Bastiat, the State is a fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. Government is usually the means through which majorities organize themselves in order to abuse from minorities.
Other thing is the right to demand the help of others. This is on what the State usually is based on.
On the one hand, the Christian teaching compels to help others, but doesn't promote any right to demand the help of others. Quite on the contrary, from its very origin, Christianity instructs to stoically put up with in facing need, without even trying to resort to others help, not to speak of doing it by force.
On the other hand, according to Bastiat, the State is a fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. Government is usually the means through which majorities organize themselves in order to abuse from minorities.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Hayek the missionary
One of the strongest cases I've found to remain Catholic is Hayek's thesis, a summary of which appears in the next text:
"It may indeed prove to be far the most difficult and not the least important task for human reason rationally to comprehend its own limitations. It is essential for the growth of reason that as individuals we should bow to forces and obey principles which we cannot hope fully to understand, yet on which the advance and even the preservation of civilization depend. Historically this has been achieved by the influence of the various religious creeds and by traditions and superstitions which made men submit to those forces by an appeal to his emotions rather than to his reason. The most dangerous stage in the growth of civilization may well be that in which man has come to regard all these beliefs as superstitions and refuses to accept or to submit to anything which he does not rationally understand. The rationalist whose reason is not sufficient to teach him those limitations of the powers of conscious reason, and who despises all the institutions and customs which have not been consciously designed, would thus become the destroyer of the civilization built upon them. This may well prove a hurdle which man will repeatedly reach, only to be thrown back into barbarism." (1)
(1) Hayek, Friedrich. The Counter-Revolution of Science. 1952 -LibertyPress, 1979-. Pages 162-163.
"It may indeed prove to be far the most difficult and not the least important task for human reason rationally to comprehend its own limitations. It is essential for the growth of reason that as individuals we should bow to forces and obey principles which we cannot hope fully to understand, yet on which the advance and even the preservation of civilization depend. Historically this has been achieved by the influence of the various religious creeds and by traditions and superstitions which made men submit to those forces by an appeal to his emotions rather than to his reason. The most dangerous stage in the growth of civilization may well be that in which man has come to regard all these beliefs as superstitions and refuses to accept or to submit to anything which he does not rationally understand. The rationalist whose reason is not sufficient to teach him those limitations of the powers of conscious reason, and who despises all the institutions and customs which have not been consciously designed, would thus become the destroyer of the civilization built upon them. This may well prove a hurdle which man will repeatedly reach, only to be thrown back into barbarism." (1)
(1) Hayek, Friedrich. The Counter-Revolution of Science. 1952 -LibertyPress, 1979-. Pages 162-163.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Poverty and the offspring's size
Poverty doesn't arise merely from having babies but specifically from not endowing them with capital.
A not negligible part of capital is what we usually call morals.
Much of morals is learnt within the family.
A big family can perfectly be ideal for learning such values as parsimony, humbleness, collaboration, creativity, and respect to authority.
Poverty has much more to do with not teaching values to children than with the offspring's size itself.
A not negligible part of capital is what we usually call morals.
Much of morals is learnt within the family.
A big family can perfectly be ideal for learning such values as parsimony, humbleness, collaboration, creativity, and respect to authority.
Poverty has much more to do with not teaching values to children than with the offspring's size itself.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
The pure arbitrageur
Arbitrageur is the agent in the role of discovering the opportunity for arbitrage. It is him who decodes an up-to-now non-apparent cheaper homogeneous good into an apparent one. In order to do so, he might have to look through transformations in time, place, and material manufacture as productive stages yet to be accomplished; but, to be sure, the arbitrageur qua arbitrageur doesn't produce. He just fore-sees the opportunity to buy cheap and sell dear.
The three stages for advancing the praxeologic science
First definition. Then explanation. At last (only at last), debate.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Statitistics: a way of dealing with ignorance
For an agent, random is any occurrence such that he doesn't definitely understand its causes.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Maybe not so different
"In addition to the law of marginal utility, there is another factor influencing the rankings of each individual's value scale. It is obvious that the amount that Johnson will supply at any price is limited by the stock of goods that he has available." Rothbard, Murray. Man, Economy, and State. Page 126.
"Utility then is not the measure of exchangeable value, although it is absolutely essential to it. If a commodity were in no way useful -in other words, if it could in no way contribute to our gratification- it would be destitute of exchangeable value, however scarce it might be, or whatever quantity of labor might be necessary to procure it." Ricardo, David. Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. 1817 -third edition, 1817-. Chapter I, section 1, paragraph 2. Page 17-18.
"Utility then is not the measure of exchangeable value, although it is absolutely essential to it. If a commodity were in no way useful -in other words, if it could in no way contribute to our gratification- it would be destitute of exchangeable value, however scarce it might be, or whatever quantity of labor might be necessary to procure it." Ricardo, David. Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. 1817 -third edition, 1817-. Chapter I, section 1, paragraph 2. Page 17-18.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
What is rescuable in the labor theory of value
Every purposeful action aims to improve the value of goods; this is, to bring them closer to the achievement of ultimate ends.
This is true since, given an ultimate end, a good of lower order is more valued than one of a higher order.
This is true since, given an ultimate end, a good of lower order is more valued than one of a higher order.
Falsifiability in the pure logic of choice
The fundamental axiom of purposeful action isn't itself fasifiable, but every single other axiom in order to unfold a theory based on the scientific method of pure logic of choice (subsidiary axioms) has to be falsified in order to test the validity of a theory derived from such axiom. (1)
(1) Confront against Friedman's The Methodology of Positive Economics. Originally in: Essays in Positive Economics. The University of Chicago Press, 1953.
(1) Confront against Friedman's The Methodology of Positive Economics. Originally in: Essays in Positive Economics. The University of Chicago Press, 1953.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Believing in the pure logic of choice
An assumption needed to apply the pure logic of choice to others is that they undertake purposeful behavior. In principle, it could be conceivable that other people who externally seem to act purposefully, simply act by instinct or in a mechanical way or randomly.
The assumption can not be falsified since the hypothesis that mind is the ultimate first praxeologically relevant cause of decision is not itself external or material.
It has to be accepted that, in this respect, the pure logic of choice with respect to others lays on an act of faith.
It has to be taken into account, that the praxeologist not only believes, as Milton Friedman's instrumentalism would be fully pleased to require, that agents behave as if they would have a purpuse, but believes that they actually behave in such a way.
The assumption can not be falsified since the hypothesis that mind is the ultimate first praxeologically relevant cause of decision is not itself external or material.
It has to be accepted that, in this respect, the pure logic of choice with respect to others lays on an act of faith.
It has to be taken into account, that the praxeologist not only believes, as Milton Friedman's instrumentalism would be fully pleased to require, that agents behave as if they would have a purpuse, but believes that they actually behave in such a way.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Minimum wages
Minimum wages are of those blunt symptoms of general ignorance about economic laws. The existence of minimum wages isn't of benefit to anyone but to their professional defenders (ILO's advisors and similar apparatchiki).
Monday, August 17, 2009
Exchange value
Exchange value on a right, the importance of what I can get by handing over the property on such a right, is the one social link which can keep peace among selfish people. (The only other social link is love: the disposition to undertake human actions just for the sake of contributing to the happiness of the other.)
Exchange value can be improved by others making better offers. This is how the efforts by others to improve their productivity benefits me.
Exchange value can be improved by others making better offers. This is how the efforts by others to improve their productivity benefits me.
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