schonger.com

“Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking about them.”

Alfred Whitehead as quoted by Hayek in “The Use of Knowledge in Society“.

A great audiocast. What a nice way to retract. And it is great radio. Especially the pauses, when Daisey does not know how to justify his behavior. A must listen.

Only the last few minutes are weak, as David Henderson points out:

“But I think Duhigg is saying that the main reason we don’t have the kinds of tough working conditions that exist in China is that the U.S. government legislated against such changes. The reality is that safety is a normal good: as we get wealthier, we demand more of it. So it’s the increase in real wages that drove the demand for safety. Government came late to the game.”

Update: Please stop emailing, the list has been filled.

I would like to invite (my money, not uni money) the first seven ECON100 students who reply to this post (and can make it on the evening to be agreed) to have dinner with me. Please email me at martin.schonger at gmail dot com. Note this is a private invitation/event and not sponsored or condoned by the university.

I had a lot of fun judging at the Red Rose Business Weekend 2012 today. Congrats to the winners! And I got sheldoned, the last time someone explained to me that dolphins are not fish was in elementary school. Well, it’s a matter of definition, so there is no right or wrong. For biologists their definitions of fish or vegetables makes a lot of sense, for the rest of us not so much.

Hilarious video explaining how to stand up for your right to speak, dance, live, create and mix. Which reminds me I have to put a DMCA contact on this website. (International readers: this website is hosted in the United States, the DMCA is a US law. US law provides substantially more free speech and creativity protections than non-free speech zones such a our dear European Union). And kudos to the EFF. Freedom doesn’t protect itself.

And here is of course the classic internet meme of Hitler ordering takedown notices being sent out. Note to my German-speaking readers: these memes are less funny to you because you understand what is being said, try to focus on the subtitles. The problem is NOT that your English is not good enough. It is; the problem is that you do understand German….

This post was inspired by:

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/downfall-hitler-reacts

“As far as I am concerned, Rawls is the Regis Philbin of political philosophy. He is famous for being famous. Yes, there is substance in Rawls, but it is pedestrian substance. It struck me as pedestrian when it came out (to more fanfare than any other academic work in my lifetime), and it still strikes me that way.”  – Arnold Kling econlog.econlib.org

http://www.standupeconomist.com/shows