Disqus - Latest Comments for stuart

Re: More Canuckophilia

stuart — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:43:06 -0000

what is important is not just that rights are guaranteed by te constitution but that people have the abiltiy to exercise those rights. Here i think the USA fails. While they may have individual liberties enshrined in law, they also have much lower social mobility than other (less economically free) nations. Surely when one talks about liberty, the abiltiy to transcend ones place in society at birth must be taken into account.

Re: Does the Financial Crisis Discredit “Neoliberalism”?

stuart — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:12:42 -0000

'Why only millions and not billions? What makes you think it's okay to force some people to share while excluding billions of others from sharing in the system you favor?'

Because policy is the realm of states, and states are generally in the millions of people, no-one suggested changing the prevailing world order.

Successful social democracies lets see, Sweden, Norway, Finland? It depends how you measure success. If you measure it as per capita GDP then maybe, If you equate it to the levels of social mobility then probably.If you measure it on happiness it depends which study you use.

Failed libertarian/ liberal/ whatever you want to call it. USA, Iceland.

But enough semantics, the point is there is a real challenge to the Neoliberal consensus with the failure of deregulated/less regulated financial systems. This article doesnt address that point, rather its just a tirade against some pop-left thinker who doesnt really know what shes talking about. Will, can you please adress the actual issue, how will liberal financial systems survive or change given the current situation? What implications does the financial meltdown have for other areas where markets have replaced government policy?

Re: Does the Financial Crisis Discredit “Neoliberalism”?

stuart — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:32:56 -0000

'If it did, she would be forced to conclude that even the most watered down version of Mr. Friedmans free market "Utopian" ideas have resulted in greater material well-being, protection of human rights (via capitalism's relationship with democracy) greater personal freedom and individual autonomy than any other attempted economic system'

Personally I would attribute this more to Keynes than Friedman.

Re: Does the Financial Crisis Discredit “Neoliberalism”?

stuart — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:36:27 -0000

Icelands been having problems for at least the last year, the last 2 weeks have just pushed it over the edge.

Re: Does the Financial Crisis Discredit “Neoliberalism”?

stuart — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:43:11 -0000

re. millions vs billions, I just dont see how its relevant to the article, The only examples of social democratic states are states in the millions of people hence the focus on that.

I'm not 100% sure on the banking regulations, but there tends to be a correlation between social democracy and increased regulation on the whole. And its not just the levels of regulation but the impact of the whole system on the wider society. Eg. more equitable incomes may increase poorer households abiltiy to repay loans, it may lead to a smaller subprime market, socialised health costs means that there less costs on households, we need to look at the impacts things like this may have on economic and social outcomes.

Re: Fearful Asymmetry

stuart — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 21:47:57 -0000

Its simply the case that the insitutions of government contributes to the conditions of civil society that allow one to profit form their own endeavors. Therefore all who make money within that society can legitimately be taxed, the level of tax is just a matter of function. If the tax taken can and does, improves the lot of society on the whole than that is legitimate. If the level/usage of the tax doesnt than it is illegitimate.

Re: Krugman’s Nobel

stuart — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 22:43:42 -0000

Firstly it wasnt interventionism that cause the crisis, it was the lack of regulation. Secondly the role of economists isnt to be a cheer squad for free markets but rather to analysis the effect of different policies. Economics is a decision making tool that needs to be taken into account when governments made policy decisions (including whether or not to regulate). Krugman has helped in refining that tool and thus deserves the award, and his role in bringing economics to the masses should be applauded.

Also, Marx did make some important economic breakthroughs, it was his political philosophy that was sub par, and Nobel prizes cant be awarded postumously

Re: Fearful Asymmetry

stuart — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:50:41 -0000

yes lots of actors do contribute, and its the contribution of all society's individuals and government which legitimates the collection of taxes. Where the rewards of society are going to the few, while all contribute to the conditions that allow for the creastion of those rewards then there is a role for government and redistribution. While a 'shoe shine' is probabaly not a legitimate use for tax revenue, I'd argue public health and education expenditure is.

Re: Fearful Asymmetry

stuart — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 19:57:21 -0000

'Complex systems of exchange and social organization exist and have existed absent a governing sovereign power'

This doesnt negate his point. These systems can only exist due to the social insitutions that govern the exchange of goods and services. If one person in society doesnt go by these rules than the conditions for exchange unravel, so although there isnt govenrment involvement it is still in a sense 'governed'. Contract laws are just the official formulation of such arrangments

Re: Fearful Asymmetry

stuart — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 02:11:57 -0000

If the rewards are not distributed in such a way that they reflect the contributions of those in society then surely there is a role for redistributionary policy. No one, no matter how smart, thrifty or hard working can engage in a profitable exchange without the contribution of the rest of society in upholding the institutions that allow for that exchange. Thus democratic government, as the representative of society, is justified in taxing some of the profits to undertake actions that are beneficial to society.

Re: Joe the Plumber 2008

stuart — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:50:45 -0000

Not quite sure what the social security system exactly refers to in the USA so correct me if I'm working from the wrong assumptions. Re. Australia, it doesnt have privatised social security, rather it has means tested publicly funded social security. Australia has old age disability and unemployment benefits that are all publicly funded but all means tested. However we also have compulsory superannuation (which I think may have been what you were referring to?) which is paid by all employers at a rate of at least 9% of pre-tax income.

Re: Joe the Plumber 2008

stuart — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:52:39 -0000

just to clarify the superannuation is to cover costs of living in retirement and cannot be accessed (unless youre a politician) until you reach retirement age.

Re: Joe the Plumber 2008

stuart — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 05:53:08 -0000

'Any sane privitization of SS will allow people to choose a wide variety of investments: stocks, bonds, REITs, T-Bills'
Yep and this is the case in Australia. Those people who invested in fixed interest government bonds havent lost anything, but of course this doesnt get on the news.

Re: Equal Chances for Equal Talent

stuart — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:24:01 -0000

Firstly, great post topic!

Secondly, while you rightly point to the inconsistency on focusing on individual examples, I think that if you aggregated some sort of a measure of success across society you could see that people from different socio-economic backgrounds have vastly different opportunities for success. I think this post points to the need for greater study into the determinants of social mobility. I've been researching some of this recently but havent been able to find a good set of numbers for comparative purposes.

However you might be interested to know that in study on intergenerational earnings elasticity’s the USA has relatively low social mobility. I.e. the causal effect of a fathers earnings on his sons earnings is greater, than all countries study except the UK. (elasticities below). While Denmark has the lowest.

Country Preferred Lower Bound Upper Bound
Canada 0.19 0.16 0.21
Denmark 0.15 0.13 0.16
Finland 0.18 0.16 0.21
France 0.41 0.35 0.45
Germany 0.32 0.27 0.35
Norway 0.17 0.15 0.19
Sweden 0.27 0.23 0.30
United Kingdom 0.50 0.43 0.55
United States 0.47 0.40 0.52

from 'Do Poor Children Become Poor Adults? Lessons from a Cross Country Comparison of Generational Earnings Mobility' by Miles Corak

Re: Equal Chances for Equal Talent

stuart — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:26:02 -0000

the formatting of the numbers didnt turn out well. Just so you know the first number is the 'preferred measure' and the second and third, are the upper and lower bounds of elasticity.

Re: Equal Chances for Equal Talent

stuart — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 21:26:27 -0000

actually the lower and upper...

Re: Equal Chances for Equal Talent

stuart — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:37:42 -0000

'True equality of opportunity is unachievable'
Noone claims it is achievable, however that does not mean its not a worthy goal

Re: Getting More by Letting Go

stuart — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:46:20 -0000

Theres some good research on this at the moment.
Another good article is 'Brain Drain and Human Capital Formation in Developing Countries: Winners and Losers' by Michel Beine, Fre´deric Docquier and Hillel Rapoport, in the Economic Journal

They used data across 127 countries and found that skilled emigration had a positive effect across the developing world as a whole, however there was certain regions which lost significantly from emigration. The losers were Sub-Saharan african countries and Central American countries.

The found that where skilled migration was less than about 20% (figure is off the top of my head, might be slightly different) of total skilled workforce that countries gained from increased investment in education however when migration was of a larger proportion, the 'brain drain' from the loss of skilled labour outweighed these positive effects.

Re: The Crucible

stuart — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:42:35 -0000

I'd argue that the practice of offering resetting mortgages needs to be adressed as well. Surely they contributed to the growth of the bubble (by delaying bankruptcy of people who couldnt afford the houses they bought, therefore increasing demand and prices). As well as giving the CDO's with the bad mortgages time to spread through the system.

Re: Postmaterialism and Cohen’s Maxim

stuart — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 00:09:01 -0000

Theres no evidence for this claim whatsoever. Australia has workplace participation rates mirroring that of the USA and an unemployment rate that is lower. The dole has fairly stringent conditions in terms of applying for a minimum ammount of jobs per weeks and has cancellations of payments for failure to take jobs or if they leave jobs for no good reasons. The 'Baby Bonus' is ill conceived, but has had little impact on the birth rate which has only increased nominally.

Re: Could In-Sourcing Labor Be a Solution for Rebuilding American Manufacturing?

stuart — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:02:29 -0000

Sorry. Stupid Idea. Has it occured to you that many people in the third world would rather stay at home and have opportunities created there? Why would they want to come to America? Also you havent taken into account the fact that basic goods cost different ammounts in developed and developing countries. For example basic food stuffs retail for much less in developing countries so any income needs to take into account these differences. Similalrly basic education and healthcare cost much less as well. This is because the price is highly correlated with the price of labour (they're labour intensive). Ths means that in a country with low wages these basic services are cheaper. Finally by taking production out of developing countries you are depriving them of the further economic activity that spurs development.

While I think there is room for expansion of guest worker programs I think this proposal has many problems

Re: The Tata Nano, "The People's Car," Launches in India

stuart — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 08:04:01 -0000

yes come on lets all damn the Indains for daring to have what we all take for granted. Environmental sustainability can not occur at the price of keeping people on poverty, the developing world simply wont accept it. On the upside the nano is showing us that a car can be made for (very) cheap and have low emissions, Its an example that needs following.

Also on the wages paid to workers by tata. I think you'll find US$3000 is above average in india, so its really not exploitative, and is much more efficient that paying workers overseas $50000 a year and shipping it over.

Re: Formula One Racing Failing on its Green Promises

stuart — Fri, 15 May 2009 06:41:30 -0000

You should divide the total emissions by the ammount of people who follow it. Resulting per capita emmissions tiny. Therefore your argument is stupid. F1 technology feeds through to the automotive industry (eventually) therefore less emissions.

Re: Arizona's Sun-Powered Train Proposal - "The Solar Bullet"

stuart — Sun, 24 May 2009 09:30:25 -0000

dumbist idea ever.

Just make it electric without the stupid overhead solar panels and power it from a dedicated solar power plant.

Re: Buying Your Way Out of Climate Action More Popular in U.S.

stuart — Mon, 25 May 2009 08:09:21 -0000

another stupid article. The whole point of carbon offsets is that it is cheaper to reduce emissions overseas than it is in the USA (or other developed nations). But it still decreases carbon by the same ammount!!

The more people call for the type of self-flagellation thats implied in this article the less likely any action on climate change will occur.

Re: Beer Brewery Has a Solution for What Ales Us: Walk to the Pub

stuart — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:46:28 -0000

this is excellent! Coopers is my favourite beer, now I have more reason to drink it!!

mtsk, they also sell beer brewing kits :)

Re: Could In-Sourcing Labor Be a Solution for Rebuilding American Manufacturing?

stuart — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:02:29 -0000

While I think there is room for expansion of guest worker programs I think this proposal has many problems

Re: The Tata Nano, "The People's Car," Launches in India

stuart — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 05:04:01 -0000

Re: Formula One Racing Failing on its Green Promises

stuart — Fri, 15 May 2009 03:41:30 -0000

Re: Arizona's Sun-Powered Train Proposal - \"The Solar Bullet\"

stuart — Sun, 24 May 2009 06:30:25 -0000

dumbist idea ever.

Just make it electric without the stupid overhead solar panels and power it from a dedicated solar power plant.

Re: Buying Your Way Out of Climate Action More Popular in U.S.

stuart — Mon, 25 May 2009 05:09:21 -0000

The more people call for the type of self-flagellation thats implied in this article the less likely any action on climate change will occur.