Disqus - Latest Comments for winton_bates

Re: Ayn Rand’s Philosophy Decoded: Replies to Recent Criticisms of the Objectivist Ethics

Winton Bates — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 22:13:57 -0000

This article by Roger Bissell and the article by Ed Younkins prompted me to write something on the topic: Did Ayn Rand recognise a capacity for practical wisdom as a basic good?
https://www.freedomandflour...

Re: Objectivism and Individualistic Perfectionism: A Comparison

Winton Bates — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 22:07:02 -0000

The latest post on my blog was prompted, in part, by my reading of this article.
https://www.freedomandflour...

Re: The Australian Corporate Tax Experiment | Foundation for Economic Education

Winton Bates — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 19:18:06 -0000

Nice article!
However, it doesn't look as though the company tax cuts proposed in the last Australian budget will pass our Senate. There is a much better chance of corporate tax cuts in the US.

And it doesn't look like either country will make substantial cuts to government spending over the next few years.

Re: Letters to the editor

Winton Bates — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 06:43:34 -0000

I wonder whether the pamphlet entitled "Gash Must Go" is endorsed by the "South Coast Register". The front page certainly gives that impression. If that is not so it would be appropriate for the Register to publish an editorial distancing itself from the sentiments expressed.

Re: We have some tough times ahead but will continue to serve our community

Winton Bates — Fri, 22 May 2015 03:18:40 -0000

It is good to know that the South Coast Resister will continue to keep us informed. I wonder why you didn't inform us that 900 Vincentia residents recently signed a petition to Shoalhaven Council urging that the Orion Beach path should go ahead?

Re: Private Cities 101 : The Freeman : Foundation for Economic Education

Winton Bates — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 16:51:42 -0000

In this instance the residual claimant in a monopolist, who has an incentive to maximise rents on the services provided to residents. The proposition would be more attractive if those rents accrued to the residents.

Re: Libertarian Holism : The Freeman : Foundation for Economic Education

Winton Bates — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 16:32:59 -0000

Nice article, Max. The concept of libertarian holism reminds me of Henry Hazlitt's argument that social cooperation is the means whereby we obtain nearly all our ends. Social cooperation can appeal to all of Haidt's six moral foundations.

Re: Identity Economics: How Our Identities Shape Our Work, Wages, and Well-Being | Foundation for Economic Education

Winton Bates — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 16:26:49 -0000

Nice article!
I have read the book and I share your views on it.

Re: David Welker: OECD Better Life Index Versus GDP

Winton Bates — Tue, 31 May 2011 20:37:03 -0000

Interesting comments, David. I am actually glad the OECD has refrained from attempting to come up with a single number based on the value judgements of the researchers.
The review on my blog
might be of interest to you.

Re: Fighting for Those Who Can’t Fight for Themselves

Winton Bates — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 00:59:41 -0000

And I am not suggesting that Will is a politician!

Re: Fighting for Those Who Can’t Fight for Themselves

Winton Bates — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 15:52:41 -0000

Why is this so hard to understand? The things that go on in the minds of politicians are rarely easy to understand.

Re: Keep It Real, Tom Paine!

Winton Bates — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:31:39 -0000

I wonder whether Tom Paine was aware of what JohnLocke had to say about property.

Re: Look Who’s Crying for Big Government!

Winton Bates — Fri, 07 May 2010 20:06:49 -0000

This seems to me to be a problem of federation. Can a federal government just look on while a state government defaults on debt payments? I don't think so, because the reputation of the whole federation would be at stake. So, I think the federal government has to act paternalistically to protect the reputation of the federation. (Think of a father paying the gambling debts of his son to protect the reputation of the family). If a paternalist acts harshly, applying strict conditions to a bailout, this would tend to act as a disincentive for the child to get into situations in future where it might have to ask for another bailout.

Re: When You’re in a Liquidity Trap…

Winton Bates — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 00:11:46 -0000

There is no such thing as anti-matter.

Re: The Illiberal Liberalism of Charter Cities

Winton Bates — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:41:57 -0000

I don't think there is such as thing as the "Singapore/ China market authoritarianism route". You are lumping together two regimes with very different levels of economic freedom. There might be some improvement in the well-being of people in Myanmar if their economic freedom rating rose from 139th place (third from the bottom in the Fraser institute ranking) to China's level (93rd place). But that is nothing like going from 139th place to Singapore's level (2nd place).

Re: Why Economists Aren't Experts on What Is a Cost or Benefit

Winton Bates — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:38:39 -0000

It seems to me that the main advantage that economists have in discussing costs and benefits is that they are more likely to be familiar with any conceptual problems that may be involved. But no economist could seriously argue that the quality of any comment about any evaluative standard is determined by the professional label attached to the person making the comment.

Re: The Complexity of Happiness

Winton Bates — Sat, 16 May 2009 22:06:34 -0000

Talking about longitudinal studies, Will, it would be interesting to have your thoughts on the finding that "happiness is contagious" that has come from research using the data base of the Framingham heart study. Reported here: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/cont...

Re: Vice and The Motive of Wealth

Winton Bates — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:21:37 -0000

I should have followed Will's link to Connor Clarke's post before posting my comment. He makes the same point - that "not good" is not necessarily the same as "bad".

Re: Vice and The Motive of Wealth

Winton Bates — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:13:59 -0000

Matt wrote: "we’ve lost the willingness to just say clearly that ceteris paribus greedy behavior is not virtuous behavior".

That seems to me to be an odd claim to make. He is not saying that we are no longer willing to say that greedy behavior is bad. His claim is that we are no longer willing to say that greedy behavior is not good (i.e. we are no longer willing to say that it is either ethically neutral or bad).

It seems to me that the claim is probably false. How do people actually respond when asked which of these propositions they agree with: "greed is good"; "greed is bad" and "greed is not necessarily either good or bad"?

Re: The True Meaning of Irony (When Liberals Attack)

Winton Bates — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:22:03 -0000

Protestor says to Coralie: "The snow on global warming protest day was surreal."

Coralie to Protestor: "No, it was ironic!"

Re: Morality: A Kludge of Kludges

Winton Bates — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:18:11 -0000

<<the norms="" that="" undergird="" the="" peaceful="" liberal="" order="" of="" impersonal,="" extended,="" massively="" positive-sum="" exchange="" are="" the="" result="" of="" generations="" of="" often="" self-conscious="" resistance="" to="" the="" “factory="" defaults.”="">>
I'm not too sure about the "often self-conscious" part of that statement. There is an interesting difference between the views of Hayek and Nozick on this question.

Re: PM Harper Suspends Parliament in Canada, a Bad Omen

Winton Bates — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:35:22 -0000

The Canadian system (like that in Australia) seems to give quite a bit of discretion to the governor-general (unelected head of state). In Australia these "reserve powers" were used to force and election in 1975. It is interesting to see them being used in Canada at the moment to keep the government in power for an additional period.

Re: Surprise! I'm a Libertarian!

Winton Bates — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:27:23 -0000

Mike
The link is:
http://www.theadvocates.org...

Re: Surprise! I'm a Libertarian!

Winton Bates — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:15:04 -0000

There was nothing surprising about the test results for myself.
So I did the test on behalf of Australia's Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition. According to my understanding of their views, the P.M. is very definitely a Statist and slightly left of centre, as I would have predicted. The surprise result is for the Oppostion leader (the leader of the Liberal Party, which is usually thought of as being on the conservative side of politics) who shows up as a Centrist (actually further left of centre than the PM).
I'm not sure what that means. Perhaps the political centre in Australia is more statist than in the U.S., but no further to the left.

Re: Let's Measure Meaning!

Winton Bates — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 07:16:57 -0000

I think Adam was on the right track quoting David Hume.

It seems to me that the following quote from Hume is also relevant: “Morals excite passions, and produce or prevent actions. Reason of itself is utterly impotent in this particular. The rules of morality, therefore, are not conclusions of our reason” (“A Treatise of Human Nature”, 1739, III, I, i).

That doesn't mean that our moral sense is purely a product of genetic evolution. Hayek provided a sensible explanation of the evolution of rules of conduct evolving because the groups who practiced them flourished and displaced other groups.