Ok, so those who know me know I am a Christian. Be that as it may, only recently have I started considering the reality that a sound economic structure can only be built with a strong moral foundation. Now don't get me wrong, I very strongly believe in the importance of morality in life, and in the absolute vitality of that morality being rooted in God's word, but while I have understood the "rightness" of various facets of economic thought (individual freedoms, property, self-determination, etc...) I had never really thought of economic thought as a whole in light of morality. Steve Landsburg, in his book "The Armchair Economist" addresses the idea that we can create all the positive (i.e. analytical) economic theories we want, but without a normative theory to instruct us as to the desirability of that result, all our positive theories are worthless. Without a moral foundation for what we do, economists are left merely saying "so we can get to any result a through z, but which one is best?" This particularly applies to macroeconomics.
Currently one of the faculty here at GMU is working on the economics of religion, using economic analysis to examine religious behavior, but I wonder what would happen if we used religious thought to analyze economics???
Monday, February 14, 2005
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Some late-night thoughts.
Ok, so it’s pretty obvious that I’m not writing about social security tonight. In fact, I’m not writing about much of anything. Just wanted to write about an idea that is floating around in my head these days. See, last week I went to a presentation about theories of slippery slopes. This got me thinking – “how can we determine the direction the slope will take? More importantly, how can we influence that direction?” I think this will tie in closely with the Overton Window Theory of political possibilities. Could be some very interesting possibilities in this…. Just think, if you could determine the direction a “slippery slope” would take public policy, you would know the proper time to give the governmental structure a little push to achieve your desired result – using the gravity of the slope. Even more powerful, what if the very direction/angle of the slope could be manipulated?
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
The war is over people!
Ok, so I'm really tired of hearing people who are smart enough and informed enough to know better talk about the "war in Iraq" as if we are still actually fighting a war. Yes, we still call it a "war", but if it still truly is such... well, it's about the strangest war the earth has ever seen.
1)Both the governmental system and the military we set out to defeat have completely ceased to exist.
2)Iraqi support for international terrorist organizations has been removed - in fact, those same organizations are send men and material to Iraq.
3)What conflict there still is in Iraq is between the US military and Iraqi police on one side, and the various groups that have lost the tyrannical power they once held and foreign Islamic fighters on the other. That does not qualify as a war.
4)In war you either invade, prepare to invade, or defend you or an ally from invasion. This last is closest to what is actually the case. Let us not forget that our military is there with the invitation of the legitimate Iraqi government, which has publicly stated that they do not want our men and women in uniform to leave Iraq yet.
5)This is NOT Vietnam. In Vietnam the military was used to create leverage, but not too much leverage, for the politicians. Result; a frustrated military that was not allowed to use wise strategy and tactics to actually win the conflict. Our military was operating among a population that was indifferent or hostile and was unable to destroy enemy bases of support. None of this is the case in Iraq.
6)"All that money the President is wasting/spending in Iraq"... Guess what, a large portion of that money is coming from other military budgets. The Air Force is under tremendous pressure to make further cuts in the F/A-22 Raptor procurement. I talked to a submariner last night, and he says that when his boat return to harbor, others going out on patrol swipe all of their spare (and not-so-spare) parts because they can't get their own.
7)Exit strategy. We have one. Leave when the Iraqi police is able to handle violence as it occurs. Every day they become more capable and competent, every day the Muslim (yes they are) guerrillas become weaker.
'nough 'bout that for now. Rant on Social Security reform probably coming tomorrow.
1)Both the governmental system and the military we set out to defeat have completely ceased to exist.
2)Iraqi support for international terrorist organizations has been removed - in fact, those same organizations are send men and material to Iraq.
3)What conflict there still is in Iraq is between the US military and Iraqi police on one side, and the various groups that have lost the tyrannical power they once held and foreign Islamic fighters on the other. That does not qualify as a war.
4)In war you either invade, prepare to invade, or defend you or an ally from invasion. This last is closest to what is actually the case. Let us not forget that our military is there with the invitation of the legitimate Iraqi government, which has publicly stated that they do not want our men and women in uniform to leave Iraq yet.
5)This is NOT Vietnam. In Vietnam the military was used to create leverage, but not too much leverage, for the politicians. Result; a frustrated military that was not allowed to use wise strategy and tactics to actually win the conflict. Our military was operating among a population that was indifferent or hostile and was unable to destroy enemy bases of support. None of this is the case in Iraq.
6)"All that money the President is wasting/spending in Iraq"... Guess what, a large portion of that money is coming from other military budgets. The Air Force is under tremendous pressure to make further cuts in the F/A-22 Raptor procurement. I talked to a submariner last night, and he says that when his boat return to harbor, others going out on patrol swipe all of their spare (and not-so-spare) parts because they can't get their own.
7)Exit strategy. We have one. Leave when the Iraqi police is able to handle violence as it occurs. Every day they become more capable and competent, every day the Muslim (yes they are) guerrillas become weaker.
'nough 'bout that for now. Rant on Social Security reform probably coming tomorrow.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
Back in the swing of things - in more ways than one!
Oh what a time! Last night I decided to change my normal swing-dancing routine. So, instead of Glenn Echo tonight, I hit the Kennedy Center (Blue Sky 5 was playing) and the Chevy Chase Ballroom (NightHawks). Both were loads of fun, for different reasons. At the Ken Cen I was thrown in with a completely new group of dancers, some really good and some just about my skill, and we were dancing on the red carpet between the stage and the audience. Fun fun fun. Blue Sky 5 was a lot of fun, playing mostly classic jazz/swing tunes. Though I didn't know any of the people there, I still had fun dancing and met several follows (women) that I would enjoy dancing with again. In fact, at the Ken Cen website you can see a video of the performance, and us/me dancing! I show up best in the two songs starting about 56 minutes into the thing. Your link to the Ken Cen site. Click on the video from Feb 4, 2005.
At Chevy Chase I arrived early, and for a while was kinda worried that I was not going to have fun because the only people there/arriving were rather older than I and married. So I wasn't real confident in what the atmosphere would be like or in the prospects of dance partners. Turns out I needn't have worried. As 9 o'clock rolled around more people started showing up. I had a fabulous time dancing with a wide range of partners, some really good, some not so good. Some about my age, some a good deal older. Oddly enough (perhaps not) two of the best three follow I danced with the whole night were probably in their 50s - but my did they follow well! The band was a lot of fun - at least for me. Through the evening I heard a couple of people griping about the band, but I found their style of rock/blues/swing to be a whole lot of fun to dance to.
So I got home late, exhausted, and slept for a long time. Woke up today to absolutely beautiful weather! Like, I'm talking near sixty degree temperatures and a clear, sunny, sky.
Economics - oh yes, that's why I here, right? Things are actually going very well. My classes are hard, with me already having spent more than 8 hours on one homework assignment, but that just makes things exciting. We have had a couple of casualties from the program, but not as many as I expected. One was a friend of mine though...
I attended an interesting lecture last Thursday about the 'slippery slope' phenomenon, leaving with a great wonder about how one (anyone) can determine the "direction of fall" in policy, and even more so, how that natural slope can be influenced - even changed. This I must ponder at length.
At Chevy Chase I arrived early, and for a while was kinda worried that I was not going to have fun because the only people there/arriving were rather older than I and married. So I wasn't real confident in what the atmosphere would be like or in the prospects of dance partners. Turns out I needn't have worried. As 9 o'clock rolled around more people started showing up. I had a fabulous time dancing with a wide range of partners, some really good, some not so good. Some about my age, some a good deal older. Oddly enough (perhaps not) two of the best three follow I danced with the whole night were probably in their 50s - but my did they follow well! The band was a lot of fun - at least for me. Through the evening I heard a couple of people griping about the band, but I found their style of rock/blues/swing to be a whole lot of fun to dance to.
So I got home late, exhausted, and slept for a long time. Woke up today to absolutely beautiful weather! Like, I'm talking near sixty degree temperatures and a clear, sunny, sky.
Economics - oh yes, that's why I here, right? Things are actually going very well. My classes are hard, with me already having spent more than 8 hours on one homework assignment, but that just makes things exciting. We have had a couple of casualties from the program, but not as many as I expected. One was a friend of mine though...
I attended an interesting lecture last Thursday about the 'slippery slope' phenomenon, leaving with a great wonder about how one (anyone) can determine the "direction of fall" in policy, and even more so, how that natural slope can be influenced - even changed. This I must ponder at length.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)