Micro Softy 71: Strange Economics
A numbers' game at the hardware storeGreat nerds are able to grasp deeper meanings. So here is this week’s Micro Softy about an overheard conversation.
Read More ›Tagmoney
Sports Gambling is a Big, New Problem
Common sense says sports betting isn't worth it. But once you start, it can be hard to stop.While millionaires can manage major cash hemorrhages, the average American faces devastation by just a single bet gone awry.
Read More ›
Economics Assumes Human Beings Have Free Will
Every waking moment we humans live out a constant fact underlying all economic science: we act.“Free will denial is a cornerstone of materialist–determinist ideology,” wrote Dr. Michael Egnor here in February 2024. The deniers say we are “purely physical machines, meat robots.” Dr. Egnor cited well-known people who have prominently denied humans have free will. Dr. Egnor challenged deniers to demonstrate through their own actions that they truly have no free will. They will fail for Dr. Egnor’s stated reasons, plus one more: economics. The science of economics describes the behaviors of individual humans as they pursue their lives. Economics has discovered certainties, such as the Law of Supply and Demand, that describe how people produce, consume, trade, save, invest, and anticipate the future. Economics succeeds because it grasps certain universal truths about free-will, non-material, Read More ›
Full-Time: Why We Need More Creative Productivity, Not Less
A new book shows how we lost the meaning of work and the ways we can get back on track.Bahnsen subscribes to the classical view of economics that prizes production over consumption.
Read More ›
The FTX Trial is Heating Up
Convicted for fraud, the former crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried is trying to offload the blame. But a key witness weakens his case.The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is underway in Manhattan. Investors in FTX lost billions of dollars earlier this year, but Bankman-Fried is denying alleged fraud and misuse of funds. However, prosecutors are accusing him of systematically stealing those funds and channeling them unto personal means. A bombshell witness, Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and a “top executive” in his business, took the stand earlier this month and supported the criticisms of the prosecution. David Gura writes for NPR, Though other former top executives at FTX businesses are testifying during the trial, Ellison was always considered the most important witness. After prosecutors first called her to the witness stand, everyone stood and faced the Read More ›
SPACs, IPOs, and Direct Listings
What are the new tools to unlock capital markets?Matt McIlwain, Managing Director of Madrona Venture Group, moderates a panel on exciting new investment tools: SPACs, IPOs, and Direct Listings. Panelists include Kristin Zimmerman, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, Michael Nordtvedt, Partner at Wilson Sonsini, and Byran Mistele, CEO of INRIX. We’ve been sharing a number of lectures from past COSM conferences and other videos related to artificial intelligence and technology. This video is just one of many you can find at the Bradley Center’s YouTube page. There you’ll find several lectures, interviews, and panels dealing with issues that range from economics, Big Tech, and artificial intelligence. Notable speakers include 2022 Kyoto Prize winner Carver Mead, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, and George Gilder, co-founder of Discovery Institute and author of Life After Capitalism: The Meaning of Read More ›
John Tamny and the Future of Money
Forbes editor John Tamny discusses his views on crypto and traditional forms of money at COSM 2022The 2022 COSM conference saw a number of remarkable speakers, including winner of last year’s prestigious Kyoto Prize, Carver Mead, and Forbes editor John Tamny, who is featured in today’s highlighted video from the conference. Tamny sat down with philosopher Jay Richards to share his thoughts on the conference and his views on the future of money, especially regarding cryptocurrencies versus traditional forms. You can watch the conversation here, and can also access many other great talks and interviews on the Center’s main YouTube page.
Tolkien’s for Sale
Commercializing the beloved epic fantasy comes at a costWhat happens when a beloved fantasy world, once respected and celebrated because it soared above the surrounding fray of decadent literature and art, becomes mainstream? What if the very work that was intended to transcend consumerism becomes the object of mass consumption? Harley J. Sims, writing for MercatorNet, believes Amazon has diluted the characteristic beauty and depth of The Lord of the Rings for the sake of mass consumption and appeal. I’ve shared my own thoughts on the new Rings of Power show in two separate pieces (here and here) for Mind Matters already, but just to recap: the show is interesting and entertaining enough to keep watching, but it’s missing something—a moral and imaginative ingredient Tolkien articulated beautifully in Read More ›
Detecting BS Research: If It Seems Too Good to be True…
A recent Wall Street Journal article shows a near-perfect link between inflation and money. But a link that near-perfect raises suspicionsTwo Johns Hopkins economists recently wrote a Wall Street Journal opinion piece titled, “Jerome Powell Is Wrong. Printing Money Causes Inflation.” Their argument is that Federal Reserve chair Powell is mistaken in his assertions that there is not a close relationship between money and inflation. As evidence, they offer the chart below, showing that the rate of inflation can be predicted almost perfectly from the rate of increase of M2, a broad measure of money. The authors explain: The theory rests on a simple identity, the equation of exchange, which demonstrates the link between the money supply and inflation: MV=Py, where M is the money supply, V is the velocity of money (the speed at which it circulates relative to total spending), P Read More ›
The Creative Spark
An information theory justification for the intrinsic value of human beingsBecause creativity is unique to humans and irreducible, all human beings have the ability in principle. The fact that a particular human being’s creativity is not in use or is perhaps unusable at present does not mean that that person does not have the ability. Consequently, all humans have at least latent intrinsic instrumental value.
Read More ›
Why Do We Think Money Is Real?
It is actually a constantly shifting network of agreements to trust othersIt is actually a constantly shifting network of agreements to trust others. Maria Bustillos, editor of Ethereum’s culturemag, Popula, asks us to think about just what money is before we make up our minds about Bitcoin.
Read More ›
A Wallet You Can’t Feel?
Will Bitcoin change the rituals around money?It’s tempting to assume that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin will succeed because social media did. But digital doesn’t mean magic. Cryptocurrencies will work if the needs met are more significant to most people than the problems created are.
Read More ›