Hyperbolic
Discounting is the act of over-weighting short term pain and under-weighting any resulting long term gain.
For an
explanation of the term 'hyperbolic discounting' see the book review page of
this blog. In 'Filthy Lucre' Joseph Heath writes in great detail about public
policy implementation and the ways that details can derail intent.
In this post
I had intended to share a few thoughts about how this concept resonnates with
personnal freedom and commitment. I will, however, demonstrate it instead by
going to a scheduled class at the gym.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Americans got another thing right
Give
Americans their due... The constitutional separation of Church and State was
brilliant. It meant that 'citizen' was a category that transcended other tribal
or sectarian affiliations.
Now, however, by turning the Republican Party into a tribe whose interests are more important than those of the wider country; by being willing to destroy government rather than let any part of it remain in the hands of the other sect; by playing 'chicken' with the national credit rating and by sheer pig-headedness they abdicate their own citizenship.
They aren't even coherent. They obstruct health-care reform that would lower costs over-all, improve the physical well-being of tens of millions of fellow citizens and prevent half-a-million bankruptcies caused each year by health care expense.
They would rather inflict pain, sufferring and unnecessary costs on it than allow the country to benefit in any way during a presidential administration of the other camp. This is not fiscal prudence, it is a self-inflicted wound. These malice-crazed fools have a real shot at grabbing the steering wheel in November.
God help them all.
Now, however, by turning the Republican Party into a tribe whose interests are more important than those of the wider country; by being willing to destroy government rather than let any part of it remain in the hands of the other sect; by playing 'chicken' with the national credit rating and by sheer pig-headedness they abdicate their own citizenship.
They aren't even coherent. They obstruct health-care reform that would lower costs over-all, improve the physical well-being of tens of millions of fellow citizens and prevent half-a-million bankruptcies caused each year by health care expense.
They would rather inflict pain, sufferring and unnecessary costs on it than allow the country to benefit in any way during a presidential administration of the other camp. This is not fiscal prudence, it is a self-inflicted wound. These malice-crazed fools have a real shot at grabbing the steering wheel in November.
God help them all.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Federation and the Other Net
We take our safety nets so much for granted that we no longer see they exist. It is gratifying to forget the occasional misstep and to remember our own success as a purely independent merit-fueled progress.
Help does not have to have been continuous... A single out-thrust hand that prevented us from stepping off the curb in front of a car that might have killed us, that single momentary gesture, made everything since possible.
The concept of 'too big to fail' in banking reminds us that any institution, any person, any state no matter how strong before or after, can pass through a moment when their very existence is at stake.
In our personal lives we understand there will be times when a friend needs to camp on your couch, or you on theirs.
The Canadian Federation is built on the understanding that the one-way flow of gift from today's 'have' to 'have-not' provinces is in everybody's long term interest. Maybe the flow has been one-way for decades, but for that one fleeting crucial moment when we most need it, the flow will come to us and make our own future possible.
Americans do not even see that they also catch each other when they fall. It just happens. It's just there.
George Soros writes:
"The authorities didn’t understand the nature of the euro crisis; they thought it is a fiscal problem while it is more of a banking problem and a problem of competitiveness. And they applied the wrong remedy: you cannot reduce the debt burden by shrinking the economy, only by growing your way out of it. The crisis is still growing because of a failure to understand the dynamics of social change; policy measures that could have worked at one point in time were no longer sufficient by the time they were applied."
Forming a European Federation means a commitment to being there for each other; It means accepting that we are ALL stronger when we stand together.
----
This was originally written in June, when the EU had just rejected Euro-bonds (again) because the Germans failed to commit resources.
Help does not have to have been continuous... A single out-thrust hand that prevented us from stepping off the curb in front of a car that might have killed us, that single momentary gesture, made everything since possible.
The concept of 'too big to fail' in banking reminds us that any institution, any person, any state no matter how strong before or after, can pass through a moment when their very existence is at stake.
In our personal lives we understand there will be times when a friend needs to camp on your couch, or you on theirs.
The Canadian Federation is built on the understanding that the one-way flow of gift from today's 'have' to 'have-not' provinces is in everybody's long term interest. Maybe the flow has been one-way for decades, but for that one fleeting crucial moment when we most need it, the flow will come to us and make our own future possible.
Americans do not even see that they also catch each other when they fall. It just happens. It's just there.
George Soros writes:
"The authorities didn’t understand the nature of the euro crisis; they thought it is a fiscal problem while it is more of a banking problem and a problem of competitiveness. And they applied the wrong remedy: you cannot reduce the debt burden by shrinking the economy, only by growing your way out of it. The crisis is still growing because of a failure to understand the dynamics of social change; policy measures that could have worked at one point in time were no longer sufficient by the time they were applied."
Forming a European Federation means a commitment to being there for each other; It means accepting that we are ALL stronger when we stand together.
----
This was originally written in June, when the EU had just rejected Euro-bonds (again) because the Germans failed to commit resources.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)