Pure joy is the sound of music. I agree with Nietzsche that “without music, life would be a mistake.” Among my favorites in the Western classical tradition is Richard Strauss’s masterpiece Also Sprach Zarathustra. It was featured in the movie… Read More ›
Month: July 2020
This I Have Learned
Asato ma sadgamaya Over a life mostly devoted to learning stuff and not much else except goofing off, I have learned quite a few interesting things. Interesting not in some absolute, objective or universal sense but only particular to me… Read More ›
The End of the Pandemic
For the last couple of weeks, I have been making the claim to my friends that the Chinese SARS-CoV-19 virus pandemic will be over by June 2021. I predict that by the end of 2020, there will be at least… Read More ›
Don’t Ask me About the Economy
When people get to know that I am an economist, for instance on a flight, I often get asked about the economy or even the stock market. I just make up some stuff if the mood strikes me but sometimes… Read More ›
What I Believe
My normative ethical position has a simple side-constraint[1] which is that it is immoral to enslave people or to impose costs on them. Enslaving people entails using them for one’s own ends, and it is a violation of rights of… Read More ›
Open Thread — Ask me Anything
Been a few days since the last entry on the blog. To jump start this stalled system here’s an open thread. What’s on your mind? The purple flowers on the left are from a friend’s kitchen garden in Westmont, IL…. Read More ›
Was the British Empire Good for the World
The world today is quite different from the world of 1945, when the last world war ended. The map above broadly identifies colonies of the Western/European powers. (Click on the map to embiggen.) Great Britian, an island in the North… Read More ›
Ennio Morricone. RIP.
I am sad to learn that Ennio Morricone passed away today in Rome. He was 91 years old. During his career as a music composer, he scored the music for an unbelievable over 400 movies. I’ve been a fan of… Read More ›
Fourth of July Fireworks
Some people in Los Angeles, CA appear to have decided to ignore the license-permit raj regarding fireworks and celebrated the birth of the United States of America with real fireworks. One twitter user posted a video with the message: IN… Read More ›
Is discrimination based on religion justified?
Is a secular state justified in discriminating among citizens on the basis of religion? — Atanu Dey (@atanudey) July 4, 2020
