Author: Atanu Dey

Economist.

Superabundance and Happiness

Santa Crux CA. Click to embiggen

Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970), the celebrated English mathematician, philosopher and humanist began the prologue to his autobiography by declaring that three passions governed his life: “the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.” One presumes that those passions were in the service of his ultimate goal of achieving happiness. We lesser mortals may not be moved by passions as lofty as Russell’s but we all strive for happiness which is our ultimate goal.

What makes us happy varies from individual to individual. But prince or pauper, we all want to be happy. Nobody likes to suffer. Around 2500 years ago, the Buddha declared the reality of dukkha (roughly translated as suffering, or a state of dissatisfactoriness) is a primary feature of sentient existence, and said it was the first of the Four Noble Truths. Continue reading “Superabundance and Happiness”

Ludwig Boltzman

Physics is one of my favorite subjects. I have to confess that I find quantum mechanics particularly challenging. It’s above my IQ level. Still I try my best. But statistical mechanics is not that hard. Currently I am making my way through David L. Goodstein’s States of Matter (1975).

Goodstein is good. The first chapter, “Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics,” begins by situating the subject in its historical context: Continue reading “Ludwig Boltzman”

Trump Won!

Oh what a circus, oh what a show!

Donald J Trump won! He will be the 47th President of the United States. Also the Republicans won the House and the Senate too.

Here are the main points why I celebrate:

    1. Harris is retarded. Not good to have a retard as the 1st female president.
    2. The Democrats having become an evil party. Their wokeness was sickening.
    3. Trump has become older and (hopefully) wiser.
    4. Trump has on his side JD Vance, RFK Jr, Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk, and Tulsi Gabbard. More than anything else, I love the team.

It’s a belated birthday gift for me (Nov 3rd). Couldn’t have asked for a better gift.

Time to celebrate. Perhaps I will go to the inauguration on Jan 21st.

Right to Property – India

“If the natural tendencies of mankind are so bad that it is not safe to permit people to be free, how is it that the tendencies of these organizers are always good? Do not the legislators and their appointed agents also belong to the human race? Or do they believe that they themselves are made of a finer clay than the rest of mankind?”

– Frederick Bastiat

In my previous post, Right to Property, I claimed that Indians don’t have a fundamental right to property, and instead it’s a constitutional right. I am not trained in law or constitutional law of India. Therefore it was not an expert opinion. Continue reading “Right to Property – India”

Right to Property

The US “Declaration of Independence”, 1776, states that “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”are unalienable rights given to all humans by their Creator. In incorporating the phrase “pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson (1743 -1826), a Founding Father and the 3rd president of the US,  was inspired by the English Enlightenment thinker and philosopher John Locke (1632 – 1704).

The pursuit of happiness requires one to be free from coercion by others, and the material means to follow one’s goals. That implies right to property. Continue reading “Right to Property”

Public Choice Theory

During my formal training in economics, I mainly learned price theory (also known as microeconomics) and theories related to economic development.  Only after I was done with my Ph.D. did I learn about public choice theory and constitutional political economy. Those are my favorites. Let’s talk about public choice.

What is public choice? It is not “private choice.” When you choose something in your private capacity, that’s private choice. You are self-interested and choose to do the best you can for yourself and your loved ones. You try to get the most bang for your buck, so to speak. Your private choices affect you only and you reap the benefits or suffer the costs of your choices. It’s karma. Continue reading “Public Choice Theory”

Is the Deep State Going to Win?

Diwali is over and now to some less fun topics. I am seriously worried that Trump may lose the election. We’ll know the outcome on Nov 6th early morning. I am dreading what could happen in case Trump loses. I hope the gods are kind and spare humans the destruction of the world.

I don’t really care about Trump’s tariffs, or Harris’s idiocy. They are minor and inconsequential in the long run. To me, the most critically important issue is which of the two potential POTUS is likely to lead the world into the third (and certainly, the final) world war. Trump is not a war monger; Harris, a deep state puppet, is likely to force a war on the world. Continue reading “Is the Deep State Going to Win?”

Goethe on Commitment

Thus spake the great Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

I have not read any of his works, I sadly confess. But I regularly read his quotes that are easily found on the web (wikiquotes and goodreads are great sources.) And of course he is quoted frequently in books and articles.

Goethe said, “All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, until they take root in our personal experience.”

I think over honestly what great minds have already thought. Who was Goethe? Continue reading “Goethe on Commitment”

AMA – the Very Large Numbers edition

It’s been a while since the last AMA post. Actually, I’ve been hugely distracted with the presidential race. I end up spending inordinate amounts of time on X and on YouTube.

And on top of that, I am easily distracted. If I see an interesting book, it immediately goes on my reading list. When comes time to get some work done, I decide to just dip into the pile of books just for a few minutes, and the next thing I know is that I’ve spent hours reading.

But that has its rewards. I learn stuff. Learning stuff is joy. Here’s something I enjoyed. Continue reading “AMA – the Very Large Numbers edition”