I am convinced that freedom is an acquired taste, somewhat like dietary preferences. People brought up in a vegetarian households are likely to prefer vegetarian food. People brought up free tend to prefer freedom and those brought up under command structures, prefer that. Muslims apparently prefer the stifling, humanity-denying strictures of Islam that non-Muslims generally find horrifying. Continue reading “Freedom is an acquired taste”
Author: Atanu Dey
Economist.
AMA: the “What I Profess” edition
This is a confession of my beliefs on a variety of subjects, some fundamental and some derivative. It partly answers the question “who am I?” and goes some way in demonstrating that the matters I profess have coherence, consistency and structural integrity. I will first introduce them as a list and then expand on each item as needed. I will keep this preamble brief as I expect that I will learn much about myself in the writing of this personal piece. This is a personal confession; expect liberal use of the first person pronoun. Continue reading “AMA: the “What I Profess” edition”
Diwali Greetings
Diwali Greetings. I wish you a joyous and prosperous New Year.
I am going to be celebrating Diwali on board a flight from SFO to Seoul, on my way to Mumbai. When I arrive Monday night, flying across India I am sure to see fireworks from the air.
UPDATE Nov 1st: Arrived at the Mumbai airport early morning today.
Politics by Principle, not Interest
From the description of the book “Politics by Principle, not Interest” (1998) by James Buchanan and Roger Congleton.
“The very logic of majority rule implies unequal treatment or discrimination. If left unconstrained, majority coalitions will promote the interests of their own members at the expense of other persons. This book focuses on the effects of applying a generality constraint on the political process. Under this requirement, majorities would be constitutionally prohibited from treating different persons and groups differently. The generality principle is familiar in that all persons are to be treated equally. In summary, this book extends the generality norm to politics. Continue reading “Politics by Principle, not Interest”
The Preamble to Iceland’s New Constitution
The most important thing for the constitution of any civilized society is the guarantee that it provides that all people are treated equally and without discrimination by the government. The other bits follow logically from that principle.
And the back story to that is here. (I don’t like the video style of getting multiple people to say bits of a sentence — it’s tiresome and distracting.)
America’s Moment of Truth
We’ll know on Nov 8th which fork in the road ahead the US takes. Since I value freedom, I cannot ever support either of the major parties but I hope that Clinton does not win. But it looks like she will. Anyway, here’s my favorite commentator, Pat Condell, on what’s in store for the US.
Happy Birthday, Ludwig von Mises
Today, Sept 29th, is the 135th birthday of Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973).
I consider Mises to be one of my gurus. Just to be sure, I used the word guru very seriously — one who dispels the darkness (gu) of ignorance through the radiance (ru) of knowledge. I have been reading his magnum opus Human Action (1949) and The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science (1962) religiously.
Who was he? “Ludwig von Mises was one of the greatest economists and political scientists of the twentieth century. He revolutionised the understanding of money, inflation and recessions; comprehensively refuted the arguments for socialism; and provided a devastating critique of the methodologies of mainstream economics. His contributions to the Austrian School laid the intellectual groundwork for thinkers such as F. A. Hayek, Murray Rothbard and Israel Kirzner.” Continue reading “Happy Birthday, Ludwig von Mises”
India and Foreign Direct Investment
The economic growth of any economy depends on how much is invested in creating productive assets in it. Factories, buildings, ports, the transportation network, natural resource extraction, manpower training, the use of modern methods of manufacturing, energy production and distribution networks — all require investment. Part of the investment arises from domestic savings, part from foreign borrowings, and part from foreign direct investment (FDI.) Let’s look at how India does in FDI compared to other countries.
Here I will not address what kind of changes need to happen for India to attract, say, 10 times as much FDI as it currently does. That’s feasible but not with the current policies and leadership. Anyway, here are the facts.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi — the Chicago edition
Ganesh, the Lord of Beginnings, the Remover of Obstacles is without doubt the coolest of gods. He goes places. Here’s him in the home of Molly and Prashant and their children Ria and Joydeep in Chicago. I stopped here on my way from the East coast to San Jose.
Continue reading “Happy Ganesh Chaturthi — the Chicago edition”
Ask Me Anything — The Boston Edition
Greetings from Boston, MA. I arrived last evening from San Jose, CA to visit my friend Kanchan Banerjee and his family. The weather here was a shock — hot and humid — after the pleasant cool and dry of the SF Bay area. That wonderful weather spoils you something silly. Anyway, lots of stuff going on. What’s on your mind?
Atanu Dey : Life is a Random Draw 