The 15-hour working week predicted by Keynes may soon be within our grasp – but are we ready for freedom from toil?
via aeonmagazine.com
John Quiggin seems to have covered everything here, except curiously for global warming.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Prospects of a Keynesian utopia-Why this Obsession for More Instead of Better?
Thursday, October 11, 2012
The Marshmallow Study revisited
For the past four decades, the "marshmallow test" has served as a classic experimental measure of children's self-control: will a preschooler eat one of the fluffy white confections now or hold out for two later?
Now a new study demonstrates that being able to delay gratification is influenced as much by the environment as by innate ability. Children who experienced reliable interactions immediately before the marshmallow task waited on average four times longer—12 versus three minutes—than youngsters in similar but unreliable situations.
via eurekalert.org
I've often thought that this must be the case. We've all heard stories about poor people who come into a bit of money, spend it all right away, and eat beans for the rest of the month.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Is God a TV Zapper or a Pinball Player? Irreverent Pop-Theology as Seen by an Obsessive Agnostic
At the beginning I was a proper Calvinist. Before it got watered down in the 18th century, Calvinism was very often about predestination vs. free will. So when I started researching the subject, I went back as far as the English Puritans and moved forward to Jonathan Edwards, who was certainly the most reasonable and convincing of all the Puritan theologians.
That got me to thinking that if Edwards were alive today he might describe predestination as a fourth dimensional necessity. For God, time would simply be another dimension that SHe would perceive instantaneously as we perceive the other three dimensions, which means that God would perceive in an instant what we mere mortals perceive as eternity.
(I have been wondering which pronoun to use for God, and have considered He, She and It. I decided on SHe as being gender neutral while still being personal. I thought of adding It to the SHe, but that could lead to an inappropriate combination of letters.)
Back to the main stream in the person of that contemporary philosopher, Elvis Costello. My son the poet tells me that Costello once said that he thought of God as lying on a big circular bed surrounded by an infinite number of television screens. In Costello's vision, God holds a tele-command which enables Herm (objective case pronoun proposal) to intervene when things start going wrong.
Now, even though Edwards probably did not own a television set, let alone subscribe to cable, he would certainly have objected strongly to Costello's vision because it detracted from the idea of God's omnipotence. I would agree with Edwards. What kind of a god would it be who didn't get everything right in the first place and had to keep zapping to set things straight? Besides, I have cancelled my cable subscription and now watch TV only over the internet.
Further meditation led me to another theological insight, which I feel corresponds closely to American WASP religious thinking. Conceive of God as a pinball player using a very advanced, holy machine. Each time SHe pulls and releases the plunger it sets off a Big Bang in one universe or another. Obviously God would use that plunger with such finesse that the big ball would cross the table just as SHe had planned. Certain souls would be saved and others damned. But God might change Hers (possessive adjective proposal) mind and jog the table from time to time to modify the ball's trajectory. Doesn't that leave a little room for human exercise of free will, perhaps even for someone else to jog the table directly? In any case, that's what Edwards's followers decided, thereby leading to today's Christian compromise.
This idea is most appealing to us ex-pinball players. But our agnostic leanings make us doubt that this is more than an illusion. Nevertheless, I sit and wait, sometimes hoping God will invite me over to play. Sometimes I even think I'll walk over and put a quarter in the machine, or maybe just give it a little jog while hoping it doesn't light up TILT.
Copyright: Edgar Farrar Richardson
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Can You Believe My Bordeaux Wine Posts Get More Hits Than My Political Rants?
As usual, the so-called law of supply and demand explains everything. There's not enough information on the web about good, affordable Bordeaux wines, while there are too many political rants. I suppose it's the election season. Or maybe it's the Gresham's law of blogging: bad dope drives out good.
But I won't tease you any longer. I've come to you here on the web today to give you more good news about Bordeaux wines of the 2011 vintage just coming to market. In this recent post I told you why I thought they would be good, especially the Saint Emilions Today I offer you taster's proof positive. A few days ago, I found some Lussac Saint Emilion from Château La Croix de Chereau, vintage 2011 at €9 the bottle in my neighborhood supermarket. This wine is a real miracle at that price. It's just as round and full as the Graves I wrote about the other day, but it's also got enough tannin so that it can travel well and keep for a few years. Addionally, it has special nutty overtones that I've seldom tasted in other reds. I'm going to buy a few more bottles for special occasions.
The Lussac Saint Emilion is a small northern suburb of the main Saint Emillion district. It has less prestige, but a bit more merlot (65% rather than 60%), and commands a lower price. The nearby Fronsacs will probably be interesting, too, and I will let you know if I find some good bargains. All these wines are near neighbors, if not kissing cousins of the Pomerols (70% to 80% merlot), which people who can afford them often rate the world's best reds.
I should warn you: I'm not an expert, just an ordinary wino wine-lover like you.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Prefer the Original Scandinavian TV, Especially "The Killing" (Forbrydelsen)
We have just finished watching the first season of the internationally top-rated Danish TV series "The Killing". I now see that we are way behind the times as the Danes have already broadcast their third season, and the Americans have done a complete remake of the first Danish season after splitting it into two seasons. We did not have to pay one centime extra to see this excellent series the original version broadcast in in the clear on the Franco-German public channel. Nor did we have to suffer through innumerible advertising breaks. In fact, we saw all 20 episodes in the space of three weeks (the same time frame as the murder investigation) without a single commercial. It was even rather tiring sometimes sitting through four hours end to end, with only brief hourly pipi stops. We wound up recording some episodes for the following day.
The news that there was an American remake did not surprise me, but led me to search critical comparisons. This was all that I found. This critic led me to believe that the US adaptation was almost as good as the original, which I doubt. Nevertheless, the critic asks the same question as I did: "Why did they bother", given the excellent quality of the original series. I haven't seen the version dubbed in English, but the French dubbing was perfect, and I can't imagine that the Brits would do worse. The decisive verdict is that the Danes have done two more successful series, whereas AMC dropped theirs after the first double series.
The question remains: "Why did they bother to do the remake?" Did the producers suppose that Americans are too self-centered or closed-minded to be interested in how another culure might treat such a horrible event? Or did they just presume that American TV would inevitably do it better? I doubt the latter interpretation because such suppositions have so often proved wrong: e.g. the original Swedish production of the Millenium trilogy.
Of course, you can always buy the Danish Season 2 on Amazon for $65, but you will need a dezoned DVD player to watch it. This brings up another gripe I have with the US media industry. Those guys do the maximum to push free trade when it's to their advantage, while at the same time creating artificial barriers such as DVD and Bue-Ray zoning to protect their monopolies.
Meanwhile, we continue to enjoy a good film free nearly every evening on French TV.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Republican Small Government Fanatics Distort Views of Their Hero Hayek
despite his complete lack of faith in the ability of politicians to affect the economy, Hayek, who is frequently cited in attacks on entitlement programs, believed that the state should provide a base income to all poor citizens.
To be truly Hayekian, Boettke says, Ryan would need to embrace one of his central ideas, known as the “generality norm.” This is Hayek’s belief that any government program that helps one group must be available to all. If applied, Boettke says, a Hayekian government would eliminate all corporate and agricultural subsidies and government housing programs, and it would get rid of Medicare and Medicaid or expand them to cover all citizens. (Hayek had no problem with a national health care program.)
via nytimes.com
Maybe this guy Hayek wasn't as bad as the Republicans make him out to be. I hereby resolve to read more of what he wrote, My loyalty to Keynes, however, remains absolute
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Don't Neglect Bordeaux Vintage 2011
A few weeks ago, I read a New York Times review of French wines now coming to market, and was rather miffed to see that the critic completely ignored Bordeaux. That's mainly because I live in Bordeaux; nevertheless, I began to wonder if my adopted region was falling behind Burgundy, and if so why. Maybe the excellent Pinot Noirs from the US West are leading more Americans to try their ancestors from Burgundy. Or maybe the wine critic just didn't have enough of a budget to cover both sides of France.Be that as it may, I decided to stay on the lookout for medium priced 2011 Bordeaux, which I expected to be showing up in our supermarket. I rather thought they would be good because spring last year was precociously hot and dry, which I knew would favor the Merlots. And fortunately, the summer of 2011 was not especially hot, which should enable wine makers to avoid the high alcohol percentages that I don't much care for.I didn't have long to wait. One day last week, I discovered a bottle of Chateau du Bos, a 2011 Graves at 12.5%, which is usually the right percentage for me. It was a miracle at less than five Euros the bottle: round, full, and fruity, with little acidity, it was a perfect table wine. I say "was" because I was not the only one to discover it. When I went back, I grabbed the last three bottles, and fervently hope they can restock. There was not much tannin, so I'm not sure this would be a keeper or that it would ship well, but it bodes well for those which will be coming out of oak a little later.
On the other hand, a few days later I tried a 2011 Côtes de Blaye at 13% which was drinkable, but a bit "piquant". I was disappointed, because these were quite good a few years back. Nevertheless, I remain optimistic.My guess is that the Saint Emilions will be better than ever, because they usually have a higher proportion of Merlot than the other Bordeaux. They reach their peak sooner, too, so you won't have to wait so long to drink them. I'll let you know if anything else turns up.
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