There's a document around by Block & Keller (2011) ("Where do innovations come from?") doing some very weird definitions. Mariana Mazzucato: Given the leading developmental role the US government plays in a vast number of sectors, it is no surprise that at a more micro level, Block and Keller (2011b) found that between 1971 and 2006, 77 out of the most important 88 innovations (rated by R&D Magazine’s annual awards) – or 88 per cent – have been fully dependent on federal research support,…

Contrary to what a naïve understanding of an introductory Economics course would teach you, markets have lots of cooperation in them, not only competition. One example I want to discuss today is R&D Consortia: Different entities (Corporations, universities, and laboratories) coming together to do research, even when the individual members each have their own goals and products in mind Why would different actors do this? The motivations include sharing costs and risks, exploring new concepts, pooling sca…

The standard argument against full egalitarianism is the Levelling Down Objection (LDO). What if there is an argument for egalitarianism that turns the LDO on its head? It is usually asserted by thoughtful people that what matters is poverty, not inequality. Inequality would only matter only as far as it engenders bad consequences, as some researchers have tried to show. So far I'm unconvinced of the strongest claims (Sorry, Pickett & Wilkinson). But Branko Milanovic presented here an argument defending…

Hace unos meses, esto que escribí recibió una crítica aquí. No me convenció la crítica, y aquí explicaré por qué. Recomiendo leer antes el primer artículo y la crítica antes de leer este, pues aquí iré citando de la réplica y respondiendo, sin repetir lo que ya dije. Argumentaré que la defensa de la ética de libertad de Francisco Capella, aún conduciendo a conclusiones plausibles y estando en gran medida de acuerdo con ellas, es en última instancia errónea, poco rigurosa, y falaz,  siendo la formulación de …

In the past, slavery was a common practise, as was holding women and homosexuals in a lower moral standing. Violence was seen as honorable, and war and torture were more common. Values tended to be more communitarian/collectivist, and tradition was something that was highly respected. Also, during the Industrial Revolution, (some) people in Europe went through a change in values ('burgeois virtues') that is known be a key to explain why it happened first in Europe, but not in China. Here I present some theo…

Here I will try to list everything Scott has written that is relevant to understand his ethics. I imagine his views have changed along time, and the final authority on what Scott thinks is Scott, so if he has any objection to his previous selves' thoughts, he wins. One could think that the topic begins and ends with his Consequentialist FAQ, written in 2011. But one would be wrong. For some things I provide paragraphs, or comments. In all cases, you don't need to read the comment section, I've already copyp…