Sobre normas universales, simétricas y funcionales

Este post pretende añadir al debate abierto con la publicación de Contra la Renta Básica, de Juan Ramón Rallo. Recientemente, Francisco Capella ha publicado una crítica al libro que puede encontrarse aquí. No trataré todos los puntos de la crítica, sino una parte: Rallo señala tres principios de justicia como ideas diferentes que pueden entrar en conflicto (libertad, propiedad y contratos) Capella dice que sólo hay un único principio con las tres facetas que Rallo identifica como diferentes, y que no puede…

Is there R&D spending myopia?

Do firms invest in long term R&D? They do, right? There are examples around. Just recently we saw that Intel will invest 50 million dollars in Quantum Computing (Also, this brief note by Intel's CEO). They don't expect to have results immediately: Today Intel Corporation announced a 10-year collaborative relationship with the Delft University of Technology and TNO, the Dutch Organisation for Applied Research, to accelerate advancements in quantum computing. To achieve this goal, Intel will invest US$50…

Be careful with charts

I found around a blog by Professor Richard Jones, touching some themes I like. There was something that I didn't quite like: he presents us with the chart below, which is misleading. The post in which he presents the chart is this: Innovation, research and development, and the UK's productivity crisis - part 1. The problem is that when you go to his sources, which he gladly provides as you can check in his site, or here (OECD Productivity) and here (OECD GERD), and plot his data you get this: But when you…

Jousting with the Knightian knights: Uncertainty and entrepreneurship

On the one side, Sir Entrepreneur of Northkirznerland. On the other, Sir Ardee of the Order of the Knightian Knights, Master of the Uncertain. Which gallant contender will win in this duel? In the past, Sir Entrepreneur has defeated Sir Ardee's younger brother, Sir Risk of Martingale. It turned out if you studied his past jousting activities you could predict his moves, and thus win. However, doing this with Sir Ardee has proven impossible, and thus he is a fearsome fellow. Days before the jousting commence…

Huemer contra Caplan: Why Bryan Caplan should abandon desert

Bryan caplan defends the concept of desert in a recent series of posts. He says When people seriously suffer as a result of committing _major_offenses, however, I call that just deserts. Here, I will argue that Caplan's philosophical views contradict his views on desert. Concretely, you can't follow Michael Huemer's overall ideas  and also accept desert. On the Huemerian view, which is moral realism, moral facts are true or false. We then may ask ourselves why do people do wrong things. In the Huemerian v…

Is war necessary for economic growth? A review, and some aviation history

Ruttan (2006) argues that large-scale and long-term government investment has been the engine behind almost every GPT [General Purpose Technologies] in the last century. He analysed the development of six different technology complexes (the US ‘mass production’ system, aviation technologies, space technologies, information technology, Internet technologies and nuclear power) and concluded that government investments have been important in bringing these new technologies into being. Thus argued Mazzucato i…