Month: December 2007
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Across the Universe
I really liked the film Across the Universe. It’s both amusingly clever and an interesting look back at the 60s. Plus it’s a musical. I particularly liked the combination of “nothing’s going to change our world” with “helter skelter”–simple but effective. I tend to like movies which take a more formal approach, like musicals. By…
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Floating Currency
We’ve gotten used to floating currency, but what does it really mean? The dollar has fallen with respect to the euro. If I want to buy something from Europe, I now have to pay more dollars than I did before, and/or the seller has to receive fewer euros. In a free market, prices should always…
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Universal Ethics
I argued earlier that we can base a universal ethics on human nature, or biology. Is there anything we could use? Many universal ethical systems are based on some form of the golden rule or the categorical imperative. That itself tends to be taken as an axiom. Utilitarianism is based on a utility function, which…
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Privating Societal Value
A couple of times I’ve alluded to an idea I first saw from Peter Singer, that the structure of society creates a great deal of the value which flows to the wealthy. Our legal system and our stable system of property ownership is crucial for building successful companies. Yet the value gained from companies flows…