Monday, May 16, 2022

What I am reading right now. And why. — Nick Johnson

Some philosophy of economics. While it is not directly related to MMT or understanding MMT, it provides background into the historical context in which this debate is being conducted.

The Political Economy of Development
What I am reading right now. And why.
Nick Johnson

5 comments:

Peter Pan said...

He styled himself as aiming to achieve ‘model agnosticism’ in his learning about and understanding of the world. That is, given that all that we sense and perceive of the world around us is filtered through our nervous system, we can never experience ‘reality’ directly and fully. This a kind of philosophical realism: the world beyond our senses exists apart from those senses, and would continue to exist even if all humans perished. But our ways of perceiving the world are structured and filtered by a nervous system which emerges from a combination of our genetics and our lifelong learning, informing our beliefs and our models or maps of that world.

If he were serious, he'd leap off a cliff to test his model agnosticism of whether humans can fly.

Wilson works hard in much of his writing to shake us free from any kind of fundamentalist belief system, whether scientific, political, religious or otherwise, noting that all beliefs, truths, etc have the potential to be provisional, partial and subject to change given the introduction of new information, or learning, throughout our lives. Wilson himself makes a strong case that the models on which we base our beliefs and understanding, which are necessarily simpler than the world ‘out there’, should be chosen to be useful to our life as we move through that world. Our perceptions and thinking are necessarily fallible, and we should be humble and recognise them as such.

Economic models, when applied wrongly, result in the suffering and death of millions of people, animals, and the environment. My saying this won't change the modeling path we are on, since there are people who will:

a) deny that what I said is true due to philosophical realism
b) do not have a problem with the suffering and death of others
c) benefit personally from existing models


"Why did I write this long ago. And why" asks Robert Anton Wilson.
"What I am reading right now. And why." asks Nick Johnson.

Their psychologists might know the answer. Some sort of emotional need hiding behind an intellectual veneer.

Footsoldier said...

When you listen to what Sergey Lavrov says.


https://thesaker.is/fm-sergey-lavrovs-remarks-at-the-30th-assembly-of-the-council-on-foreign-and-defence-policy/


He is more accurate than the nonsense that comes out of the West.


Footsoldier said...

Many Rumors and not enough Facts

https://thesaker.is/sitrep-operation-z-many-rumors-and-not-enough-facts/

There are rumors over the radio networks that the Ukies will mass surrender you the Nazis in Azovstal surrenders. I stress this is rumor. It looks like this from many sources: At 17.30 the mass surrender of the AFU will begin from Azovstal, the radio airwaves are buzzing with NEWS all over the front.



Footsoldier said...

"Russia will take military-technical and other measures to eliminate threats due to Sweden's accession to NATO."

This statement was made by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"The response steps will depend on the specific conditions of its integration and the prospects for the deployment of strike weapons there.

The decision to join NATO will lead to the loss of sovereignty and does not meet the interests of the Swedes."

"Sweden's accession to NATO will cause significant damage to the security of the whole of Europe," the ministry concluded.


Footsoldier said...

When you watch these videos


https://www.bitchute.com/channel/nnwlaOOuDM1W/



You would need to be either desperate or radio rental to sign up as an infantry man in a modern day army.

The precision of modern warfare is incredible.


It is like shooting fish in a barrel.