George Schultz on Putting our Entitlements in Order
Did we misunderstand Toni Morrison re Bill Clinton?
"State-sponsored kleptocracy:" MA wants to tax universities
Wonderful short snip of the Tom Wolfe interview
The re-Jihading of Gitmo Alumni. Jules
Gastronomic totalitarianism proposed in the UK
News flash: Europeans get drunk for sex
My racial harassment nightmare
"Let them eat arugula." Dems try populism by Chait at TNR
Should teachers be responsible for their students' achievement? WSJ
Vanderleun on illegal immigration. One quote:
We need to stop propping up Mexican fascists by importing their excess angst. We need to initiate a policy for illegal alien deportation that involves the importation of first rate American assault weapons. Once that happens the future for the ruling families of Mexico starts to look a little more sketchy than it has been up to now.
Dem notion: "Reasonable Profits Boards" Let's try that out on politicians' investments first.
Remind me. How many states in the USA? The guy is losing his bearings. Imagine if McCain said that.
Free Wi-Fi, but not for all. NYT
A reader nudged us towards a review of Sunstein and Thayer's "Nudge" about "libertarian paternalism, which book we discussed here. A quote from the Chronicle review:
With evident glee, he (Sunstein) notes that Chicago is effectively exploiting — to society's benefit — one of the many ways in which human perception is flawed. Or, as Thaler puts it, drivers are being "nudged" toward safety.
What does a peculiar pattern on the road have to do with fixing the nation's health-care woes, protecting the environment, resolving the thorny issue of gay marriage, and increasing donations to charity? Everything, according to Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, a professor of law and political science at the University of Chicago. They are authors of a new book, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Yale University Press), in which they articulate an approach to designing social and economic policies that incorporates an understanding of people's cognitive limitations.
Bird Dog comments: "Except their own?" More quote:
They call this governing philosophy "libertarian paternalism." That is not an oxymoron, they insist in their book. Rather it is a corrective to the longstanding assumption of policy makers that the average person is capable of thinking like Albert Einstein, storing as much memory as IBM's Big Blue, and exercising the willpower of Mahatma Gandhi. That is simply not how people are, they say. In reality human beings are lazy, busy, impulsive, inert, and irrational creatures highly susceptible to predictable biases and errors. That's why they can be nudged in socially desirable directions.
Raw arrogance and condescension oozing our of their pores. My question: Who the heck do Sunstein and Thayer think they are? I think they hugely underestimate regular people - ie non-professors, and hugely overestimate the wisdom and benevolence of government.
How can we ordinary folks "nudge" academics into reality?
Image: Old Davis racquets. Our outdoor tennis season begins today.
