Pinker On Violence

I have just been reading an interview with noted psychologist Steven Pinker and three points were worth highlighting from this interview – How do you explain the decline in violence? I don’t think there is a single answer. One cause is government, that is, third-party dispute resolution: courts and police with a monopoly on the…

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Where To Now?

Fridays overnight action saw most world markets lift – even Greece was up. This pop in prices presents a problem for traders since markets have been ordinary for some time. Lacklustre markets such as the ones we have been experiencing have been characterized by false breaks both up and down. These false breaks have the…

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Where To Now?

Fridays overnight action saw most world markets lift – even Greece was up. This pop in prices presents a problem for traders since markets have been ordinary for some time. Lacklustre markets such as the ones we have been experiencing have been characterized by false breaks both up and down. These false breaks have the…

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Pinker On Violence

I have just been reading an interview with noted psychologist Steven Pinker and three points were worth highlighting from this interview – How do you explain the decline in violence? I don’t think there is a single answer. One cause is government, that is, third-party dispute resolution: courts and police with a monopoly on the…

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The Last Place Aversion

How does last-place aversion play out with regard to redistribution? In our surveys, we asked Americans whether they supported an increase to the minimum wage, currently $7.25 per hour. Those making $7.25 or below were very likely to support the increase – after all, they would be immediate beneficiaries. In addition, people making substantially more than…

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The Illusion Of Skill

Because our impressions of how well each soldier performed were generally coherent and clear, our formal predictions were just as definite. We rarely experienced doubt or conflicting impressions. We were quite willing to declare: “This one will never make it,” “That fellow is rather mediocre, but should do O.K.” or “He will be a star.”…

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