tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post2680245263733530323..comments2023-06-18T01:25:08.748-07:00Comments on Information Transfer Economics: MiraclesJason Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12680061127040420047noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-87655622884755379702017-10-23T12:48:17.660-07:002017-10-23T12:48:17.660-07:00I think you could say that utilitarianism is a for...I think you could say that utilitarianism is a form of consequentialism: what matters are the consequences of actions. In utilitarianism, what matters are the utility consequences of actions.Jason Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12680061127040420047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-44708640041608445402017-10-20T10:28:06.238-07:002017-10-20T10:28:06.238-07:00Thanks. Is consequencialism essentially the same a...Thanks. Is consequencialism essentially the same as utilitarianism?Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-29643169586280227102017-10-19T13:00:37.172-07:002017-10-19T13:00:37.172-07:00Not sure how you can unofficially adopt something....Not sure how you can unofficially adopt something. <br /><br />The 2% inflation target seems to derive from New Zealand in 1989, but wasn't looked at by the Fed until the mid 1990s:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/upshot/of-kiwis-and-currencies-how-a-2-inflation-target-became-global-economic-gospel.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/21/upshot/of-kiwis-and-currencies-how-a-2-inflation-target-became-global-economic-gospel.html</a><br /><br />But by then inflation had already come down to around 2%.Jason Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12680061127040420047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-59511158534748153712017-10-19T12:50:34.216-07:002017-10-19T12:50:34.216-07:00I studied ethical theories in college. My professo...I studied ethical theories in college. My professor went on to appear in the movie <i>Waking Life</i> and even an article at <a href="https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/david-sosa/" rel="nofollow">nytimes</a>.<br /><br />I wrote a bunch of papers discussing utilitarianism as an optimization problem (i.e. you might have to go backwards to reach a utility optimum) and whether the universalization in the categorical imperative was in fact a decidable proposition (per Godel) -- that there might well be moral actions that cannot be universalized. It was a fun class, but mostly I liked pointing out the problems with any particular ethical system so don't really have a strong preference for any particular ethical theory except for the Rawlsian veil of ignorance coupled with utilitarianism.Jason Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12680061127040420047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-59879923392528631452017-10-19T12:23:37.843-07:002017-10-19T12:23:37.843-07:00O/T: do you have an opinion on ethics? 1) Duty, 2)...O/T: do you have an opinion on ethics? 1) Duty, 2) virtue or 3) consequencialism? Do you favor any of those three? Have you thought about it? If not, ignore this question. I hadn't until I saw a presentation favoring virtue ethics over the other two recently. You're an intelligent well informed person who probably has thought about it though, I'd guess.Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-55855959048622604662017-10-19T11:44:28.404-07:002017-10-19T11:44:28.404-07:00Good point. But did they unofficially adopt Yellen...Good point. But did they unofficially adopt Yellen's suggested 2% target prior to that? I thought I'd read that Greenspan & Yellen discussed that at some Fed meeting (I seem to recall reading the transcript of the meeting -- if there was a transcript even -- it's pretty hazy). Do you know what I'm referring to?Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-40589592541664806122017-10-19T11:32:20.163-07:002017-10-19T11:32:20.163-07:00Ah yes, I left a comment then, didn't I. Still...Ah yes, I left a comment then, didn't I. Still on track then...Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-1721775431979478622017-10-19T11:29:23.224-07:002017-10-19T11:29:23.224-07:00The Fed never officially said they were targeting ...The Fed never officially said they were targeting 2% inflation until 2011:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/08/economist-explains-21" rel="nofollow">https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/08/economist-explains-21</a>Jason Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12680061127040420047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-62250635132633889852017-10-19T11:25:46.051-07:002017-10-19T11:25:46.051-07:00It's well below target:
https://tradingeconom...It's well below target:<br /><br /><a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/inflation-cpi" rel="nofollow">https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/inflation-cpi</a><br /><br />I declared victory in that one earlier this year:<br /><br /><a href="https://informationtransfereconomics.blogspot.com/2017/02/worthwhile-canadian-prediction-comes.html" rel="nofollow">https://informationtransfereconomics.blogspot.com/2017/02/worthwhile-canadian-prediction-comes.html</a>Jason Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12680061127040420047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-82895343220413649802017-10-19T11:02:04.360-07:002017-10-19T11:02:04.360-07:00... the above quote I guess could be his justifica...... the above quote I guess could be his justification for selecting 1990: he says that's when the Fed started trying to stabilize inflation at 2%.Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-29733802121513645142017-10-19T10:58:48.519-07:002017-10-19T10:58:48.519-07:00From today's TheMoneyIllusion post (my link):
...From today's TheMoneyIllusion post (my link):<br /><br />"Then around 1990 the Fed started trying to stabilize inflation at about 2%. Since that time, inflation has averaged about 1.9%, amazingly close to 2%. This isn’t some sort of weird miracle; it’s happened because the Fed controls the long-term trend rate of inflation."<br /><br />There's that "miracle" again! =)Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-57937154422716472422017-10-19T10:52:11.253-07:002017-10-19T10:52:11.253-07:00Ha! Your 2015 post you link to above answered anot...Ha! Your 2015 post you link to above answered another of my questions (that I refrained from asking): "Why no reference to Insane Clown Posse?"Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-46297051019115728732017-10-19T10:49:22.237-07:002017-10-19T10:49:22.237-07:00BTW, is Canadian inflation falling below their cen...BTW, is Canadian inflation falling below their central bank's target? How's your prediction doing?Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6837159629100463303.post-86988995131930731312017-10-19T10:44:23.602-07:002017-10-19T10:44:23.602-07:00More from Sumner on this here: http://www.themoney...More from Sumner on this here: http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=32693Tom Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654184190478330946noreply@blogger.com