Cat Saves Rat (part II), Birthday, Markets, Misc.

[tcpip]

Many people think they are servants for a strange cat. Well, our cat truly is special. He keeps pet rats, or at least his thinks he does, differentiating between indoor rats (his friends) and outdoor rats (tasty invaders). Last week, for the second time, one of our rats (the appropriately named Scamper) managed to sneak out the front door and spend a couple of days in front garden. Mac Lir protected the area until the rat was located and rescued. I heard once that Manx were once kept as guard cats, a seemingly ridiculous notion. Nevertheless, if that is true, Mac is living up to his history.

Today is caseopaya's birthday, not quite making her a poisson d'avril. As a little gift I found a shell and rhodium cameo with marcasites. Tonight we're planning on going to see a comedy troupe who were big in the 1980s and early 90s but have been largely forgotten now; the Doug Anthony All-Stars, which I guess will mean another review on the ever-growing pile for Rocknerd.

On Thursday evening wrote a short article on issues that I've been considering for quite a while; that is the relationship between the model of perfect competition (and resultant 'free market' political orientation that results), and it difference between the model and actual markets. The assumption that free markets generate perfect competition is probably the worst intellectual fallacy of our modern age, but I am not convinced by anti-market ideology that many opponents have. Rather I am leaning towards the notion of interventions from without that encourage the conditions that perfect competition is meant to have.

It's been a fairly quiet past couple of days at work; the two clusters humming away without much drama, which is really good for the new system with its first 100 beta users giving it a run. It's given me the opportunity to get an abstract in for Questnet 2016, complete some workplace training, work through the planned compute cloud training modules and so forth. Finally, pleasant surprise was the planned new edition of Barbarian Kings looks like its coming back again after a short hiatus, for which I'm writing some material.

Comments

[delphipsmith]

Gorgeous cameo. Great article. When the ideal situation for a free market ("It has the highest degree of veracity in those markets where...") is so narrowly prescribed, one does wonder why it's always presented as the ideal solution. So few people seem to realize how starting from a false premise leads to ineffective decisions.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

> one does wonder why it's always presented as the ideal solution.

I guess because it is the baseline ideal model. Certainly I was an economics teacher I emphasise this over and over again that the real world is a deviation from the model and the model is a deviation from reality.

Of course, economists themselves are at least partially aware of the problem. Policy-wise however the importance is that economics is normative prior to being positive, and as a result what ought to be the case has priority.

[carlowe.livejournal.com]

I hope DAAS were good to see. I saw them in Bendigo a while back, and while it was different, I really enjoyed it.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

To be honest, DAAS really aren't my brand of humour (although Flacco adds more to my style). It was something to see Tim Ferguson still soldering on. Paul McDermott makes a wonderfully arrogant fox.

[castleclear.livejournal.com]

Lev, I really enjoyed your article "Markets for Freedom Rather Than Free Markets." I agree with the idea that markets should exist to serve humanity (or society or the common good), rather than the other way around. The "Kids with Jobs" poster is spot-on.

I feel like writing (in all seriousness), "Gosh, you're smart! As well as educated." Thanks for being an online friend to this Yankee American pleb. I benefit far more than I realized from our friendship, and I very much appreciate your having made the effort from time to time to educate me; e.g., my new words for today are isocracy and supervenience from your recent article: http://isocracy.org/content/isocracy-supervenience-socialism-liberalism-anarchism

Wishing you every success in all your future endeavors! Aloha.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the very kind words. The way that a lot of economists (and people even less familiar) treat markets strikes me as a form of reification. Modern people may smile or sneer (depending on their disposition) of premodern cultures who assigned human characteristics to to mountains or the weather etc but we're doing the same thing to concepts, like markets. "The market was depressed today". Really? Isn't it people who are depressed?

> I feel like writing (in all seriousness), "Gosh, you're smart! As well as educated."

Well, maybe the educated part :) Very pleased to introduce isocracy and supervenience to you.

I also value your friendship in the forum. You're kind and generous man whose written words breathe that disposition.

[wildilocks.livejournal.com]

Awwww, I missed a Dougies concert? I am impressed they keep coming back! Last saw them a few years ago at the Melbourne Town Hall for DVD launch.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I don't know how many years Tim has left in him. Whilst life expectancy of MS patients is usually only moderately different from the general population, his motor functions aren't exactly the best.