Who Were the Sea Peoples?

"In the first place, there can’t BE any externalities in a purely private property society because the costs can always be internalized." -- Mattheus von Guttenberg Ancap: In a purely private property society is a society in which everything will function perfectly. Skeptic: But wait... what about the lack of a court of last appeal for disputes? Ancap: There cannot BE any lack of things a purely private property society, because in one, as I think I mentioned, everything will function perfectly. Any other questions?

In the press earlier today I read that Phelps had failed to finish first in the 200 fly because he made an "elementary mistake" at the finish. I read this claim in the afternoon, and so I was curious to see what really had happened. After watching the finish twice, I can say with confidence that, once again, we have writers ignorant of swimming writing rubbish about what really happened. The complaint is apparently that Phelps glided into the wall, allowing Le Clos to narrowly beat him. But here is what really happened: Both Phelps and Le Clos were simply trying to swim that last length as fast as they possibly could. Neither of them were thinking, "I should swim so that the strokes I am taking will turn out to be an integral divisor of 50 meters." As top-notch swimmers, they might, in fact, have been able to assure that result. But if that is what they had been focusing upon, the two of them would have finished seventh and eighth in the finals. No, each of them...

Doctor: So, you teach. What subject? Me: Economics. Fifteen minutes now pass without discussing my sore throat at all. Instead, I am quizzed about health care reform, the recession, the Euro... From now on, when asked that question, I think I shall answer, "Seventeenth-century Albanian literature."

Anche sei rotondo e tozzo Vorrei sempre riempirti Con il mio amore Lancio bigliettini d'amore Nel cuore del tuo essere Ma anche se provo A farti troppo pieno Ogni mattina ho scoperto Il tuo cuore vuoto È come se un estraneo scuro Ha rubato il mio amore lontano Durante la lunga notte Quando eravamo lontani Il mio cestino!

Oakeshott on Rome and America was first $19 in a Kindle version, then $35, and now it is back to $19. I have no idea what this is all about, but you'd better snap up your copy now before it goes back up!

From the comments : In the Machiavelli section [of Oakeshott on Rome and America ], you write "the republicans of the Italian Renaissance could not rely on a native tradition of republicanism as the Romans had done—thus, they sought answers to their difficulties in more abstract political theories." But I don't think it's fair to say that every attempt to establish a new government is rationalist. Suppose a longstanding dictatorial government is toppled by a foreign power. What do you do? Go back to traditions that hardly anyone remembers?  Here is what I say about this, and what I think Oakeshott might say as well: There are times when there is nothing for it but to be a rationalist. If you are starting a new polity from scratch, well, make the best rationalist design you can! It's your only hope. Oakeshott himself wrote a rationalist guide to betting on horses for people who didn't have the inclination to gain real experience in the art. What Oakesho...

"forceful promising is a way of getting rid of coordination problems, not a way of solving them." -- p. 35 Mere analogy does not serve to pick out a coordination equilibrium: "In fact, there are always innumerable alternative analogies... Every coordination equilibrium in our new problem (every other combination, too) corresponds uniquely to what we did before under some analogy, shares some distinctive description with it alone." -- pp. 37-38 Social life depends on inductive inferences: "Coordinaiton by precedent... [is the] achievement of coordination by means of shared acquaintance with a regularity governing the achievement of coordination in a class of past cases which bear some conspicuous analogy to one another and to our present coordination problem. Our acquaintance with this regularity comes from our experience with some of its instances..." -- p. 41 A convention does not have to be the best convention to survive, only better than n...