Sunday Links

The quarter is over, and I’m back at home with the family. Tomorrow I’ll return for a few weeks contracting at Stremor. Here’s what I’ve been reading this week:

  • Aaron (1994) attacks the idea of treating the preferences and values of an individual as stable as more of an “axiom of religious faith” than a “defensible scientific hypothesis” (6). He supports approaches such as that of Epstein and Axell, which avoid unrealistic oversimplified models of utility that Aaron claims have plagued microeconomics for too long.
  • Bertrand Russell gives the 10 commandments of “true liberalism” — worth a read for any student, learner, thinker, etc.
  • Yandle (1983) gives an outline of his catchy concept of “bootleggers and baptists.” For those unacquainted with the bridge between public policy and economics (read: me), this is a really enlightening read.
  • Rudolf Weinstock’s The Lisp Curse makes a poignant statement about software development: the people developing may be as affected by their tools as they affect their environment. Technology affects our social behavior.