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Where is his proof? He has this whole elaborate theory of economics and inequality worked out, and not once does he present any proof.

llimllib 17y ago
I'm curious what form you expect that such a proof would take.
- apsec112 17y ago
  To name but one example (of dozens), a study showing that countries with higher Gini coefficients are more prone to rioting, strikes and civil disorder, after accounting for income (third-world countries are obviously more prone than first-world) would qualify as proof of at least one part of the theory.
  - llimllib 17y ago
    I agree with you 100% that the linked article sucks awfully. Your proposed study, however, is so riddled with confounding factors that to call it a proof is nonsense. The man the article talks about does have lots of papers giving evidence for his views, and you should indeed read them if you're interested. However, neither the study you propose nor any other study would constitute proof (of what? it's unclear what we're even discussing a proof of). All I'm trying to say is, this is about human affairs, not physics, and we're not about to start finding proofs of human affairs.
ibsulon 17y ago
I'd start at http://tuvalu.santafe.edu/~bowles/ http://tuvalu.santafe.edu/~bowles/ and his actual papers, not what a reporter writes. :)
- mynameishere 17y ago
  You know damn well that's not useful. "Here, read through every single thing this guy wrote. The proof's gotta be there somewhere, I figure." No, of course, there's no proof for anything in any soft science, so there's the answer. The only good experiment would have to be on a grand scale: give everyone 15K a year for free and see what happens. My guess: An increase in the velocity of money, since the whole thing is basically a devaluation.
apsec112 17y ago
You can downvote me all you want, I stand by my statement. Theories about the world, if they are to be believed, require proof. This article is four thousand words long, there is more than enough space to provide some evidence if they felt like it.

llimllib 17y ago

I'm curious what form you expect that such a proof would take.

apsec112 17y ago
To name but one example (of dozens), a study showing that countries with higher Gini coefficients are more prone to rioting, strikes and civil disorder, after accounting for income (third-world countries are obviously more prone than first-world) would qualify as proof of at least one part of the theory.
- llimllib 17y ago
  I agree with you 100% that the linked article sucks awfully. Your proposed study, however, is so riddled with confounding factors that to call it a proof is nonsense. The man the article talks about does have lots of papers giving evidence for his views, and you should indeed read them if you're interested. However, neither the study you propose nor any other study would constitute proof (of what? it's unclear what we're even discussing a proof of). All I'm trying to say is, this is about human affairs, not physics, and we're not about to start finding proofs of human affairs.

ibsulon 17y ago

I'd start at http://tuvalu.santafe.edu/~bowles/ http://tuvalu.santafe.edu/~bowles/ and his actual papers, not what a reporter writes. :)

mynameishere 17y ago
You know damn well that's not useful. "Here, read through every single thing this guy wrote. The proof's gotta be there somewhere, I figure." No, of course, there's no proof for anything in any soft science, so there's the answer. The only good experiment would have to be on a grand scale: give everyone 15K a year for free and see what happens. My guess: An increase in the velocity of money, since the whole thing is basically a devaluation.

apsec112 17y ago

You can downvote me all you want, I stand by my statement. Theories about the world, if they are to be believed, require proof. This article is four thousand words long, there is more than enough space to provide some evidence if they felt like it.