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I think the next iteration of the being known now as capitalism, which is actually just trying to be a collection of principles for resource allocation, must ta

by jxub 9y ago

I think the next iteration of the being known now as capitalism, which is actually just trying to be a collection of principles for resource allocation, must take into account the impact that currently isn't tracked or quantified by money. It's imperative that the government or some superior structure (preferably decentralised) that doesn't exist yet enforces this improvement of economical performance tracking.

doomlaser 9y ago
Max Roser (https://twitter.com/MaxCRoser https://twitter.com/MaxCRoser) collects a lot of data about trends in living conditions and economics. He was the source for a lot of the graphs in Steven Pinker's latest book.
lsd5you 9y ago
Except measures (and measurements) and all of this stuff just don't seem to work. In the abstract they sound good, but in implementation they always look incredibly lacking and seem to just further perversify incentives. It's not that we shouldn't try to improve these things, but in my opinion your position is a forlorn hope that is destined to be disappointed. The times when nations have worked better and more efficiently are times when there have been other sources of unity and a combined sense of national value which the modern world, and perhaps historical distance from the reckonings of the past (in particular world war 2) have been inexorably weakening.
tibbetts 9y ago
It turns out that some problems are solvable by a massively parallelized optimization process based on independent decision making, advertising, pricing, and money. Success stories include food production, household goods, and many kinds of media. Failures include addictive drugs, gambling, global warming, and healthcare. As a civilization we’re crushing it on problems solvable by capitalism. The solution to other problems is not new ways of measuring things to make them fungible (sounds like Wuffie). The solution is other forms of collective action and decision making, like functional governments and NGOs.

by jxub 9y ago

doomlaser 9y ago

Max Roser (https://twitter.com/MaxCRoser https://twitter.com/MaxCRoser) collects a lot of data about trends in living conditions and economics. He was the source for a lot of the graphs in Steven Pinker's latest book.

lsd5you 9y ago

Except measures (and measurements) and all of this stuff just don't seem to work. In the abstract they sound good, but in implementation they always look incredibly lacking and seem to just further perversify incentives. It's not that we shouldn't try to improve these things, but in my opinion your position is a forlorn hope that is destined to be disappointed. The times when nations have worked better and more efficiently are times when there have been other sources of unity and a combined sense of national value which the modern world, and perhaps historical distance from the reckonings of the past (in particular world war 2) have been inexorably weakening.

tibbetts 9y ago

It turns out that some problems are solvable by a massively parallelized optimization process based on independent decision making, advertising, pricing, and money. Success stories include food production, household goods, and many kinds of media. Failures include addictive drugs, gambling, global warming, and healthcare. As a civilization we’re crushing it on problems solvable by capitalism. The solution to other problems is not new ways of measuring things to make them fungible (sounds like Wuffie). The solution is other forms of collective action and decision making, like functional governments and NGOs.