Entrepreneurial Risks – Financial Crisis Observatory

http://www.er.ethz.ch/fco/index

http://www.newscientist.com/special/can-science-reinvent-economy

as jarod diamond would say , there are 3 types of chimpanse,

bonobos, chimpanse’s and us.

our brains have given us all this technology and engineering including financial engineering, but we are still trying to shake off all this bad behavior and the inner chimpanse within us.

given whats been going on in recent times, i’m actually thinking of getting our benobo cousins to write a book on ethical behavior and better manners to help us humans.

Not miserable enough people could also check Paul Kedrosky’s site for the T2 Partners (US) Mortgage report posted 8 June. See this on p64 – ‘Our data shows that the mid-to-upper end housing market is on the precipice of the exact cliff that the market fell off of in 2007, led by new loan defaults. What happens to the economy when you hit the mid- to-upper end earners the same way the low-to-mid end was hit with the subprime implosion? We will find out soon enough. When we look back on (US) housing at the end of 2009, anyone that made positive housing predictions this year will not believe how far off they were’.

That was an interesting article. The problem with convention economic theory is that it postulates infinite substitution of commodities and technological advancement so resources will not be depleted and the environment will not be harmed.

This is, of course, utter rubbish. It also assumes that commodities will be priced at its full social cost. Take petrol for instance. In the US, a gallon currently costs ~$2. However, if its negative externalities were factored into the price, a gallon should cost between $7 – $20. The same in Australia as well. As markets misprice commodities to an extraordinary extent, it results in mass over-consumption, thus depleting resources and harming the environment.

We constantly hear the statement that oil (and its derivatives) is expensive. Unfortunately, it is the exact opposite, by a considerable factor.

From The Oil Drum: “Profiting from Scarcity”
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/5478

Thank you for the link to the Terry Ryder article. In the past I have purchased one of his reports (late 2007) and for all of his sledging of economists, I recall that his report started off with the economic analysis that everything was on the up and up (i.e. no signh of clouds on the horizon).

I am very interested in the outcomes of this economic crisis as it relates directly to my desires to purchase a home for me and my young family.

As such I am very interested to hear feedback from other blog contributors far more knowledgable than I.

Everyone’s thoughts re this piece would be appreciated please

http://www.jenman.com.au/news_subscribers_item.php?id=23&Section=Reports

Scroll down to the section titled
“Feature topic:
We need a new breed of economist – or maybe no economists at all”

Thanks
W800I

Any response on Henderson’s comments on GDP calculation?

Thanks.

I don’t think they predetermine someones behaviour but they certainly do influence our behaviour.

Reading Steven Pinker’s, the blank slate, I came across this.

The three laws of behavioural genetics:

1. All human behavioral traits are heritable.

2. The effect of being raised in the same family is smaller than the effect of the genes.

3. A substantial portion of the variation in complex human behavioural traits is not accounted for by the effects of genes or families.

Summarised as Genes: 40-50%, Shared environment 0-10%, 50% Unique environment.

I also recommend googling Dan Ariely and Derek Denton for further information on actually what we are.