Sanjeev Sabhlok's Blog, page 4

The Problem of Social Cost: What Problem? – My annotated study of Demsetz’s 2011 piece

My annotations in blue. MY SUMMARY The Problem of Social Cost: What Problem? A Critique of the Reasoning of A.C. Pigou and R.H. Coase HAROLD DEMSETZ University of California, Los Angeles This essay discusses and refutes allegations by A.C. Pigou and R.H. Coase that a competitive, private-ownership economic system that conforms to the neoclassical model fails […]

Arthur Cecil Pigou was effectively a Fabian socialist

I smelled a lot of (albeit rather refined) socialist thinking in Pigou’s Economics of Welfare, and suspected he might be linked with the Fabians. Keynes was DEFINITELY a socialist (I’ve written a lot about it), but Pigou was merely “progressive”. [see my notes at: https://t.me/sanjeevsabhlok/9641] https://hope.econ.duke.edu/sites/hope... Nevertheless, he pushed for far greater government intervention than […]

My annotated study of Pigou’s observations re: externalities

The HUGE ERROR OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS of positive externalities (there are plenty of them in negative externalities as well, cf. Demsetz) started with a **REALLY STUPID BOOK** BY PIGOU, in which he cites meaningless examples to prove the “problem of social benefit”. Pigou says that the State can “fix” things with a “bounty” – subsidy. […]

Reinterpreting the externality problem – Harold Demsetz

This essay, from his 2008 book, From Economic Man to Economic System, holds the key to properly understanding the concept of externalities. I’m making annotated notes (in blue colour) here, which I’ll develop further in my paper “The Problem of Social Benefit: What Problem?” – under preparation. == Extract from the essay: Ownership and exchange […]

The problem of social benefit: What problem?

“Society might be far better off if the “problem” of social cost had never been discovered” – Prof. Charles Rowley, 1978 I’d say that the misuse of the “problem of social cost” pales in comparison with the reckless harms caused by the alleged “problem of social benefit”. I’m writing a paper on positive externalities. Will […]

My position on Israel

I’ve written a number of social media posts in support of Israel and against the Hamas terrorists. But I’m also deeply concerned that at least some Muslims seem bent on genocide against the Jews (see my hashtag #genocideagainstJews on Twitter) In brief: War has generally been the only way to resolve territorial matters. The Muslims […]

History of market failure – José Luis Gómez-Barroso

I liked this history, sharing it on my blog (from an encyclopedia), with coloured annotations. == Economic literature usually awards Bator (1958) the merit of having coined (or of at least having used it for the first time in a publication) the term “market failure,” defined as the failure of a more or less idealized […]

David Friedman – The Problem with Externality Arguments March 2023

March 2023 – YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0X44...   Transcript: Download with my coloured annotations

Von Mises on why positive externalities should not be used to justify government intervention

From Human Action. Bolding and underlining mine. Also, my annotations in blue. The case of external economies is not simply the inversion of the case of external costs. It has its own domain and character. If the results of an actor’s action benefit not only himseIf, but also other people, two alternatives are possible: The […]

Ayn Rand: Against vaccine mandates and in favour of Isolation of the sick

I have long admired Ayn Rand and have an almost 95% match with her worldview (albeit with many scientific refinements). Btw, you’ll notice that when she talks about quarantine she is referring to ISOLATION OF THE SICK. It is clear that Rand and I agree 100% on these two policies. I’m even more confident now […]