At its root, the conflict over Pebble Mine is one of human nature. It’s a battle of now versus later; instant wealth versus delayed gratification; greed versus prudence. At issue is man’s respect for the natural world by which he is sustained; man’s power to harness the pearls of the planet for his own needs and his own desires; and the treatment of the gift bestowed upon man and his transformation of it, for better or poorer, for the re-wrapping, and re-bestowment, of that gift upon the generations of men who will follow.
Archive for the ‘Law and Economics’ Category
The Color of Sacrifice: Pebble Mine and Red Gold
Posted in Business and Markets, Culture, Law and Economics, Politics, tagged Alaska, Anglo American, ANWR, John Shively, Mining, Northern Dynasty, Pebble Mine on August 30, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Pumping: The Centi-Million-Dollar Market-Cap Crap-Trap
Posted in Business and Markets, Internet and Technology, Law and Economics on August 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Technology advances, but human nature stays the same. It’s cliched by now, but it’s never been more true.
We all remember Gordon Gekko, cinema’s epic representation of the 1980s Wall Street titan. Gekko is a slimy master of the universe, an unscrupulous speculator with morals as flexible as the tape he trades. “Greed…is good.”
Less remembered is [...]
U Chic at U Penn
Posted in Culture, Internet and Technology, Law and Economics on August 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Up until now, Penn freshmen have started their college careers by reading a book and then discussing it – an orientation activity meant to pique the mind and unify the class. This year, incoming students will look at, study, and discuss a painting for the “reading project.” People don’t read anymore — I’ve written [...]
Law School: To Go or Not to Go?
Posted in Business and Markets, Law and Economics on April 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Even as the legal profession suffers and shrinks, while layoffs mount and titanic firms crumble, fresh legions of college students are applying to law school in unseen numbers. The logic is simple: the economy sucks now, so let’s wait it out in professional school until the storm passes. The newest excuse for law school matriculation [...]
Lessons from the Financial Crisis Circa 2006
Posted in Business and Markets, Law and Economics, Politics on March 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A few days ago, I was flipping through an old favorite investment book, Hedge Hogging by Barton Biggs. Though it was published in 2006, in market years decades have since passed. A few passages, for their pertinence to the current financial crisis, induce more interest today than they did when written. Biggs, a hedge fund manager, relates lessons learned [...]
The End of History Thesis Circa 1990
Posted in Business and Markets, Internet and Technology, Law and Economics, Politics on March 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Several years ago, when I was a boarding student in my final year of prep school at Blair Academy, I got sick and had to go to the infirmary, a quaint, early 20th-century cottage atop the steep, sweeping slope of the school’s front hill. There I suffered a few days of torment–not from illness so [...]
John Key and Slavoj Zizek on Capitalism
Posted in Business and Markets, Law and Economics, Politics on March 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Today I had the luxury of time, so I spent most of the afternoon mining through a stack of newspapers and magazines. Worthy of contrast are two ‘interview’ pieces on New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Slovenian Marxist philosopher Slavoj Zizek, published in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times, respectively.
Prime Minister Key heads [...]
Classic P.J. O’Rourke
Posted in Law and Economics, Politics on February 11, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The latest Newsweek Magazine just arrived. The cover reads in ominously dark, capital letters: WE ARE ALL SOCIALISTS NOW. I wish I had something intelligent to say in response, some incisive commentary to submit, but wit and wisdom elude me. I do wonder if Rothbard, Mises, Friedman, et al are privy to our predicament, and if [...]
Ultrinsic Motivator
Posted in Internet and Technology, Law and Economics, Miscellaneous Commentary on February 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
A friend of mine started a service called Ultrinsic Motivator, which allows students to place a de facto bet on their success in a class. Users put money (at this point $20) into a pot which is then divided among those who receive an A in the course. The idea is economically sound, pragmatic, and [...]
Tom Brady and Jurisprudence
Posted in Law and Economics, Miscellaneous Commentary on February 26, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Just out of field goal range, down 13-10 with less than two minutes to play in the AFC Divisional Playoff game, Tom Brady dropped back to pass. Standing tall in the pocket, he surveyed the open field and cocked his arm back. He looked poised to release the ball, but with an impending hit from [...]
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