1. Timothy Taylor on the question of why different production techniques are used in different countries.
2. Don Boudreaux on how capital cannot just be reduced to its physical characteristics.
I think that (2) provides insights that would help with (1).
Mar 30 2012
On Monday, Tyler asked me a telling question about my education book: Why do I keep re-interpreting other people's research to show that it's consistent with or supportive of signaling, instead of simply doing a new study of my own? Here are my reasons:1. My comparative advantage is in synthesis, not normal scien...
Mar 30 2012
I don't normally associate MIT with "funny," but David Autor's notes on signaling definitely qualify:Testing signaling versus human capital models of educationDoes it seem plausible that education serves (in whole or part) as a signal of ability rather than simply a means to enhance productivity?• You obviously learn...
Mar 29 2012
1. Timothy Taylor on the question of why different production techniques are used in different countries. 2. Don Boudreaux on how capital cannot just be reduced to its physical characteristics. I think that (2) provides insights that would help with (1).
READER COMMENTS
Bryan Willman
Mar 31 2012 at 2:44am
Here’s another possibly related thing, which sometimes troubles me.
Observers on the ground in, say, Africa, report that the social dynamics w.r.t. wealth are different. In particular, that if someone gets money, they will be instantly obligated to give all or most of it to relatives.
If there is no dynamic of “keeping something for oneself” how can there be savings? If there are no savings, how can the ratio of capital to labor ever rise?
[But of course, we must not be deluded into thinking any small set of principles can explain why some states fail or are poor.]
Shayne Cook
Mar 31 2012 at 8:25am
Thank you for this – to both Arnold and Don.
I just downloaded Capital and its Structure (Ludwig Lachmann) and am well into it.
Comments are closed.