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Sure It Works in Practice ... and Other Comments

Assorted Commentary -   Res ipsa loquitur* It is always a pleasure to jot down very short passages that explain themselves. The economy of words conveys truth often better than a long discourse.  “ W hen I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not.” --- Mark Twain S ure it works in practice, but will it work in theory? --- French proverb W hen the "pity level" exceeds the "competency" level, a political candidate is doomed.  T he zero-sum game is often primitive thinking, even though it has theoretical value in war games and economics. When your thinking is every gain is someone’s loss, you are zero-sum thinking. This is the hallmark of a closed system.  O ne problem with the CIA and similar agencies is that they believe they can control the chaos they create. They fail to understand chaos is inherently unstable. T he most offensive is not their lying - one can always forgive lying - lying is a delightful thing, for it leads to truth -

Comments XIII

Jobs?  "I don't want one," is the response from 34.3% of people.  This is the latest statistic from the Wall Street Journal, where it is noted this is up from 30% just two decades ago.   In a recent paper, Declining Labor Force Attachment and Downward Trends in Unemployment and Participation, by economists Regis Barnichon and Andrew Figura divided those out of the labor force using a simpler standard: whether or not the person says they want a job.  the paper is rather technical, but understandable.  But it does render a couple of questions.  (1) How much unemployment by those not wishing employment can a prosperous nation absorb - and remain prosperous?  (2) What is the critical mass whereby this "don't want a job" attitude toward work becomes epidemic in society?  The answer the the second question is unexplored. There is another population out there not yet analyzed.  This group, those people employed by in totally non productive venues.  Many governm