tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40389002011-04-21T16:03:52.892-07:00Modern thoughtSome entries for a proposed dictionary of modern thought -looking for commentsJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00716574069495363089noreply@blogger.comBlogger71100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038900.post-2002365442003-05-03T00:14:00.000-07:002003-05-03T00:14:21.760-07:00TestingtestJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00716574069495363089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038900.post-900806322002-12-21T21:50:00.000-08:002002-12-21T21:50:33.246-08:00Expected utilityIn the 1930s and 1940s, economists reformulated economic analysis in terms of preferences, eliminating, seemingly once and for all, the troublesome notion of utility and the link between classical economics and utilitarianism. Almost immediately, however, the concept of cardinal utility theory was revived by von Neumann and Morgenstern in their analysis of behavior under uncertainty, and its Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00716574069495363089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038900.post-900806292002-12-21T21:47:00.000-08:002002-12-21T21:47:48.430-08:00UtilityThe concept of utility in economics refers to the pleasure, or relief of pain, associated with the consumption of goods and services. The terminology is derived from the utilitarian theory of social choice proposed by Bentham in the 18th century. Disregarding the difficulties of constructing a numerical measure of utility, Bentham based his utilitarian theory on the proposition that political Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00716574069495363089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038900.post-900805572002-12-21T20:55:00.000-08:002002-12-21T20:55:12.626-08:00NationalisationFor most of the 20th century, growth in the scale and scope of government activity appeared to be an irreversible trend in developed economies, at least those that had not embraced full-scale socialism. Many observers predicted gradual convergence between the economic systems of the capitalist and communist blocs, with the final outcome being some form of mixed economy.
Expansion in the scale of Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00716574069495363089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038900.post-900805472002-12-21T20:53:00.000-08:002002-12-21T20:53:03.026-08:00Futurology
Humans have always tried to predict the future, generally with limited success. Before the modern era, most attempts at prediction relied on magical approaches. The only science with a record of successful prediction was astronomy, and this success gave rise to its magical counterpart, astrology.
Over the course of the modern era, the predictive capacity of scientific disciplines, from geology Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00716574069495363089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038900.post-900746082002-12-19T23:22:00.000-08:002002-12-19T23:27:25.000-08:00Systems theoryThe idea of modelling social and natural phenomena as the outcome of a complex system of interactions between a number of individual components has been employed to powerful effect in a range of settings. Examples include the Newtonian representation of the solar system in terms of gravitational forces between the Sun and the planets, models of general market equilibrium in economics and models Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00716574069495363089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4038900.post-900745892002-12-19T23:10:00.000-08:002002-12-19T23:26:41.000-08:00Trickle downThe term ‘trickle-down theory’ is used as a (primarily pejorative) description of various claims that policies promoting the affluence of the rich ultimately generate a flow of benefits to the poor. The simplest such theory, that luxury expenditure by the rich creates employment for the poor, was put forward by Mandeville in his Fable of the Bees, and, with a variety of refinements, by Hayek, in Johnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00716574069495363089noreply@blogger.com