Saturday 5 January 2019

CIP tilts against Public Choice, again

People don't like Public Choice. The name, incidentally, is a touch weird, but never mind. It's just a name. When you know what it's a label for, you know what it is. It is associated in my mind with James M. Buchanan; and it came to my attention during the Democracy in Chains nonsense. In a way, it is just the bleedin' obvious; in much the same way that natural selection is. But the implications - towards smaller government - are strongly resisted by all those who don't want smaller government.

Which brings us to CIP's take on Public Choice (arch, which doesn't include the comments), which is is reaction to my The left has no theory of the behaviour of the government?

I assert that Plato is the archetypical believer in the virtues of govt, and ignorer of public choice. CIP asserts
Plato and Confucius were very familiar with governments behaving badly, and had elaborate theories for how to prevent or limit the damage. You may need to reread your Republic [Hint: prevent or limit conflicts of interest].
I reply:
If Plato is aware of the PC / P-A problem in the Republic, then please quote chapter and verse. I assert that he is unaware of it. Prove me wrong by direct quotation.
I await his response.

Wednesday 2 January 2019

Roy Spencer and the List of scientists who disagree with the scientific consensus on global warming

Over at Dr Roy's, I asked:

Off topic, but I have a question for you. 
You're listed in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scientists_who_disagree_with_the_scientific_consensus_on_global_warming under "Scientists arguing that global warming is primarily caused by natural processes". Someone who thinks they are defending you has recently complained about that (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:List_of_scientists_who_disagree_with_the_scientific_consensus_on_global_warming#Umm,_isn't_it_long,_long_past_time,_to_replace_this_incredibly_outdated,_29_YEARS_old,_%22Climate_Change_Attribution%22_chart?). 
If you're happy being so listed, then all is well. The listing is on the basis of your 2008 testimony "I predict that in the coming years, there will be a growing realization among the global warming research community that most of the climate change we have observed is natural, and that mankind’s role is relatively minor". 
If you're not happy being so listed, then pointing to something you're written that explicitly or implicitly revises those words would be useful.