Cafe Hayek - Latest Comments in David Henderson on Robert Frank

Re: David Henderson on Robert Frank

OnlyShawn — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 07:45:43 -0000

sorry, you actually said 'disappointing', not 'staggering'.

Re: David Henderson on Robert Frank

OnlyShawn — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 07:45:00 -0000

methinks...by 'staggering,' do you mean that 10% of people choose that option (150 in a 100), because even that would be staggering to me...especially considering that you seem to work in some sort of highly aggressive, volatile market.

Who in the hell that's showing up at your door would opt for the second? Even this long-haired architect (who doesn't run his own firm, and is just beginning to see the value of entrepreneurs to our society) would select the first.

Re: David Henderson on Robert Frank

Methinks — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 05:46:50 -0000

This reminds me of a absolute vs. relative income interview question I ask all the time.

Which scenario would you prefer? You make $500K and the guy next to you makes $1 Million. You make $150K and the guy next to you makes $100K. The world is the same in both scenarios (no difference in price levels, inflation, etc.)

The number of people who choose the second scenario is disappointing. But it sure narrows my field of candidates.

Re: David Henderson on Robert Frank

Methinks — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 05:38:05 -0000

They are fighting, he argues, over a fixed pie and,

The only way the pie is fixed is if no new companies are created. Keep increasing taxes and the distortion to the risk/reward they create, and that'll become a reality. Then, we'll all be poor together. Oh joy.

Re: David Henderson on Robert Frank

Brad — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 03:48:44 -0000

Hey, Frank's thesis is supported by brain scan evidence:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/...

An interesting brain scan experiment would be to hook up economists to brain scanners and see whether articles like the above trigger pleasure releases in the "you're &^%$ing kidding me" region of the brain.

Re: David Henderson on Robert Frank

Dave — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:09:37 -0000

The tragedy of the commons occurs when no one owns the resource: thus the word "commons." But those who hire hedgefund managers own their resources, so one would not expect overinvestment in being the manager.

Wow. This guy's an economist? In the tragedy of the commons, the "commons" refers to pasture that is being grazed. The animals that graze it are privately owned. In the hedgefund analogy, the managers are the animals, and the exploitable market opportunities are the pasture (or so Frank implies).

Re: David Henderson on Robert Frank

Brad — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 09:02:21 -0000

Sounds like Bob Frank needs to read The Long Tail. At any rate, it looks like Comparable Worth in drag to me.