Modern Monetary Theory or Modern Money Theory (MMT) is a heterodox[1][2][3][4][5][6] macroeconomic theory that describes currency as a public monopoly, and unemployment as evidence that a currency monopolist is overly restricting the supply of the financial assets needed to pay taxes and satisfy savings desires.[7][8] MMT is an alternative to mainstream macroeconomic theory. It has been criticized by well known economists but is claimed by its proponents to be more effective in describing the global economy in the years following the Great Recession of 2007–2009 (Credit Crisis 2008). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Monetary_Theory (more)

Ben Hunt on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the National Debt. This is the power of theory in the service of political expediency, the power of post hoc rationalizations gussied up as “theory”. (more)

John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes[3] CB, FBA (/keɪnz/ KAYNZ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist and philosopher whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in mathematics, he built on and greatly refined earlier work on the causes of business cycles.[4] One of the most influential economists of the 20th century,[5][6][7] he produced writings that are the basis for the school of thought known as Keynesian economics, and its various offshoots.[8] His ideas, reformulated as New Keynesianism, are fundamental to mainstream macroeconomics. He is known as the "father of macroeconomics".[9] During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Keynes spearheaded a revolution in economic thinking, challenging the ideas of neoclassical economics that held that free markets would, in the short to medium term, automatically provide full employment, as long as workers were flexible in their wage demands. He argued that aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) determined the overall level of economic activity, and that inadequate aggregate demand could lead to prolonged periods of high unemployment, and since wages and labour costs are rigid downwards the economy will not automatically rebound to full employment.[10] Keynes advocated the use of fiscal and monetary policies (fiscal policy, monetary policy) to mitigate the adverse effects of economic recessions and depressions. After the 1929 crisis, Keynes also turned away from a fundamental pillar of neoclassical economics: free trade. He criticized Ricardian comparative advantage theory (the foundation of free trade), considering the theory's initial assumptions unrealistic, and became definitively protectionist.[11][12][13] He detailed these ideas in his magnum opus, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in early 1936. By the late 1930s, leading Western economies had begun adopting Keynes's policy recommendations. Almost all capitalist governments had done so by the end of the two decades following Keynes's death in 1946. As a leader of the British delegation, Keynes participated in the design of the international economic institutions established after the end of World War II but was overruled by the American delegation on several aspects. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes (more)

Climate Change SciFi by Kim Stanley Robinson: ISBN:978-0316300131 (more)

variations of Capitalism that are "net-negative" to humanity. Some think that's all of them (no-true-scotsman), but I think I (liberaltarian) still disagree.... (more)

see Market Economy. Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.[a] It is characterized by private property, capital accumulation, competitive markets, commodification, wage labor, and an emphasis on innovation and economic growth.[b] However, such economies tend to experience a business cycle of economic growth followed by recessions.[13] Economists, historians, political economists, and sociologists have adopted different perspectives in their analyses of capitalism and have recognized various forms of it in practice. These include laissez-faire or free-market capitalism, anarcho-capitalism, state capitalism, and welfare capitalism. Different forms of capitalism feature varying degrees of free markets, public ownership,[14] obstacles to free competition, and state-sanctioned social policies. The degree of competition in markets and the role of intervention and regulation, as well as the scope of state ownership, vary across different models of capitalism.[15][16] The extent to which different markets are free and the rules defining private property are matters of politics and policy. Most of the existing capitalist economies are mixed economies that combine elements of free markets with state intervention and in some cases economic planning.[17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism Maybe we need a dark capitalism label to name the variations of ugly bits.

Anarcho-capitalism is a view which regards all forms of government as unnecessary and harmful, including, and characteristically, in matters of Justice and Self-Defense. It synthesizes certain ideas from the tradition of classical liberalism (see Libertarianism) and arguably from Individualist Anarchism as well. Anarcho-capitalists promote individual Property Rights and Free Markets (in the sense of Freedom from government interference) as the most just and effective way to organize all services. They see the definition of property rights through contracts and Common Law as a universal mechanism to solve conflicts. (more)

see Anarcho-Capitalist

The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by physicians and other HealthCare Professional-s swearing to practice medicine honestly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath (more)

The Craft will by my own Religious Cult, er, social Movement. (more)

Malcolm K. Sparrow is a British academic. He is Professor of the Practice of Public Management at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is the faculty chair of the school’s executive program “Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies.”... In his book License to Steal, Sparrow conservatively estimated that the billing fraud in the health care industry is 10% of all expenses or about $360 billion this year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Sparrow (more)

Dan Davies: why and when what works won't (part 2). This might be one of the factors behind the often disappointing performance of “evidence based” initiatives. Starting out with a mission statement to “do what works” often means failing to follow the Malcolm Sparrow sequence of actions (identify a problem – gather evidence to understand it – solve the problem – tell everyone what you did). ((2023-05-10) Davies Why When What Works Wont Part1) (more)

Tom Wolfe novel (1998) ISBN:0553381334 (more)

John Cutler: TBM 265: Rebuilding Trust and Breaking Free From Trust Proxies and The Swirl. We will explore how trust issues—especially among senior leaders—can greatly impact an organization (and why it is so hard to address these issues). (more)

cf psychological safety

Zvi Mowshowitz: DeepSeek Panic at the App Store. DeepSeek released v3. Market didn’t react. (more)

Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed is a book by James Scott critical of a system of beliefs he calls authoritarian high modernism, that centers around confidence in the ability to design and operate society in accordance with scientific laws.[1][2] It was released in March 1998, with a paperback version in February 1999. The book catalogues schemes which states impose upon populaces that are convenient for the state since they make societies "legible", but are not necessarily good for the people. For example, census data, standardized weights and measures, and uniform languages make it easier to tax and control the population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seeing_Like_a_State ISBN:978-0-30007016-3; see Legibility (more)

protagonist/book-series from Cory Doctorow - https://us.macmillan.com/series/themartinhenchnovels (more)

Past and present reads. Bolded-titles were faves. See esp. Greatest Books (more)

aka Alpha Male, Alpha Chimp (Primate). In social animals, the alpha is the individual in the community with the highest rank (status, power). Where one male and one female fulfill this role, they are referred to as the alpha pair (the term varies when several females fulfill this role – it is extremely rare among mammals for several males to fulfill this role with one female). Other animals in the same social group may exhibit deference or other symbolic signs of respect particular to their species towards the alpha. The alpha animals are given preference to be the first to eat and the first to mate; among some species they are the only animals in the pack (Tribe) allowed to mate. Other animals in the community are usually killed or ousted if they violate this rule. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_(ethology) (more)