Neuroeconomics: infeasible and underdetermined

Advocates of neuroeconomics claim to offer the prospect of creating a “unified behavioral theory” by drawing upon the techniques of neuroscience and psychology and combining them with economic theory. Ostensibly, through the “direct measurement” of our thoughts, economics and social science will be “revolutionized.” Such claims have been subject to critique from mainstream and non-mainstream economists alike. Many of these criticisms relate to measurability, relevance, and coherence. In this article, we seek to contribute to this critical examination by investigating the potential of underdetermination, such as the statement that testing involves the conjunction of auxiliary assumptions, and that consequently it may not be possible to isolate the effect of any given hypothesis. We argue that neuroeconomics is especially sensitive to issues of underdetermination. Institutional economists should be cautious of neuroeconomists’ zeal as they appear to over-interpret experimental findings and, therefore, neuroeconomics may provide a false prospectus seeking to reinforce the nostrums of homo economicus

Situating care in mainstream health economics: an ethical dilemma?

Standard health economics concentrates on the provision of care by medical professionals. Yet ‘care’ receives scant analysis; it is portrayed as a spillover effect or externality in the form of interdependent utility functions. In this context care can only be conceived as either acts of altruism or as social capital. Both conceptions are subject to considerable problems stemming from mainstream health economics’ reliance on a reductionist social model built around instrumental rationality and consequentialism. Subsequently, this implies a disregard for moral rules and duties and the compassionate aspects of behaviour. Care as an externality is a second-order concern relative to self-interested utility maximization, and is therefore crowded out by the parameters of the standard model. We outline an alternative relational approach to conceptualising care based on the social embeddedness of the individual that emphasises the ethical properties of care. The deontological dimension of care suggests that standard health economics is likely to undervalue the importance of care and caring in medicine

The work of community gardens: reclaiming place for community in the city

The growth of community gardens has become the source of much academic debate regarding their role in community empowerment in the contemporary city. In this article, we focus upon the work being done in community gardens, using gardening in Glasgow as a case study. We argue that while community gardening cannot be divorced from more regressive underlying economic and social processes accompanying neoliberal austerity policies, it does provide space for important forms of work that address social needs and advance community empowerment. In developing this argument we use recent geographical scholarship concerning the generative role of place in bringing together individuals and communities in new collective forms of working. Community gardens are places that facilitate the recovery of individual agency, construction of new forms of knowledge and participation, and renewal of reflexive and proactive communities that provide broader lessons for building more progressive forms of work in cities

Philosophical Commitment as Artistic Expression

In this paper I will deal with and try to give acceptable answers to three basic questions that deal with the topic of philosophical commitment. The questions and the order in which they will be dealt with are: What is philosophical commitment? How does philosophical commitment develop? What is the best way to describe, talk about, or understand this commitment

History matters: on the mystifying appeal of Bowles and Gintis

Sam Bowles and Herb Gintis have made a broad and sustained contribution to many areas of contemporary economic thought and policy discussions, centring on human interactions in economic settings. Since the mid-1980s, their work, collectively and individually, has developed from a concern with contested exchanges to analyses of behavioural repertoires pursued through evolutionary game theory in which they claim that ‘history matters’. Despite their alignment with the mainstream, they retain an appeal to some heterodox economists. We argue that this appeal is misplaced. Their theoretical work and knowledge claims rest on methodological individualism and equilibrium reasoning, which fosters an obtuse reductionism. They present a confused methodology, which seems to be motivated by a desire to remain coherent to standard economics. We show how their acceptance of methodological individualism and ergodic modelling undermines their knowledge claims as well as their declaration that history matters in their analysis

Efficient Switching Arrangement for (N + 1)/N Redundancy

An efficient arrangement of four switches has been conceived for coupling, to four output ports, the output powers of any subset of four devices that are members of a redundant set of five devices. In normal operation, the output power of each of four of the devices would be coupled to one of the four output ports. The remaining device would be kept as a spare: normally, its output power would be coupled to a load, wherein that power would be dissipated. In the event of failure of one of the four normally used devices, that device would be disconnected from its output port and connected to the load, and the spare device would be connected to the output from which the failed device was disconnected. Alternatively or in addition, the outputs of one or more devices could be sent to ports other than the ones originally assigned to them

(WP 2019-02) A Road Not Taken? A Brief History of Care in Economic Thought

Care is central to the human experience and part of the social provisioning process. Adam Smith recognized this, associating care with sympathy. Later contributions in the political economy tradition also provide scope for an analysis of care, but none as developed as Smith’s. With the emergence of the current mainstream, care is marginalized. Kenneth Boulding’s analysis provides an opportunity to interrogate care in the economy, but he fails to explicitly acknowledge care. It is left to feminist economics to highlight the centrality of care. An implication is that it challenges the conventional rubric of economic organization predicated on self-interest

Spectral radiometry and tropospheric aerosols: Report of panel

The term aerosols, as used here, refers to the haze, smoke, and dust that appear in the troposphere. The term does not refer to the hydrometeors in cumulus and stratus clouds but does include the sulfuric acid-water droplets which are assumed to predominate in the stratospheric aerosol layer. The aerosol properties that were measured from satellites and those which can be made in the near term (up to 1992) will be reviewed. The capabilities that will exist in the years 1992 to 2000, with implementation of EOS, are then discussed. Finally, a few words will be said concerning the potential for aerosol measurements for the decade after 2000

The influence of towers and conductor sag on transmission-line shielding

This paper is the third of a sequence of papers intended to present data which may be used in determining the degree of protection from lightning obtainable by shielding transmission lines and structures with grounded overhead wires and masts. The first two papers of the sequence are: “Shielding of Transmission Lines,” and “Shielding of Substations.