20160413 Variations on a theme of Adam Smith

Re: 20160413 Variations on a theme of Adam Smith

Postby tahanson43206 » Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:38 pm

20180630 Adam Smith Thread

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Continuing with the weekly update:

From Reference #1:
Page 1028

Having completed review of “The Wealth of Nations”. I am looking for opportunities to consider more recent writings.
It seems likely that current writers will cite Mr. Smith. While I am able to catch only a small fraction of references which are likely to appear, such references come to my attention frequently, so I'll report them when they seem useful.

This post is for June 30th. The “trade war” instigated by the sitting American President is moving forward. Tariffs are going into effect, and China has announced actions to reciprocate.

The local newspaper contained several items which reflect national interest in this experiment.

Begin Quotation:
Trump's path to success in trade war uncertain
End Quotation.
By Ana Swanson and Neil Irwin
The New York Times

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-wor ... s-unclear/

Begin Quotation:
Both China, US to feel pain from new tariffs
End Quotation.
By Paul Wisemand and Christopher Rugaber
The Associated Press

https://www.boston.com/news/politics/20 ... om-tariffs

I am curious to know what the respective governments are planning to do with the proceeds of the tariffs they are imposing.

Google search: how will us government use tariff income

Result text:
Will Trump's Tariffs Have A Silver Lining Of Raising Revenue? Don't ...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/phillevy/. ... f-revenue/
1.
Apr 12, 2018 - Yes, a tariff is a tax on imports. Here's a scenario in which the government actuallydoes raise money: Suppose that the United States is 

End Quotation.

This article by Contributor Phil Levy explains how imposition of tariffs is likely to result in supplier and purchaser changed behavior, so that there is little or no net income to the US government.

In an attempt to understand how new technology might help the United States to address the present dilemma, this thread will include discussion of “FAB” by Neil Gershenfeld. “FAB” was published in 2005, and in 2018 Dr. Gershenfeld has teamed with his brothers Alan and John to update “FAB” and to try to see into the future of “Personal Manufacturing”. The new book is entitled “Designing Reality”. It is my intention to flow directly from “FAB” to “Designing Reality”, although influences from the 2018 book may show up in this thread as the discussion at hand may inspire them.

Reference #4 Pages 133 - 139
Title: “Playing at Work”

These pages contain a review of the story of Seymour Papert and his accidental encounter with a Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-1, which led to his invention of the LOGO language for kids. A connection to Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen of LEGO corporation led to development of Mindstorms robotic construction kits.

Begin Quotation (speaking of kids on Page 139):
They were hooked, and didn't even realize that they were learning how to design engineering control systems.
End Quotation.

Next week this section will feature a young inventor named David.

(th)
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Re: 20160413 Variations on a theme of Adam Smith

Postby tahanson43206 » Sun Jul 08, 2018 11:55 pm

20180707 Adam Smith Thread

As a note of possible interest to any readers who might be thinking of applying for membership in this forum:
It has been established that the Signature Line of your pending membership can be used for communication.
I do not have a way (at present) to see who has logged in recently, but I can check the status of the newest member.
If you have applied for membership in the forum, and no one else has applied after you, then you will be listed as the newest member.
It is easy for me to check the newest member status, because the newest member is listed at the bottom of the main page.
It has been established that while an applicant is waiting for approval by the administrator, I can send Private Mail to the applicant.
It has been established that an applicant who receives Private Mail can reply via the Signature Line of the membership.
This is a curious way to communicate, I admit, but I am interested in hearing from applicants.
I would like to hear from anyone who would like to try the culture of self-directed knowledge accumulation I have tried to demonstrate.

Continuing with the weekly update:

From Reference #1:
Page 1028

Having completed review of “The Wealth of Nations”. I am looking for opportunities to consider more recent writings.
It seems likely that current writers will cite Mr. Smith. While I am able to catch only a small fraction of references which are likely to appear, such references come to my attention frequently, so I'll report them when they seem useful.

Jonah Goldberg's latest book is “Suicide of the West” (c) 2018 ISBN 978-1-101-90493-0
The title was (apparently) inspired by a work by James Burnham, published in 1964.

Mr. Goldberg cites Adam Smith six times in his index, and in the spirit of honoring Mr. Smith's work here, I'll snip excerpts.

Page 35 “Adam Smith not only opposed slavery on moral grounds but also considered it incompatible with the free market”
In a footnote on this page, Mr. Goldberg quotes from Smith's “The Theory of Moral Sentiments”
Page 37 “It's not at all clear to me that Mill actually believed that man was purely a profit maximizer and it is clear to me that Smith did not.”
Page 39 Begin Quotation (speaking of what people want):
But what they want even more is to be admired, respected and valued. Adam Smith understood this ...
End Quotation.
Page 71 On this page, Mr. Goldberg continues his introduction of the concept of a “stationary bandit” as a useful human invention.
Begin Quotation:
` The order and predictability of the stationary bandit is, according to Olson, “the first blessing of the invisible hand.”
“The Invisible Hand”, a term coined by Adam Smith …
End Quotation
Page 133 “In a letter to his friend Adam Smith, Hume wrote of Rousseau:”
Page 154 “As that quintessential Scottish Enlightenment thinker, Adam Smith, wrote in 1755:”

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
This post is for July 7th. The “trade war” instigated by the sitting American President is moving forward. Tariffs are going into effect, and China has announced actions to reciprocate.

The local newspaper contained several items which reflect national interest in this experiment.

Begin Quotation from Columbus Dispatch of 2018/07/10:
China has options to combat US tarriffs
End Quotation.
By Joe McDonald
The Associated Press

Begin Quotation from Columbus Dispatch of 2018/07/10:
At the start of a trade war
End Quotation.
Editorial: Akron Beacon Journal

In an attempt to understand how new technology might help the United States to address the present dilemma, this thread will include discussion of “FAB” by Neil Gershenfeld. “FAB” was published in 2005, and in 2018 Dr. Gershenfeld has teamed with his brothers Alan and John to update “FAB” and to try to see into the future of “Personal Manufacturing”. The new book is entitled “Designing Reality”. It is my intention to flow directly from “FAB” to “Designing Reality”, although influences from the 2018 book may show up in this thread as the discussion at hand may inspire them.

Reference #4 Pages 140-142
Title: “David”

In these pages, Dr. Gershenfeld introduces a young inventor named David who made quite an impression.

David was invited to give a presentation on a Mindstorms kit implementation at the White House.

Begin Quotation:
The future of the future is indeed bright in the hands of young inventors like David.
End Quotation.

Next week this section will feature a process engineer who used Mindstorms kits to model business processes.

(th)
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Re: 20160413 Variations on a theme of Adam Smith

Postby tahanson43206 » Sun Jul 15, 2018 11:36 pm

20180714 Adam Smith Thread

As a note of possible interest to any readers who might be thinking of applying for membership in this forum:
It has been established that the Signature Line of your pending membership can be used for communication.
I do not have a way (at present) to see who has logged in recently, but I can check the status of the newest member.
If you have applied for membership in the forum, and no one else has applied after you, then you will be listed as the newest member.
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It has been established that while an applicant is waiting for approval by the administrator, I can send Private Mail to the applicant.
It has been established that an applicant who receives Private Mail can reply via the Signature Line of the membership.
This is a curious way to communicate, I admit, but I am interested in hearing from applicants.
I would like to hear from anyone who would like to try the culture of self-directed knowledge accumulation I have tried to demonstrate.

Continuing with the weekly update:

From Reference #1:
Page 1028

Having completed review of “The Wealth of Nations”. I am looking for opportunities to consider more recent writings.
It seems likely that current writers will cite Mr. Smith. While I am able to catch only a small fraction of references which are likely to appear, such references come to my attention frequently, so I'll report them when they seem useful.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
This post is for July 14th. The “trade war” instigated by the sitting American President is moving forward. Tariffs are going into effect, and China has imposted tariffs on US goods which its leaders appear to believe will impact voters who supported the sitting President.

The local newspaper contained several items which reflect national interest in this experiment.

Title: Trump threatens China with more tarriffs
by Christopher Rugaber and Paul Wiseman
The Associated Press
Begin Quotation:
Moody's Analytics estimates that if the tariffs were imposed on autos and most Chinese imports and other countries retaliate as expected, annual U.S. Growth would slow by half a percentage point by mid-2019. It expects 700,000 jobs would be lost
End Quotation.

And later …

Begin Quotation:
…. to negotiate better trade deals. But many analysts are skeptical that Trump's tactics will produce such an outcome.
End Quotation

In another view of the field of economics, I was interested to find a glimpse of Cuba's concept of Communism, in an article published July 11, 2018, in the local newspaper.
Title: Cuba lifts freeze on private tourism businesses
By Michael Weissenstein and Andrea Rodriguez of The Associated Press
Begin Quotation:
Havana – A 16-month freeze on new private restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts will end in December when Cuba's communist government implements new regulations meant to prevent tax evasion and the accumulation of wealth, state media said on Tuesday.
End Quotation.

At the same time, in broadcast reporting about the gradual recovery of Greece from its financial distress of recent years, a very different approach was in progress. In Greece, according to the reporting, authorities have implemented a strict accounting for taxes to be paid by businesses, without Cuba's idea of preventing accumulation of wealth. My bets are on Greece in the competition between the two economies.

In an attempt to understand how new technology might help the United States to address the present dilemma, this thread will include discussion of “FAB” by Neil Gershenfeld. “FAB” was published in 2005, and in 2018 Dr. Gershenfeld has teamed with his brothers Alan and John to update “FAB” and to try to see into the future of “Personal Manufacturing”. The new book is entitled “Designing Reality”. It is my intention to flow directly from “FAB” to “Designing Reality”, although influences from the 2018 book may show up in this thread as the discussion at hand may inspire them.

Reference #4 Pages 142-144
Title: “Ken”

These pages contain a review of the story of Ken Paul, a process engineer from the United States Postal Service.

Dr. Gershenfeld describes how Mr. Paul used LEGO-scale models of industrial systems he was designing.

Begin Quotation from page 144:
Just as spreadsheets became a killer application for PCs because they allowed managers to make models of their financial flows, the computing bricks allow the USPS managers to model physical flows of materials and information.
End Quotation.

Next week this section will feature a defense engineer who helped to set up a field fab lab in India.

(th)
Last edited by tahanson43206 on Tue Jul 24, 2018 12:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 20160413 Variations on a theme of Adam Smith

Postby tahanson43206 » Mon Jul 23, 2018 1:54 am

20180721 Adam Smith Thread

As a note of possible interest to any readers who might be thinking of applying for membership in this forum:
It has been established that the Signature Line of your pending membership can be used for communication.
I do not have a way (at present) to see who has logged in recently, but I can check the status of the newest member.
If you have applied for membership in the forum, and no one else has applied after you, then you will be listed as the newest member.
It is easy for me to check the newest member status, because the newest member is listed at the bottom of the main page.
It has been established that while an applicant is waiting for approval by the administrator, I can send Private Mail to the applicant.
It has been established that an applicant who receives Private Mail can reply via the Signature Line of the membership.
This is a curious way to communicate, I admit, but I am interested in hearing from applicants.
I would like to hear from anyone who would like to try the culture of self-directed knowledge accumulation I have tried to demonstrate.

Continuing with the weekly update:

From Reference #1:
Page 1028

Having completed review of “The Wealth of Nations”. I am looking for opportunities to consider more recent writings.
It seems likely that current writers will cite Mr. Smith. While I am able to catch only a small fraction of references which are likely to appear, such references come to my attention frequently, so I'll report them when they seem useful.

The index of Reference #1 does not include the word “motion”, which Mr. Smith uses on several occasions to refer to the management activity of putting capital to work. Today I used one of the online pdf copies of “The Wealth of Nations” to find some of the references.

These include:
xxv “...of the different quantities of labour which it puts into motion, ...
180 “...the profits of the extraordinary stock which puts that labour into motion.”
287 “...which puts into motion the greater part of the useful labour of every society.”
317-1 “...puts industry into motion.”
317-2 “...which puts industry into motion,...”
321 “In order to put industry into motion, ...”
363 “...after it has put into motion its full complement of productive labour,...”

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This post is for July 21. The “trade war” instigated by the sitting American President is moving forward.

The local newspaper contained an article which reflects local interest in this experiment.
By Mark Williams
Columbus Dispatch
Begin Quotation from page F4 Sunday 2018/07/22:
In a long and detailed statement regarding the tariffs, Rick Schostek, executive vice president at Honda North America, said the biggest impact of the tariffs might be uncertainty.

Businesses covet stability and predictability.
End Quotation

Elsewhere on page F4, David Jordan of the Associated Press reported on:
Title: Colleges ask for share of future pay in lieu of loan
Begin Quotation:
Income-share agreements were first proposed by Milton Friedman in 1955, …
and...
For some students, income-share agreements are seen as less risky, ...
End Quotation.

In an attempt to understand how new technology might help the United States to address the present dilemma, this thread will include discussion of “FAB” by Neil Gershenfeld. “FAB” was published in 2005, and in 2018 Dr. Gershenfeld has teamed with his brothers Alan and John to update “FAB” and to try to see into the future of “Personal Manufacturing”. The new book is entitled “Designing Reality”. It is my intention to flow directly from “FAB” to “Designing Reality”, although influences from the 2018 book may show up in this thread as the discussion at hand may inspire them.

Reference #4 Pages 144-148
Title: “Amy”

Begin Quotation on page 144:
Amy Sun was a prized defense engineer …
End Quotation.

Amy helped set up Fab Field labs in India, in Boston, and in Ghana.

In Ghana there was a need to use a computer device to draw cut lines on large sheets of material.

Begin Quotation from page 147:
An answer can be found all the way back in Seymour Papert's turtle. The fab lab could make a computer controlled car that could drive over the material to be used, trailing a pen to plot precise shapes that could then be cut with simple hand tools.
End Quotation.

Next week this section will feature introduction of the Chapter “Computation”

(th)
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Re: 20160413 Variations on a theme of Adam Smith

Postby tahanson43206 » Sun Jul 29, 2018 11:08 pm

20180728 Adam Smith Thread

As a note of possible interest to any readers who might be thinking of applying for membership in this forum:
It has been established that the Signature Line of your pending membership can be used for communication.
I do not have a way (at present) to see who has logged in recently, but I can check the status of the newest member.
If you have applied for membership in the forum, and no one else has applied after you, then you will be listed as the newest member.
It is easy for me to check the newest member status, because the newest member is listed at the bottom of the main page.
It has been established that while an applicant is waiting for approval by the administrator, I can send Private Mail to the applicant.
It has been established that an applicant who receives Private Mail can reply via the Signature Line of the membership.
This is a curious way to communicate, I admit, but I am interested in hearing from applicants.
I would like to hear from anyone who would like to try the culture of self-directed knowledge accumulation I have tried to demonstrate.

Continuing with the weekly update:

From Reference #1:
Page 1028

Having completed review of “The Wealth of Nations”. I am looking for opportunities to consider more recent writings.
It seems likely that current writers will cite Mr. Smith. While I am able to catch only a small fraction of references which are likely to appear, such references come to my attention frequently, so I'll report them when they seem useful.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
This post is for July 28. The “trade war” instigated by the sitting American President is moving forward.

The newspaper “USA Today” ran an opinion piece on Monday, August 6, 2018, which reflected a point of view about the imposition of tariffs which seemed to me to be decidedly optimistic compared to many similar pieces which have appeared in recent weeks. The author attempted to sum up the effects of all the tariffs proposed by all parties, and then attempted to show that the combined effect is minimal compared to the global economy.

Meanwhile reports of dynamic adaptations to tariffs or threats of tariffs are continuing to appear. As just one example, a recent report considered soy beans. Apparently China is attempting to buy up the entire output of soy beans from Brazil, but that would be insufficient to meet current needs. A report indicated that Chinese farmers are being advanced subsidies to encourage them to produce soy beans. In addition, Chinese officials are looking at possible substitutes for soy beans for such applications as animal feed. Despite that, it appears that the Chinese will still find themselves having to buy soy beans from American suppliers, despite the tariffs their government is imposing in retaliation for American tariffs.

In an attempt to understand how new technology might help the United States to address the present dilemma, this thread will include discussion of “FAB” by Neil Gershenfeld. “FAB” was published in 2005, and in 2018 Dr. Gershenfeld has teamed with his brothers Alan and John to update “FAB” and to try to see into the future of “Personal Manufacturing”. The new book is entitled “Designing Reality”. It is my intention to flow directly from “FAB” to “Designing Reality”, although influences from the 2018 book may show up in this thread as the discussion at hand may inspire them.

Reference #4 Pages 149-160
Chapter Title: “Computation”

In this small set of pages, Dr. Gershenfeld reviews the computer device called a microcontroller. He starts with a schematic design for a microcontroller which will print “Hello World” in an infinite loop. The schematic design is fed into a program to design a printed circuit board. Because the fab lab has a milling machine capable of removing unneeded material from a circuit board blank, that is the machine used to create a circuit board. The circuit board is then “stuffed” with parts, and the parts are soldered to the metal traces on the board.

Dr. Gershenfeld then turns to the process of writing a program for the microcontroller. He opens with the Python language, changes to the C language, drops to assembler language, and then illustrates the compile process that yields machine language instructions that are loaded into the microcontroller. The concluding paragraph reads:

Begin Quotation from page 160:
Finally, when the hello-world circuit is plugged into a PC's serial communications port, it turns on and starts endlessly sending back its message:
End Quotation.

This text is followed by an image of a computer screen painted with an endless series of “hello world” text lines.

Next week this section will feature introduction of the Chapter “Making Sense”

(th)
Last edited by tahanson43206 on Fri Aug 10, 2018 12:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 20160413 Variations on a theme of Adam Smith

Postby tahanson43206 » Sun Aug 05, 2018 11:15 pm

20180804 Adam Smith Thread

As a note of possible interest to any readers who might be thinking of applying for membership in this forum:
It has been established that the Signature Line of your pending membership can be used for communication.
I do not have a way (at present) to see who has logged in recently, but I can check the status of the newest member.
If you have applied for membership in the forum, and no one else has applied after you, then you will be listed as the newest member.
It is easy for me to check the newest member status, because the newest member is listed at the bottom of the main page.
It has been established that while an applicant is waiting for approval by the administrator, I can send Private Mail to the applicant.
It has been established that an applicant who receives Private Mail can reply via the Signature Line of the membership.
This is a curious way to communicate, I admit, but I am interested in hearing from applicants.
I would like to hear from anyone who would like to try the culture of self-directed knowledge accumulation I have tried to demonstrate.

Continuing with the weekly update:

From Reference #1:
Page 1028

Having completed review of “The Wealth of Nations”. I am looking for opportunities to consider more recent writings.
It seems likely that current writers will cite Mr. Smith. While I am able to catch only a small fraction of references which are likely to appear, such references come to my attention frequently, so I'll report them when they seem useful.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
This post is for August 4th. The “trade war” instigated by the sitting American President is moving forward.

Articles have appeared in the press and in online news feeds, indicating that (to me somewhat surprising) changes are taking place in China and Turkey, in particular. In the case of China, at least one writer appears to be under the impression that Chinese Chairman Xi may be under pressure due to the perceived effect of American tariffs as understood by members of the Chinese Communist Party. In the case of Turkey, it appears that the national currency may be in free fall due to psychological effects of tariffs and sanctions imposed or threatened by the United States due to the Turkish holding of an American citizen.

However, the President of Turkey has (so far) chosen to resist the United States by raising tariffs against US products. According to news reports, the country's currency has fallen so far against the US dollar that visitors using dollars are enjoying much reduced expenses.

In an attempt to understand how new technology might help the United States to address the present dilemma, this thread will include discussion of “FAB” by Neil Gershenfeld. “FAB” was published in 2005, and in 2018 Dr. Gershenfeld has teamed with his brothers Alan and John to update “FAB” and to try to see into the future of “Personal Manufacturing”. The new book is entitled “Designing Reality”. It is my intention to flow directly from “FAB” to “Designing Reality”, although influences from the 2018 book may show up in this thread as the discussion at hand may inspire them.

Reference #4 Pages 161-171
Chapter Title: “Making Sense”

In this chapter, Dr. Gershenfeld introduces S. S. Kalbag and presents a brief history of his achievements in his native country of India.

Next week this section will continue with the Chapter “Making Sense”

(th)
Last edited by tahanson43206 on Thu Aug 16, 2018 3:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
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tahanson43206
 
Posts: 1660
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 3:38 pm

Re: 20160413 Variations on a theme of Adam Smith

Postby tahanson43206 » Mon Aug 13, 2018 12:05 am

20180811 Adam Smith Thread

As a note of possible interest to any readers who might be thinking of applying for membership in this forum:
It has been established that the Signature Line of your pending membership can be used for communication.
I do not have a way (at present) to see who has logged in recently, but I can check the status of the newest member.
If you have applied for membership in the forum, and no one else has applied after you, then you will be listed as the newest member.
It is easy for me to check the newest member status, because the newest member is listed at the bottom of the main page.
It has been established that while an applicant is waiting for approval by the administrator, I can send Private Mail to the applicant.
It has been established that an applicant who receives Private Mail can reply via the Signature Line of the membership.
This is a curious way to communicate, I admit, but I am interested in hearing from applicants.
I would like to hear from anyone who would like to try the culture of self-directed knowledge accumulation I have tried to demonstrate.

Continuing with the weekly update:

From Reference #1:
Page 1028

Having completed review of “The Wealth of Nations”. I am looking for opportunities to consider more recent writings.
It seems likely that current writers will cite Mr. Smith. While I am able to catch only a small fraction of references which are likely to appear, such references come to my attention frequently, so I'll report them when they seem useful.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
This post is for August 11th. The “trade war” instigated by the sitting American President is moving forward.

Here is a link to a useful discussion of options for China in the current trade dispute:
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/chin ... 59706.html

The sentiment expressed by the author, that while China might dump US treasuries it holds, the US Federal Reserve could just buy them up.

Then China would neither possess the treasuries nor the threat to sell them.

However, the author points out that devaluing the Yuan is an effective counter to US tariffs, and devaluation of the Yen appears to be under way.

The June article at the link below provides some perspective on the Juan issue:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/risk-of-ch ... 1529431116

The author (Brad Setser) explores the potential risks for China if it were to seriously weaken the Yuan.

In an attempt to understand how new technology might help the United States to address the present dilemma, this thread will include discussion of “FAB” by Neil Gershenfeld. “FAB” was published in 2005, and in 2018 Dr. Gershenfeld has teamed with his brothers Alan and John to update “FAB” and to try to see into the future of “Personal Manufacturing”. The new book is entitled “Designing Reality”. It is my intention to flow directly from “FAB” to “Designing Reality”, although influences from the 2018 book may show up in this thread as the discussion at hand may inspire them.

Reference #4 Pages 161-171
Chapter Title: “Making Sense”

In this chapter, Dr. Gershenfeld introduces S. S. Kalbag and presents a brief history of his achievements in his native country of India.

Begin Quotation from page 163:
Kalbag's ultimate goal was to show that rural understanding and application of science was the key to reversing what was perhaps India's most pressing problem, urbanization.
… and in the next paragraph:
He built a school, based on the principle of learning-by-doing that he had first encountered as a child.
End Quotation.

I note that the quotation above resonates with the title and theme of James Bessen's book, discussed in the Knowledge thread in this forum.

Next week this section will continue with the Chapter “Making Sense”

(th)
Last edited by tahanson43206 on Mon Aug 20, 2018 1:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: 20160413 Variations on a theme of Adam Smith

Postby tahanson43206 » Sun Aug 19, 2018 11:26 pm

20180818 Adam Smith Thread

As a note of possible interest to any readers who might be thinking of applying for membership in this forum:
It has been established that the Signature Line of your pending membership can be used for communication.
I do not have a way (at present) to see who has logged in recently, but I can check the status of the newest member.
If you have applied for membership in the forum, and no one else has applied after you, then you will be listed as the newest member.
It is easy for me to check the newest member status, because the newest member is listed at the bottom of the main page.
It has been established that while an applicant is waiting for approval by the administrator, I can send Private Mail to the applicant.
It has been established that an applicant who receives Private Mail can reply via the Signature Line of the membership.
This is a curious way to communicate, I admit, but I am interested in hearing from applicants.
I would like to hear from anyone who would like to try the culture of self-directed knowledge accumulation I have tried to demonstrate.

Continuing with the weekly update:

From Reference #1:
Page 1028

Having completed review of “The Wealth of Nations”. I am looking for opportunities to consider more recent writings.
It seems likely that current writers will cite Mr. Smith. While I am able to catch only a small fraction of references which are likely to appear, such references come to my attention frequently, so I'll report them when they seem useful.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
This post is for August 18th. The “trade war” instigated by the sitting American President is moving forward. However, talks between the United States and China are planned. As of August 24th, Joe McDonald of the Associated Press reported that both countries have proceeded with additional tariffs of 25 percent, on $16 billion of goods from each side.

An analysis I found on a news feed recently captured the situation in a way which I found persuasive. The author expressed the opinion that the American President's style of negotiation flies in the face of centuries of understanding of the Asian culture, which places great value on saving face. That cultural characteristic is surely in play for President Xi of China, who has secured almost total control over the Chinese Communist Party and thus over the political and economic processes there. According to the analysis, President Xi cannot appear to be bullied by the American President, so any chance of changing policy according to the desires of the American President are close to zero.

>>>
In the midst of the tariff disputes going on today, a CSPAN reported panel discussion reported the disquieting news that certain medicines have become unavailable from American producers. According to the panelist, China (in particular) arranged for medical precursor materials and medicines produced from them were priced below the prices of American producers until the Americans stopped manufacture. At that point, the Chinese (according to the panelist) raised prices.

That anecdote reminds me of examples I have read from American history, in which large companies drive out small ones by subsidizing prices for products until the small companies give up the game, at which point the large producers can set prices as the limit the market will bear.

A key difference between such internal behavior, which can be addressed by internal government action if there is a will, is that in disputes between nations the tariff convention offers a solution which might be applied to insure local providers remain in business. That would be to set tariffs so they match the lowest price offered by an American producer. Modern digital technology would allow for dynamic application of tariffs in ways which were previously unimaginable.

If tariffs are set to automatically adjust as goods are presented at the border, to match the lowest price set by American producers, then purchasers will presumably consume all the local supply until it is exhausted, and then accept the foreign supply to meet total demand.

Such a policy would presumably insure the well-being of local manufacturers, while not totally disrupting the opportunity for foreign suppliers to distribute their output into the United States.

>>>

The key concepts of economics are slowly accumulating in my notes. For some time, the summary definition of economics as:

Exchange and Specialization

have been supplemented with:

Division of Labor and Profit on Investment

Subsequently, one or more authors have pointed out the importance of:

Idealism and Perfectionism (as exemplified in precision of manufacture)

Recently, additional elements of a successful economy came to mind:

Education of Self
Education of Others
Leadership of Teams (and entire populations)
Vision (Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and many others)

>>>

In an attempt to understand how new technology might help the United States to address the present dilemma, this thread will include discussion of “FAB” by Neil Gershenfeld. “FAB” was published in 2005, and in 2018 Dr. Gershenfeld has teamed with his brothers Alan and John to update “FAB” and to try to see into the future of “Personal Manufacturing”. The new book is entitled “Designing Reality”. It is my intention to flow directly from “FAB” to “Designing Reality”, although influences from the 2018 book may show up in this thread as the discussion at hand may inspire them.

Reference #4 Pages 161-171
Chapter Title: “Making Sense”

In this chapter, Dr. Gershenfeld introduces S. S. Kalbag and presents a brief history of his achievements in his native country of India.

Begin Quotation from page 164 (speaking of villagers):
Their soil meter could test for moisture, but not nutrients. In agribusiness, precision agriculture refers to the use of such agriculture measurements to precisely match irrigation and fertilization to a crop's requirements.
End Quotation.

I note that the quotation above resonates with the identification of precision as an element of the evolution of the modern economy.

Next week this section will continue with the Chapter “Making Sense”

(th)
Last edited by tahanson43206 on Wed Aug 29, 2018 7:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
May every member of The Knowledge forum grow financially, intellectually, socially and beyond.
tahanson43206
 
Posts: 1660
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 3:38 pm

Re: 20160413 Variations on a theme of Adam Smith

Postby tahanson43206 » Mon Aug 27, 2018 1:59 am

20180825 Adam Smith Thread

As a note of possible interest to any readers who might be thinking of applying for membership in this forum:
It has been established that the Signature Line of your pending membership can be used for communication.
I do not have a way (at present) to see who has logged in recently, but I can check the status of the newest member.
If you have applied for membership in the forum, and no one else has applied after you, then you will be listed as the newest member.
It is easy for me to check the newest member status, because the newest member is listed at the bottom of the main page.
It has been established that while an applicant is waiting for approval by the administrator, I can send Private Mail to the applicant.
It has been established that an applicant who receives Private Mail can reply via the Signature Line of the membership.
This is a curious way to communicate, I admit, but I am interested in hearing from applicants.
I would like to hear from anyone who would like to try the culture of self-directed knowledge accumulation I have tried to demonstrate.

Continuing with the weekly update:

From Reference #1:
Page 1028

Having completed review of “The Wealth of Nations”. I am looking for opportunities to consider more recent writings.
It seems likely that current writers will cite Mr. Smith. While I am able to catch only a small fraction of references which are likely to appear, such references come to my attention frequently, so I'll report them when they seem useful.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
This post is for August 25th. The “trade war” instigated by the sitting American President is moving forward. As of August 24th, Joe McDonald of the Associated Press reported that both countries have proceeded with additional tariffs of 25 percent, on $16 billion of goods from each side.

An analysis I found on a news feed recently captured the situation in a way which I found persuasive. The author expressed the opinion that the American President's style of negotiation flies in the face of centuries of understanding of the Asian culture, which places great value on saving face. That cultural characteristic is surely in play for President Xi of China, who has secured almost total control over the Chinese Communist Party and thus over the political and economic processes there. According to the analysis, President Xi cannot appear to be bullied by the American President, so any chance of changing policy according to the desires of the American President are close to zero.

>>>
In the midst of the tariff disputes going on today, a CSPAN reported panel discussion reported the disquieting news that certain medicines have become unavailable from American producers. According to the panelist, China (in particular) arranged for medical precursor materials and medicines produced from them were priced below the prices of American producers until the Americans stopped manufacture. At that point, the Chinese (according to the panelist) raised prices.

That anecdote reminds me of examples I have read from American history, in which large companies drive out small ones by subsidizing prices for products until the small companies give up the game, at which point the large producers can set prices as the limit the market will bear.

A key difference between such internal behavior, which can be addressed by internal government action if there is a will, is that in disputes between nations the tariff convention offers a solution which might be applied to insure local providers remain in business. That would be to set tariffs so they match the lowest price offered by an American producer. Modern digital technology would allow for dynamic application of tariffs in ways which were previously unimaginable.

If tariffs are set to automatically adjust as goods are presented at the border, to match the lowest price set by American producers, then purchasers will presumably consume all the local supply until it is exhausted, and then accept the foreign supply to meet total demand.

Such a policy would presumably insure the well-being of local manufacturers, while not totally disrupting the opportunity for foreign suppliers to distribute their output into the United States.

>>>

The key concepts of economics are slowly accumulating in my notes. For some time, the summary definition of economics as:

Exchange and Specialization

have been supplemented with:

Division of Labor and Profit on Investment

Subsequently, one or more authors have pointed out the importance of:

Idealism and Perfectionism (as exemplified in precision of manufacture)

Recently, additional elements of a successful economy came to mind:

Education of Self
Education of Others
Leadership of Teams (and entire populations)
Vision (Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and many others)

>>>
There are voices raised in opposition to a Guaranteed Basic Income. I am guessing that the reason some individuals are opposed to GBI is because of their assessment of human nature. My assessment of human nature is influenced by my own nature, which is driven to understand the environment, to control what I can, and to help wherever there appears to be something useful to be done.

Those who believe that if human beings are supplied with their material needs they would do nothing may be right. I simply am unable to imagine such a situation. In my view, the MacArthur Genius Grants are an example of what could and should be done for every person born into the human drama. For many thousands of years, the children of dominant members of the troop are favored for development, and everyone else in the troop has to scrabble.

I don't see much difference between that historical example and today's world. The children of wealthy families are showered with opportunity and often pulled along by high expectations, while the children of parents who are not successful are far less likely to break out of the family pattern. Apparently (I gather) there are some individuals who are able to succeed despite a disadvantaged start.

>>>

In an attempt to understand how new technology might help the United States to address the present dilemma, this thread will include discussion of “FAB” by Neil Gershenfeld. “FAB” was published in 2005, and in 2018 Dr. Gershenfeld has teamed with his brothers Alan and John to update “FAB” and to try to see into the future of “Personal Manufacturing”. The new book is entitled “Designing Reality”. It is my intention to flow directly from “FAB” to “Designing Reality”, although influences from the 2018 book may show up in this thread as the discussion at hand may inspire them.

Reference #4 Pages 161-171
Chapter Title: “Making Sense”

In this chapter, Dr. Gershenfeld introduces S. S. Kalbag and presents a brief history of his achievements in his native country of India.

Begin Quotation from page 167:
Kalbag's refrain across these examples was the need to quantify processes on the farm in order to understand and improve them.
End Quotation.

The ongoing discussion of how to set up a Mars society (in the NewMars.com forum) appears (to my eye) to reflect an understanding of the need for accurate data about agriculture in that environment, except that the (relatively) forgiving environment of Earth would not be present.

Next week this section will continue with the Chapter “Making Sense”

(th)
Last edited by tahanson43206 on Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
May every member of The Knowledge forum grow financially, intellectually, socially and beyond.
tahanson43206
 
Posts: 1660
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 3:38 pm

Re: 20160413 Variations on a theme of Adam Smith

Postby tahanson43206 » Mon Sep 03, 2018 12:25 am

20180901 Adam Smith Thread

As a note of possible interest to any readers who might be thinking of applying for membership in this forum:
It has been established that the Signature Line of your pending membership can be used for communication.
I do not have a way (at present) to see who has logged in recently, but I can check the status of the newest member.
If you have applied for membership in the forum, and no one else has applied after you, then you will be listed as the newest member.
It is easy for me to check the newest member status, because the newest member is listed at the bottom of the main page.
It has been established that while an applicant is waiting for approval by the administrator, I can send Private Mail to the applicant.
It has been established that an applicant who receives Private Mail can reply via the Signature Line of the membership.
This is a curious way to communicate, I admit, but I am interested in hearing from applicants.
I would like to hear from anyone who would like to try the culture of self-directed knowledge accumulation I have tried to demonstrate.

Continuing with the weekly update:

From Reference #1:
Page 1028

Having completed review of “The Wealth of Nations”. I am looking for opportunities to consider more recent writings.
It seems likely that current writers will cite Mr. Smith. While I am able to catch only a small fraction of references which are likely to appear, such references come to my attention frequently, so I'll report them when they seem useful.

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
This post is for September 1st. The “trade war” instigated by the sitting American President is moving forward.

>>>
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles ... with-trump

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles ... -the-price

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/chin ... iness.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/11/maga ... eless.html
>>>

In an attempt to understand how new technology might help the United States to address the present dilemma, this thread will include discussion of “FAB” by Neil Gershenfeld. “FAB” was published in 2005, and in 2018 Dr. Gershenfeld has teamed with his brothers Alan and John to update “FAB” and to try to see into the future of “Personal Manufacturing”. The new book is entitled “Designing Reality”. It is my intention to flow directly from “FAB” to “Designing Reality”, although influences from the 2018 book may show up in this thread as the discussion at hand may inspire them.

Reference #4 Pages 161-171
Chapter Title: “Making Sense”

In this chapter, Dr. Gershenfeld introduces S. S. Kalbag and presents a brief history of his achievements in his native country of India.

Begin Quotation from page 168:
...near the top of Kalbag's wish list was the need for an instrument that could completely characterize milk.
End Quotation.

I note that such an instrument would be valuable for Dr. Dartnell's hypothetical survivor. And, such an instrument is a close cousin to an instrument that would completely characterize water to be used for drinking.

Next week this section will continue with the Chapter “Making Sense”

(th)
Last edited by tahanson43206 on Fri Sep 14, 2018 3:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
May every member of The Knowledge forum grow financially, intellectually, socially and beyond.
tahanson43206
 
Posts: 1660
Joined: Sun Jun 07, 2015 3:38 pm

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