Words Worth Noting - February 15, 2023

“The only reason we don’t adopt an open-ended utility function is because of the law St. Paul says is written on the human heart. But it’s a good reason; otherwise there’d only be varying degrees of risk-aversion rather than deplorable timidity and rashness and between them praiseworthy courage. Note also that peaceniks whose recommendations lead to the tyrant’s victory cannot be declared to be mistaken if we adopt an open-ended utility function; they merely reveal themselves to be masochists. But it is surely no coincidence that abandoning sincere church attendance leads to Anthony de Jasay’s consent-driven Leviathan; it’s only if he takes God seriously that homo economicus doesn’t rent seek. Aristotle wanted the state to be concerned with the good life because he didn’t conceive of separating Caesar from God; homo economicus now wants the same, except his good life is explicitly hedonist so he wants boodle.”

Another of mine, from April 21, 2003 [and very possibly of interest only to economists, or not even to them].