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Market Fundamentalism Market fundamentalism (also known as free market fundamentalism) is a pejorative term applied to a strong belief in the ability of laissez-faire or free market policies to solve most economic and social problems.[1] Critics of laissez-faire policies have used the term to denote what they perceive as a misguided belief, or deliberate deception, that free markets provide the greatest possible equity and prosperity,[2] and that any interference with the market process decreases social well being. Users of the term include adherents of interventionist, mixed economy and protectionist positions,[3] as well as billionaires such as George Soros,[4] and economists such as Nobel Laureates Joseph Stiglitz[5] and Paul Krugman. History of the term[edit] The expression "market fundamentalism" was popularized by business magnate and philanthropist George Soros in his book The Crisis of Global Capitalism (1998),[12] in which he writes "This idea was called laissez faire in the nineteenth century...

Social complexity Social ensembles are often said to be "complex". What does this mean? Herbert Simon is one of the seminal thinkers in the study of complexity. His 1962 article, "The Architecture of Complexity" (link), put forward several ideas that have become core to the conceptual frameworks of people who now study social complexity. So it is worthwhile highlighting a few of the key ideas that were put forward in that article. Here is Simon's definition of complexity: Roughly, by a complex system I mean one made up of a large number of parts that interact in a nonsimple way. Notice several key ideas contained here, as well as several things that are not said. A second main idea here is that the behavior of the system is difficult to predict as a result of the nonsimple interactions among the parts. A third important point here is Simon's distinction between "metaphysical reducibility" and "pragmatic holism." Another key idea in this article is Simon's idea of a hierarchic system. And in summary:

Coronation Street We spoke to Mikey North about Gary's relationship with Phelan and how he intends to track him down! What happens when Gary first realises that there is something suspicious about this person that keeps talking to Nicola? The town Abergele keeps popping up in this chat room that’s been talked about on the Street that day, so Gary is on a hunch that it may not be who Nicola thinks it is. He calls around all the caravan parks in Abergele and he doesn’t land on anything. Is Gary shocked when he is told this? It’s more, "Damn, I’m going to have to go through with this now." because I don’t think he really wants to go through with what he is planning but once he thinks it’s him he knows that he can’t stop himself from doing this. What should Gary do when he sees Phelan? Well, he shouldn’t have gone in the first place, he should have stayed put and called the police! What happens when he sees Phelan? He’s got Joe there under false pretences, he says that he just needs to go and scare Phelan.

RT @jranck: 17 Alternatives to Klout actually, I'm so over this crap, who cares... As we wrote about earlier this week, Klout has reworked its algorithms, and your scores have changed. Some have gone up, some down. Despite claiming more transparency with their algorithms, they are still mostly opaque and mysterious. As one of our readers commented, “Klout just pulled a Netflix, taking trust off the table.” So while they tinker with their code, you might want to explore other alternatives that can help you measure your social media effectiveness. Before I run through the services, let’s discuss eight different issues with social media metrics and how the ideal metric should be constructed. There is no single number that can really be universally useful. You are also measuring two grossly different activities: giving and taking. How transparent is their algorithm, really? Can you examine any time-series? How much does the service care if your content is original vs. copied? Does the tool provide qualitative suggestions in addition to just scores? Twitter-only metrics

Plutocracy Plutocracy (from Greek πλοῦτος, ploutos, meaning "wealth", and κράτος, kratos, meaning "power, dominion, rule") or plutarchy, is a form of oligarchy and defines a society or a system ruled and dominated by the small minority of the wealthiest citizens. The first known use of the term was in 1652.[1] Unlike systems such as democracy, capitalism, socialism or anarchism, plutocracy is not rooted in an established political philosophy. The concept of plutocracy may be advocated by the wealthy classes of a society in an indirect or surreptitious fashion, though the term itself is almost always used in a pejorative sense.[2] Usage[edit] Examples[edit] Examples of plutocracies include the Roman Empire, some city-states in Ancient Greece, the civilization of Carthage, the Italian city-states/merchant republics of Venice, Florence, Genoa, and pre-World War II Empire of Japan (the zaibatsu). Modern politics[edit] United States[edit] Post World War II[edit] Russia[edit] As a propaganda term[edit]

Economic Letter: What's in Your Wallet? The Future of Cash (2011-33, 10/24/2011) Jeremy Gerst and Daniel J. Wilson What’s in Your Wallet? The Future of Cash The payment landscape has changed dramatically in recent years as new technologies have been brought to market. Over the past few decades, the dominant position of cash as a store of value and a means of payment has increasingly been challenged. As the nation’s central bank, the Federal Reserve is responsible for maintaining a safe and efficient payment system. Background and history of U.S. cash volumes To understand what determines U.S. cash volume and how cash demand affects that volume, it is useful to consider why the use of currency grows or shrinks, and how cash volume has changed in recent decades. The Fed considers shipments of acceptable used bills and new bills to be cash “payments” by the Fed to depositories, which are banks, thrifts, and similar financial institutions. Figure 1 FRB payments and currency in circulation (average) Source: Federal Reserve Cash Product Office, authors’ calculations.

The seven social classes of 21st century Britain - where do you fit in? Around 6% of the population are elite. However, 22% of the people who took the survey turned out to be in this social group. 25% of the population are estimated to be in the established middle class - but 45% of the survey respondents got this result. Compare this to the precariat - they make up 15% of our society but less than 1% of them took the quiz. Savage said this may have been because they found the survey "intimidating". The elites are concentrated around London and the South of England As you can see from the map, the darkest areas - which correspond to concentration of elites - are mainly in London and the South of England. Photo: BBC However, not all people in the South are classed as elite. As we go further North, and in to Wales and Ireland, the clusters become pink, which means that less people there are classed as elite. This isn't that surprising - but it is striking to see the difference on a map. Is the old adage "It's not what you know, it's who you know" still true today?

“@nlafferty: OER in the field: institutions solving problems openly from @dkernohan - for life in a 'cold climate' With the uncertainties of a new funding model to deal with, it is becoming harder than ever to convince institutional managers to support nice-to-have projects. Everything needs to be justified, both on a balance sheet and within a wider battle for hearts and minds. But the way in which open educational resources (OER) allow institutions to meet their strategic goals alongside making the world a better place means that it is moving from being nice-to-have to becoming an essential component of academic practice. More than 10 years on from the formal establishment of the OpenCourseWare project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the casual observer could be forgiven for assuming that the case for OER (materials suitable for learning and teaching, made available for reuse under an open licence) had been made and accepted. David Kernohan is a programme manager at JISC, an organisation that encourages UK colleges and universities in the innovative use of digital technologies.

Crony Capitalism Crony capitalism is a term describing an economy in which success in business depends on close relationships between business people and government officials. It may be exhibited by favoritism in the distribution of legal permits, government grants, special tax breaks, or other forms of state interventionism.[1][2] Crony capitalism is believed to arise when business cronyism and related self-serving behavior by businesses or businesspeople spills over into politics and government,[3] or when self-serving friendships and family ties between businessmen and the government influence the economy and society to the extent that it corrupts public-serving economic and political ideals. The term "crony capitalism" made a significant impact in the public arena as an explanation of the Asian financial crisis.[4] It is also used world wide to describe virtually any governmental decisions favoring "cronies" of governmental officials. Crony capitalism in practice[edit] Crony Capitalism Index[edit]

George Dyson | Evolution and Innovation - Information Is Cheap, Meaning Is Expensive | The European Magazine The European: A computer “is a simple mind having a will but capable of only two ideas”, you have said.Does it make sense to think of a technical apparatus in biological terms? Dyson: The quote comes from an illustration of a circuit diagram that Lewis Fry Richardson produced in 1930. It was a very prophetic idea, like most of the stuff that Richardson did. He had drawn this diagram of an indeterminate circuit, so it was impossible to predict which state the circuit would be in. The European: The ultimate indeterminate process on Earth is evolution. The European: Computer code still strikes me as something where essence really precedes existence. The European: Which brings us to the question of what it means to be alive. The European: Do we have to embrace the uncertainty? The European: The answer to that question has very direct consequences for our assessment of pressing ethical questions: About PGD, about abortion, about genetic enhancements.