About Me

I am a 76-year-old retired physicist who is increasingly interested in economics and its nexus with politics. Since this is a blog about conflicting ideas, especially economic and political ideas, I should put all my prejudices in plain view. My views would probably be characterized by most as “conservative”, particularly my beliefs on economics.

However, the term “conservative” is not a very accurate description for most so-described in the United States. Both major sides of the ideological divide in the United States have some aspects of society they would like to conserve, and some they would like to change. The difference between the sides is just that they have different lists. A much better label for so-called “conservatives” is “neoliberal”, which is what I claim to be. In addition, those who are often called “liberals” in the U.S. long ago lost their right to be called liberals. A much more accurate moniker for them is “progressive.” See my post Ideological Labels: Nationalism, Conservatism, Liberalism, Progressivism, Neoliberalism for my attitudes about the importance of correct language in discussing ideological differences.

I would describe myself as holding neoclassical economic views. For those who have not been exposed much to economics, neoclassical economics is the set of ideas produced by the classical economists (with the notable exception of Thomas Malthus) as modified by the beliefs of the founders of the law of marginal utility: Carl Menger, Leon Walras, and William Stanley Jevons. This includes the law of supply and demand, Say’s law of markets, Ricardo’s law of comparative advantage, and the law of marginal utility. It most definitely excludes the labor theory of value and Malthus’ iron law of wages.

In foreign policy and defense policy, my views have been greatly shaped by my service in the Vietnam War. I was a very junior field artillery officer in a heavy battery (8-inch howitzers and 175 mm guns), located for the entire year I was there (Dec. 1968 — Dec. 1969) at firebase St. Barbara (aka “the Old French Fort”), located in the middle of Tay Ninh province. For most of the time I was there, I was my battery’s Fire Direction Officer. However, for part of the time, I was attached to several South Vietnamese airborne battalions as a forward observer patrolling the border with Cambodia. I saw first hand the folly of allowing an enemy to have safe haven by merely crossing a border. If a country goes to war, it should pursue (if possible) enemy units wherever they go until their soldiers are either killed or captured.

On social policy I am generally neoliberal with one major exception: I have a great indifference about what happens in people’s bedrooms. I see no reason to discriminate against homosexuals or lesbians. It is reputed that some grande dame in the late nineteenth century said that it was all okay for her “as long as they don’t do it in the streets and scare the horses.” That pretty much sums up my attitude. Also, unlike a small subset of conservatives, I think that contraceptives are a good thing, but one that should be reserved for adults.  Like most of my fellow “conservatives,” I believe that abortion in the third trimester is too close to infanticide to be tolerated. Having disposed of my views on sexual and reproductive mores, I am pretty much a neoliberal on everything else.
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Valeria

Thank you for being active at your age in this wonderful way!! I read an article and fell immediatly in love with the blog, I am sorry that people comment so little, thank you very much for your excellent work!! It is a pleasure to read you. Greetings from Argentina!

Jiggy

Greetings from India!
I just happened to visit your website luckily while surfing the web on the political stand of Americans for 2020 Presidential elections. Your thoughts, arguments and articles offer a deep analysis into the political and economic conundrum of the USA. Will be visiting often now. Hope to connect with you someday.

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Many thanks for your kind words! Should you ever be in the Washington, D.C. area sometime, perhaps we could meet.

DONNIETRUMPSUCKS PUTINDROPPINGS

I GUESS IF YOU REALLY WANT TO DISCUSS YOUR RIGHT WING OPINIONS, INSTEAD OF JUST CRAMMING THEM DOWN PEOPLES THROATS… YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO ALLOW UNFRIENDLY COMMENTS INSTEAD OF BLOCKING ALL OF THEM!!!

DONNIETRUMPSUCKS PUTINDROPPINGS

I use all sorts of data to explore how government serves the American people… but by far the simplest but also the most telling is… drum roll please…. the real minimum wage and how much it is and who it covers…. and the share of personal income accruing to the top percentiles of the US population. Those data tell me… very very clearly…. that Republicans and other conservatives have gained ever more total control over this nation since about the mid to late 1960’s, and that Republicans and other conservatives have used that ever greater control to effectively steal tens of… Read more »

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You say that the data you pay attention to is “the real minimum wage” and “the share of personal income accruing to the top percentiles of the US population.” Please state your data sources. I would like to point out a couple of points. First, according to the wage growth tracker of the Atlanta Federal Reserve, the wages of the fourth (bottom) quartile of wage earners grew fastest under the Trump Administration. It had not had this place since sometime around 2008. Following this wage quartile in decreasing order the faster-growing quartiles were the third, second, and first quartiles. Under… Read more »

DONNIETRUMPSUCKS PUTINDROPPINGS

SO…. THE DATA YOU USE ONLY GOES BACK TO 1998??? I CONSIDER DATA THAT DOES NOT GO BACK TO AT LEAST 1970… AND PREFERABLY AT LEAST BACK TO 1950… TO BE GENERALLY WORTHLESS…. BECAUSE MOST OF THE IMPORTANT STUFF IN AMERICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY HAPPENED AFTER 1970… WHEN REPUBLICANS STARTED TO DESTROY AMERICA BY DESTROYING THE NEW DEAL PROGRAMS THAT DEMOCRATS USED TO MAKE AMERICA THE RICHEST AND MOST POWERFUL… AND FREEEST…. NATION ON EARTH!!! REPUBLICANS HATED THAT, BECAUSE THE NEW DEAL PROGRAMS DESTROYED THE ABILITY OF THE CONSERVATIVE ELITE TO TOTALLY AND CMPLETELY CONTROL THE LIVES AND WELL BEING OF… Read more »

DONNIETRUMPSUCKS PUTINDROPPINGS

IF YOU WERE TRULY SERIOUS ABOUT TRUE ECONOMIC WELL BEING OF THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION, THEN YOU WOULD BE WELL AWARE OF THE HISTORY OF THE MINIMUM WAGE…. AND OF HOW TO ADJUST THAT FOR INFLATION TO GET THE REAL MINIMUM WAGE. AND YOU WOULD ALSO BE WELL AWARE THAT AT LEAST 50 TO 60% OF ALL WORKING PEOPLE EARN WAGES THAT ARE TIED TO THE FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE… MEANING THAT THE FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE…. THAT REPUBLICANS HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSING FOR OVER 40 YEARS… IS AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT POLICY. AS FOR SHARES OF INCOME, THAT DATA IS ALSO WIDELY… Read more »

DONNIETRUMPSUCKS PUTINDROPPINGS

Trump and his allies are already planning to subvert or steal the 2024 election, and our Democratic Secretaries of State will be the last line of defense. Here’s their plan: FIRST: Elect “big lie” supporters to election posts across the country, pass voter-suppression laws nationwide, and lay the groundwork for 2020’s suppression tactics on steroids. THEN: On election day, falsely claim the election was stolen when Trump or their nominee doesn’t win. FINALLY: use those baseless claims of fraud to deny certification of election results making sure Trump wins – even if he loses. Our Democratic Secretaries of State can stop… Read more »

DONNIETRUMPSUCKS PUTINDROPPINGS

It didn’t take much to inspire a twenty-one-year-old in 1967, even if that twenty-one-year-old was spending his time running a signature machine. It was an era when America was moving forward. It didn’t require much to instill values that stayed with that twenty-one-year-old for the rest of his life; interning for Bobby Kennedy was enough. Here’s one of my favorite quotes from Bobby Kennedy: “Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product … if we should judge the United States of America… Read more »

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I have written a post reflecting on our attempted conversation entitled A Curious Conversation. Feel free to comment

Alexander Ellis

HI, me again. Did some more browsing over your website and ran across your about me section. You being a retired physicist and having served in Vietnam, makes your outlook fascinating to me. On the one hand you have clearly dedicated a lot of your time, done your research and have tried to create an open forum of discussion. On the other I think your scope is quite narrow. While you have many categories to choose from, much of what I’ve skimmed over is very knowledge intensive. If I were looking for a deep dive into the world of political… Read more »

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First, let me thank you for your kind remarks. Second, I agree with you that, at least with one viewpoint, the scope of my essays are quite narrow. The concentration on political economics is undeniable. However, that focus encompasses just about anything that government attempts to do. Anytime governments try to do anything, they usually require a great expenditure of resources. According to the Federal Reserve, federal expenditures for 2021 were $7.154 trillion. With the U.S. GDP for that year being $23.315 trillion, that means federal government expenditures amounted to 30.68 % of the entire U.S. economic output! Yet we… Read more »

Peter Grimshaw

Hi Just found your “Infrared Photon’s Life” page and it is lovely. I’m 63, started Physics at Uni then swapped out but coming back to it re Climate. Boy is the science interesting but complicated and lots of folk seem to think they understand it. Just a quick well-wish I am in the Uk and just joined the FB group. Thankyou the quantum info is grand. Helped me clarify a thought (if the EEH, Elevated Emission Height conception is true, why are the emissions less at lower temp higher in the atmosphere. Answer – because there are less of them,… Read more »

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