tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5353471140255363906.post5309672026835307204..comments2023-08-18T03:14:38.921-07:00Comments on JuJubax: What Money can’t buy by Michael SandelJujubaxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06189263813465023517noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5353471140255363906.post-78567869172362724212014-10-04T07:51:22.178-07:002014-10-04T07:51:22.178-07:00Madhu, good summary and I should probably read the...Madhu, good summary and I should probably read the book to see all the examples. The nuclear dump example is a little intriguing. I was thinking about it and probably the reaction is due to the fact that we often associate getting paid as being compensated for some loss. Even if the nuclear dump was well planned and the risk level was really low, the fact that this was offered could have triggered more doubts and increasing the compensation could have only increased the doubts. So, I am not sure if it was the moral outrage at being offered cash for doing their civic duty that triggered this behaviour or the doubts seeded by that action. Just a counter thought on this specific example. I personally do agree that we should not put a price tag on everything and there should be a few things which allow us to detach ourselves from this correlation.. <br />I also agree to some of the other comments where some have suggested that there could be some circumstances when it may be agreeable to do some things for money.. I am somehow reminded of a ironic story where a husband and wife trade some of their precious possessions for cash to buy a gift for the other, and finally find that the gift becomes pointless as the other person had traded the part that would have benefitted from the gift..<br />Ramesh N Raghavanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14569860708530040461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5353471140255363906.post-5761605859213408372014-08-24T05:53:31.912-07:002014-08-24T05:53:31.912-07:00Madhu, just curious about how the blood money coll...Madhu, just curious about how the blood money collected for killing one Rhino helped to `bring the rhinos back from the brink'.....some kind of financial encouragement directly funneled to the rhinos (aadhaar cards?) to encourage faster and more prolific breeding? And why would anyone pay 8K usd to kill a sitting walrus? I thought hunting is done to satisfy a rush or get a high of outwitting some animal or.....!! In both cases, man overdoes something, creates an artificial scarcity when there need not have been any, then government decrees the situation needed control and creates a market; now, voila, money can buy something which was not available earlier.....God must be laughing away somewhere at the stupid manipulations of mankind.<br /><br />Re kidneys and children - agreed there should never be a market for these and many similar `things'. But the logic of someone who sells one kidney to get some money and does something for his family could be impeccable. All this can be so circumstantial that specific cases may always be justified while attempts to commoditize should be decried.<br /><br />Re fees and fine...I think for some things in life one pays fees in advance and if he failed to do that, pays fine later....there are cases you can only pay fines because fees are not acceptble in such cases!!<br /><br />Sounds like a good read, this book.<br />Thanks.<br /><br />VaradP.Varadarajan (Varad)https://www.blogger.com/profile/05415043609355398315noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5353471140255363906.post-62853301207853824552014-08-04T02:01:02.803-07:002014-08-04T02:01:02.803-07:00Nice summary Madhu. Now I have no reason to write ...Nice summary Madhu. Now I have no reason to write mine :-)<br />What attracted me to this book is the fact he raised this essential question - should market control all human transactions. Utilitarians might love the idea of putting a dollar number against everything, but is it the best thing to do?<br /><br />What I loved about the book is something that is absent in the book. He discussed a framework to guide the discussion on where to keep markets out in quite some detail. He provided many examples where this discussion is very relevant. However, he did not prescribe the answer. I consider that was brilliant as the goal of the book was not to prescribe a solution but to create a discussion.Mohanakrishnan Gopalakrishnanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05436053298341669840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5353471140255363906.post-32365758929274538342014-08-03T08:43:51.720-07:002014-08-03T08:43:51.720-07:00Would like to understand how these observations re...Would like to understand how these observations relate to behavioral economics. Analyzing market forces, social outcomes etc are attempts to gain insight or try to fit an explanation on why people make a particular choice. Or why people do something different from what they say they are doing or will do. Why people don't wear helmets unless there is regulation. Nothing may seem more irrational than not caring for ones own life. Instead of aggregating and generalizing, observing at individual level seem to provide more insights into behavior and clue to experiments for triggering change. Design thinking , jobs-to-be-done approaches are in that direction. Also money is only one aspect. Trade off can be in terms of time, effort, custom, status etc. We need action bias than research to bring out positive changes.Srini Krishnanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10160213351740286409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5353471140255363906.post-13460500227379243212014-08-01T11:14:49.219-07:002014-08-01T11:14:49.219-07:00Nice writeup Madhu.
I guess I can comment better...Nice writeup Madhu. <br /><br />I guess I can comment better once I read the book but yes, this market-shall-decide attitude has some major problems. Especially in countries like India where we not only have class divide but also caste divide. Govt intervention is a must in many cases.Suresh Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08775860840384645432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5353471140255363906.post-71691451553173734412014-08-01T04:17:25.686-07:002014-08-01T04:17:25.686-07:00Some good quotes from the book:
Market values cro...Some good quotes from the book:<br /><br />Market values crowd out non-market values worth caring about.<br />Slavery was appalling because it treated human beings as commodities. Something similar can be said of other cherished goods and practices<br />Some of the good things in life are corrupted or degraded if turned into commodities<br />Without quite realising it, we drifted from having a market economy to being a market society. A market economy is a tool for organising productive activity. A market society is a way of life in which market values seep into every aspect of human endeavour. Social relations are then made over in the image of the market. <br /><br />Beyond these, the book is a bit disappointing, coming from a person like Sandel. He is far more capable of making a point , as may be seen from his Harvard lectures. After going in great detail on what money can buy, he seems to have given up on giving equal space to the degradation that sets in a market society.ESRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18340559582472374346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5353471140255363906.post-35986931842147744652014-07-31T13:46:16.151-07:002014-07-31T13:46:16.151-07:00Great blog on what money can't buy. Here is so...Great blog on what money can't buy. Here is something money can buy to hedge your investments. Hope you find my post helpful.<br />Buy Physical Gold -it's easy to buy and easy to sell.<br />Gold has never been worth $0 and it's 90% inflation proof.<br />Consider putting at least 30% of retirement funds into physical gold.<br />Learn how to buy 'Gold you can Hold' - not paper..<br />Consult a precious metals specialist if you would like to learn more about:<br />rates, metals available, retirement accounts, storage options,etc. <br />Learn the closely guarded secrets of the precious metal industry.<br />Be diligent before purchasing from any online gold dealer.<br />A Free Gold Investing Kit is available. Get it Here.<br />https://www.regalassets.com/request-free-gold-kit/?id=3375Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04842339802413696716noreply@blogger.com