2 The attack on freedom of conscience

The attack on freedom of conscience
Note:2@@@@@@@@@@@

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The Obamacare mandate
Note:Tttttttttttttt

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‘Obamacare’,
Note:MINACCIA ALLA LIBERTÀ DI COSCIENZA

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the Act required employers to include in their coverage various forms of contraception (including abortifacient) unless the employer was a church.
Note:L ABUSO

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attack on religious freedom and freedom of conscience.
Note:L ACCUSA

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The Court found in favour of the corporation, holding that the religious freedom of its owners was substantially burdened
Note:VITTORIA!!!!

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various religious or semi-religious bodies have objected to the very idea of opting out
Note:GLI OPPOSITORI

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They think that opting out is itself a form of immoral cooperation
Note:L ARGOMENTO

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example of attempted government compulsion of people to act against their consciences in important moral matters.
Note:OBAMACARE COME EPITOME

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The UK midwives
Note:Ttttttttttttt

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two Scottish midwives objected to what they believed to be participation in abortions,
Note:2014 IL CASO DAVANTI ALLA CORTE SUPREMA BRITANNICA

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They already had a statutory exemption
Note:GRAZIE A UNA LEGGE DEL 1967

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they objected to ‘delegating, supervising and/or supporting staff to participate in and provide care to patients throughout the termination process’
Note:SI CHIEDE DI NN ESSERE COINVOLTE IN NESSUN MODO

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The Supreme Court held against the midwives,
Note:GIUDIZIO

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actual procedure of terminating pregnancy.
Note:SOLO DA QS SI È ESENTATI...LE ATTIVITÀ ACCESSORIE NN RIENTRANO

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Canadian euthanasia
Note:Ttttttttttttt

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if the practitioner is required to facilitate euthanasia by means of a referral, it does not seem that their freedom of conscience is respected.
Note:SE NN ESEGUI DEVI PERÒ INDIRIZZARE DA CHI ESEGUIRÀ

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The EU versus conscience
Note:Ttttttttttttt

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‘freedom of thought, conscience and religion’,
Note:ART 9 CONVENZIONE DIRITTI UMANI UE...BELLE PAROLE

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freedom ‘to manifest [one’s] religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance’.
Note:Ccccccccccc

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Nevertheless, EU jurisprudence is rather mixed on freedom of conscience
Note:PRIMA PECCA

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European Social Charter ‘does not impose on states a positive obligation to provide a right to conscientious objection for health care workers’ (FAFCE 2013: 16).

Note | Location: 340

PRONUNCIAMENTO DEL COMITATO UE SUI DIRITTI SOCIALI

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Sweden’s strong protection for abortion rights, disallowing conscientious refusal of abortion services,
Note:SVEZIA...DIFESA DAL COMITATO

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no pharmacist can refuse to sell legal contraceptives
Note:ALTRA DECISIONE

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where a state does allow conscientious refusal by a person to provide some legally available service, it should ensure that the person asking for the service can obtain it elsewhere (Poland 2011: sec. 206).
Note:PRINCIPIO FISSATO DALLA CORTE

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Weddings, adoptions, holidays, operations
Note:Ttttttttttttttt

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recent cases in the US and UK have been hostile to people objecting on religious grounds to certain actions they believe support or assist in the promotion of homosexuality.
Note:OBIEZIONE ALL OMOSESSUALITÀ ISTITUZIONALIZZATA

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refusal in conscience to bake a wedding cake for a gay couple.
Note:IL FAMOSO CASO DEL PASTICCIERE IN COLORADO

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the baker refused to sell to a gay man a cake with a message on it saying ‘Support Gay Marriage’,
Note:CASO SIMILE A BELFAST...CONDANNA

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the owners of a Christian guest house were guilty of discrimination for not renting a room to a gay couple in a ‘civil partnership’
Note:L STELO CRISTIANO

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a number of Catholic charities have shut down their adoption services rather than face penalties for refusing to allow adoption by homosexual couples;
Note:ADOZIONE OMOSESSUALE

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an American woman seeking transgender surgery has sued a Catholic hospital for refusing to perform a hysterectomy as part of the process.
Note:OPERAZIONE TRANSGENDER

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the trend is clear;
Note:LE CONDANNE PREVALGONO

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how, in a liberal, pluralistic society, with many diverse ethical and religious (as well as non-religious) viewpoints, where there is so much fundamental disagreement about basic ideas of right and wrong,
Note:COME È POSSIBILE TUTTO CIÒ?

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‘liberal’ with a very small ‘l’.
Note:L OCCIDENTE OGGI

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our liberal society contains many laws and regulations governing various types of discrimination
Note:D ALTRO CANTO...OMOSESSUALI DONNE DISABILI POCO PRODUTTIVI NERI RELIGIONE

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skin
Note:1

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gender.
Note:2

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ethnic origin?
Note:3

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legal in the UK to set up a club for members of one gender or people of one ethnic origin and to exclude from membership anybody else.
Note:ESEMPIO PARADOSSALE

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religious clubs,
Note:VIETATO NN SERVIRE AL RISTORANTE UN MUSULMANO

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To be frank, the law is a bit of a mess,
SENZA UN CRITERIO

CHAPTER 3 Predictions

CHAPTER 3 Predictions
Note:3@@@@@@@@@@@@

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Never make predictions, especially about the future.”
Note:CHI HA PARLATO COSÌ? DIFFICILE DIRLO

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“inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for future development.”
Note:SEXTUS JULIUS FRONTINUS NEL 100 dC

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“there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
Note:PRESIDENTE IBM NEL 1946

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no more than ten years away from having a nuclear-powered vacuum cleaner.
Note:NEL 1955 ALEX LEWYT

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tongue-in-cheek,

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1 Pigs in a Box
Note:Nttttttt

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At the far end of the box—several pig’s lengths away—is a bowl that fills with food whenever the lever is pressed. Which pig do you predict will eat better?
Note:PUZZLE DEI DUE MAIALI UNO GROSSO E UNO PICCOLO...CHI AZIONERÀ LA LEVA?

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the little pig has absolutely no incentive to press the lever, having quickly learned that if he does, the big pig will steal all the food.
Note:RIAPOSTA

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2 Boys or Girls?
Note:ttttttttttttt

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most parents prefer sons to daughters. Do you expect to get more requests for boys or for girls?
Note:HAI APERTO UN AGENZIA DI ADOZIONI

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even when they have a strong preference for boys, tend to have a lot of other strong preferences—including a strong preference for healthy, well-behaved children.
Note:GUESS...RAGAZZE

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They’re kids with health problems, kids with behavior problems, kids whose parents can’t raise them, and (given what the problem tells us about parental preferences in this time and place) girls.
Note:CHI VIENE OFFEERTO IN ADOZIONE DI SOLITO?

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As long as parents prefer boys, they’ll tend to cut their sons more slack than they cut their daughters. Therefore (on average, of course), boys have to be really bad to get thrown into the adoption
Note:LA LOGICA

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whether parents in general prefer boys or girls.
Note:ALTRO ARGOMENTO...SI RIEVOCA L ARTICOLO DEL 2003

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parents of boys are less likely to divorce
Note:PRIMO DATO

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parents of girls are more likely to try for another child
Note:SECONDO DATO

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Unmarried couples, upon learning the sex of their unborn child, are more likely to marry if the child is a boy.
Note:TERZO DATO

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adoption agencies get more requests for girls—and
Note:L BIEZIONE DI MOLTI...COME ABBIAMO VISTO PROVA IL CONTRARIO

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3 Kids at School
Note:TtttttttttttCORRELAZIONE CAUSAZIONE

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children from four-child families do significantly worse in school than children from three-child families.
Note:SUPONIAMO CHE...

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You already have three children and have just discovered that you’re pregnant with a fourth.
Note:COSA PREVEDI SUL PROFITTO DEI TUOI FIGLI?

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once you get past two children, the larger the family, the worse the kids perform.
Note:QUESTO SEMBRA CONFERMATO...

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this correlation is not causal.
Note:D ALTRONDE

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Parents who choose to have four children are generally less educated
Note:INFATTI

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of course your own decision to have a fourth child doesn’t change you into a different sort of person.
Note:IL QUARTO IN ARRIVO NN CAMBIA NULKA!!!!

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How do we know that it’s the demographic characteristics of large families, and not the family size itself,

Note | Location: 880

DISCERNERE CORELAZIONE E CAUSA

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looked at families with four children where the last two are twins.
Note:UN METODO PER DISCERNERE

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It turns out that their children tend to perform a lot like children from three-child families,
Note:Cccccccccc

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Another clever strategy is to look at four-child families with, say, three boys followed by a girl
Note:ALTRA STRATEGIA

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lot of these families probably planned to stop at three but then took one final stab at gender diversity.
Note:Ccccccccc

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Once again, their kids perform a lot like children from three-child families.
Note:Cccccccccccc

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birth order
Note:CONTA ANCHE QUESTO

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fourth children do worse in school than third children, and therefore bring down the family average
Note:ANXHE X QS LA FAMIGLIA DA 4 FA PEGGIO A SCUOLA

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Mozart was the youngest of seven children, and Benjamin Franklin was the youngest of fifteen.
Note:È SOLO UNA STATISTICA

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4 Birth Control
Note:TtttttttttttttPELTZMAN

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If a new method of birth control is safer, cheaper, more effective, and easier to use than any existing method, what do you predict will happen to the number of unwanted pregnancies?
Note:QUESITO DI PELTZMAN

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some people will switch from abstinence to the new method, or switch from having sex once in a while to twice in a while.
Note:SWITCH

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5 Cutting Back on Smoking
Note:TttttttttttttttDOMANDA E FFERTA

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Nosmo King is an antismoking crusader
Note:IL MILITANTE ANTIFUMO CHE BUTTA 100 SIGARETTE PENSANDO CHE VERRANNO FUMATE 100 SIGARETTE IN MENO

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takes the cigarette and throws it away,

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once you give a cigarette to Nosmo, you run out a little sooner,
Note:QUEL CHE SUCCEDE

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The convenience store where you do your shopping runs low
Note:E POI...

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leading its supplier to run out a little sooner.
Note:E POI.....

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increase in the demand for cigarettes
Note:DI FATTO

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slightly higher price.
Note:EFFETTO SUI PREZZI

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If they produce, say, an additional 7, and if Nosmo discards 20, then the number smoked falls not by 20 but by 13.
Note:CI SARANNO MENO DI 100 SIGARETTE NN FUMATE!

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an activist group asks people to go meatless for a day or a week
Note:LA STESSA LOGICA X LE CAMPAGNE ANIMALISTE...L ABBASSAMENTO DEI PREZZI NE MINA L EFFICACIA

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the fall in demand leads to a fall in price,

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6 Cutting Hairs
Note:TttttttttttLEGGE DI BAUMOL

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Barbers, for example, will probably be no more productive in the year 2050 than they are today.
Note:GRANDI AUMENTI DI PRODUTTIVITÀ PRODUCTIVITy N FUTURO...MA...

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wages of the average barber, relative to those of the average worker, will be higher or lower in 2050

Note | Location: 919

COSA PREVEDI?

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barbers, even though they’ll be no more productive, will see their wages rise in tandem with everyone else’s.
Note:RISPOSTA

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higher wages on (say) the auto assembly line tend to lure barbers away from haircutting.
Note:POCA OFFERTA IN FUTURO

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rising productivity in some industries leads to higher wages in other industries
Note:LEGGE DI BAUMOL

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It takes your barber about ten minutes to provide a basic haircut. It took your grandfather’s barber about the same. In other words, your barber is no more productive than your grandfather’s. But your barber is a lot richer than your grandfather’s barber,
Note:BAUMOL SPIEGA BENE ANCHE IL PASSATO

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I still grade essays at about exactly the same rate as my predecessors
Note:LA PRODUTTIVITÀ DEGLI NSEGNANTI NN È CRESCIUTA...AL CONTRARIO DI QUELLA DEGLI AGRICOLTORI

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Nevertheless, I earn a lot more than they did, because a lot of potential teachers have instead become, if not farmers, then computer programmers or financial analysts,
Note:TUTTAVIA LA RICCHEZZA DI UN RIGUARDA NSEGNANTE È CRESCIUTA MOLTO

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7 The Organ Eater
Note:Tttttttttttt

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If Leopold comes into a nice inheritance, what happens to his kidney consumption?
Note:LEOPOLDO IL GOLOSONE DI INTERIORA...EFFETTO REDDITO O EFFETTO SOSTITUZIONE?

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8 The Price of Bread
Note:tttttttttttttMANZONI E ASSALTO AI FOENI

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price ceiling on wheat,
Note:EFFETTI DI UN CONTROLLO DEI PREZZI

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What happens to the price of bread?
Note:DOMANDA

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the price of wheat just fell, so farmers will supply less wheat
Note:PREZZI BASSI....TAGLIO ALLE SCORTE

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If there’s less wheat, there’s got to be less bread—which drives the price up,
Note:EFFETTO SUI PREZZI

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wheat has become harder to find.
Note:VEDI MANZONI

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They’re paying less to the farmer but spending a lot more time scrounging around trying to find a farmer who’s willing to sell to them.
Note:FORNAI E MERCATO NERO....OPPURE ESAURIMENTO SCORTE

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9 Cars and Bars
Note:TttttttttttMONOPOLIO

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In a town with just one auto mechanic but several bars, a new law requires each business to contribute $20,000 a year toward the construction and maintenance of city parks.
Note:AUMENTERANNO DI PIÙ I PREZZI DELLE RIPARAZIONI O DEI CAPUCCINI?

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There’s no reason on earth for the price of a car repair to change.
Note:IL MONOPOLIO È GIÀ AL PREZZO MASSIMO

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losing your suitcase is no reason to alter your business practices.
Note:PERDERE DEI SOLDI

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10 Tickets at the Ballpark, Take One
Note:TttttttttttttRIPETIZIONE MONOPOLI...VERSIONE RONALDO

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A famous Chicago Cubs baseball player demands a $10 million raise,
Note:AUMENTERANNO I BOGLIETTI?

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is a lot like being forced to contribute an extra $20,000 a year to park maintenance—it’s
Note:VEDI SITUAZIONE PRECEDENTE

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Ticket prices are already set to maximize profit.
Note:OVVERO

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11 Tickets at the Ballpark, Take Two
Note:TttttttttttttI DIPENDENTI DEL MONOPOLISTA

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The Chicago Cubs play at Wrigley Field, where the ushers have just demanded and received a substantial raise.

Note | Location: 1,023

E ORA CHE SI FA CON IL PREZZO?

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if your ushers get a raise, you can lessen the pain by hiring fewer ushers.
Note:Il CUSTODE NN È RONALDO

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you might prefer to sell fewer tickets, as the ushers’ primary job is to monitor the behavior of unruly fans.
Note:IL PREZZO DEI BIGLIETTI SI ALZEREBBE

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Unlike a $20,000 annual contribution to the parks department, these are costs he can reduce
Note:LA DIFFERENZA

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12 Trolls on a Bridge
Note:TtttttttttttttttDOPPIO MONOPOLIO

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If you have to pass through two tollbooths to get across a bridge, would you prefer the two booths to be owned by one troll or by two different trolls?
Note:QUESITO

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One troll is better than two.
Note:RISPOSTA

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For a troll who owns a tollbooth, a $1 price increase is punished by the loss of, say, 10 customers at that booth. For a troll who owns both tollbooths, a $1 price increase is punished by the loss of 10 customers at both booths.
Note:L UNICO DETERRENTE AI PREZZI ALTI È LA PAIRA DI XDERE DEI CLIENTI

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13 Software Pricing
Note:TttttttttttttttMICROSOFT OFFICE...UN MODO X COMBATTERE I MONOPOLI È CONCENTRARLI

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would you prefer to see Microsoft broken up into two separate monopolies, one selling Windows and the other selling Office?
Note:DOMANDA PARALLELA ALLA PRECEDENTE

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One troll is still better than two.
Note:ANCORA

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The only thing preventing Microsoft from charging astronomical prices is the fear of losing customers.
Note:ANCORA

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14 Merge Ahead, Take One
Note:ttttttttttttt FUSIONI...EFFUSIONI DEM

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A monopoly tire company merges with a monopoly rubber company.
Note:AUSPICABILE?

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You should welcome the merger. One troll is still better than two.
Note:ANCORA

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Do you hear an echo? The solutions to the three preceding problems are essentially identical.
Note:CONCLUSIONE

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15 Merge Ahead, Take Two
Note:Nttttttt REGOLE GENERALI SUI MONOPOLI

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Three major computer manufacturers are seeking permission to merge into one giant company.
Note:IL CASO. SEI TRISTE O FELICE? UNA COALIZIONE DI COMPETITOR SI OPPONE

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If the merger were likely to raise prices, the smaller companies would be applauding it. When the big guys raise their prices, the little guys can follow suit.
Note:L OPPOSIZIONE DEGLI ALTRI PRODUTTORI È RASSICURANTE X IL CONSUMATORE

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As a general rule, firms welcome monopoly power even when they’re not part of the monopoly.
Note:REGOLA GENERALE

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If a coalition of well-informed consumers were vocally opposing the merger,
Note:SAREBBE DIVERSO

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vertical integration is nearly always a boon to the consumer, while horizontal integration can go either way—but
Note:REGOLA GENERALE

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16 Life in Pullman
Note:TtttttMONARCHIA

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Pullman owned all the housing and rented it to the workers. It also owned grocery stores, where the workers shopped.
Note:IL PADRONE DELLA CITTFÀ

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Pushman had many competing employers, many competing landlords, and many competing grocery stores.
Note:LA CITTÀ COMPETITIVA

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where would you expect groceries to be more expensive—in Pushman or in Pullman?
Note:LA DOMANDA

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You should expect grocery prices to be the same in both towns.
Note:RISPOSTA

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Pullman, being a profit maximizer, presumably pays its workers just enough to keep them from moving to Pushman in search of a better life.
Note:SI VOTA COI PIEDI...RICORDIAMOLO

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Even if all you care about is the university’s bottom line, losing $10,000 at the restaurant can be worth it if the alternative is to make the campus so unpleasant that you’ve got to start offering higher wages to keep people around.
Note:ILPIACEVOLE RISTORANTE DELL UNIVERSITA CHIUSO X DEFICIT

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if we accept the logic that led to the restaurant closure—that each division is to be judged by its individual profits—then the first thing we should do is close the library.
Note:CHE FACCIAMO?CHIUDIAMO ANCHE LA BIBLIOTECA?

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Pick a stock at random, tell 256 people its price is about to go up, and tell another 256 it’s about to go down. After a week, when one of your forecasts has proved accurate, take the 256 people who got the accurate forecast, divide them into two groups of 128, tell one group that some other randomly chosen stock is about to go up and tell the other that the same stock is about to go down. After another week, you’ve provided 128 people with two accurate forecasts in a row. Divide them into two groups of 64, and repeat. Pretty soon you’re down to 8 people who have heard you make six accurate forecasts in a row. Tell them that if they want your next forecast, they’ll have to pay for it.
UN METODO X FAR SOLDI

IL BASTONE E LA CAROTA

Riccardo Mariani

Adesso · 

IL BASTONE E LA CAROTA

Funziona con i figli?

C’è chi dice sì: se punisco chi fa male noto miglioramenti.

C’è chi dice no: se premio chi fa bene noto che si siede sugli allori.

Entrambi sbagliano: che chi faccia particolarmente male migliori è normale, come che chi faccia particolarmente bene peggiori.

Mai sopravvalutare i poteri del bastone o sottovalutare quelli della carota!

AMAZON.COM

Can You Outsmart an Economist?: 100+ Puzzles to Train Your Brain

“Will delight and inform anyone who enjoys rigorous thinking and the unexpected conclusions it delivers.” — Jamie Whyte, author of Crimes Against Logic “This ingenious gallop through the mind of Steven Landsburg enables you to think like an economist without incurring a Ke...

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PERCHE’ I PROFESSORI PIU’ BELLI SONO ANCHE I MIGLIORI?

Riccardo Mariani

19 min · 

PERCHE’ I PROFESSORI PIU’ BELLI SONO ANCHE I MIGLIORI?

Quando sono gli studenti a dare i voti ai prof. vincono regolarmente i più belli. Per molti questa è un’evidenza di inaffidabilità. E’ vero invece il contrario, la maggiore qualità dei “belli” – almeno nella classe docente - è proprio cio’ che ci dobbiamo aspettare: ci sono molti mestieri che valorizzano la bellezza, le persone che, pur avendo un aspetto gradevole, vi rinunciano in favore dell’insegnamento hanno, evidentemente, una particolare passione per quello che fanno.

AMAZON.COM

Can You Outsmart an Economist?: 100+ Puzzles to Train Your Brain

“Will delight and inform anyone who enjoys rigorous thinking and the unexpected conclusions it delivers.” — Jamie Whyte, author of Crimes Against Logic “This ingenious gallop through the mind of Steven Landsburg enables you to think like an economist without incurring a Ke...

Mi piaceVedi altre reazioni

AUGURI E FIGLI MASCHI

Riccardo Mariani

Adesso · 

AUGURI E FIGLI MASCHI

Le coppie preferiscono avere un figlio maschio. Tre indizi:

1. Chi ha un figlio maschio fuori dal matrimonio ha più probabilità di sposarsi.

2. Chi ha un figlio maschio nel matrimonio ha meno probabilità di divorziare.

3. Chi ha un figlio ha più probabilità di farne un altro se il primo è femmina.

L’obiezione più comune: nel mondo delle adozioni sono più richieste le femmine.

Ma questa non è un’obiezione! Anzi, rafforza la tesi della preferenza per i maschietti: un maschietto verrà abbandonato solo se molto problematico. Chi cerca di adottare queste cose le sa (o le intuisce) e la preferenza per figli non problematici supera di gran lunga quella per figli maschi.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0795DRM3L

Insetti

L’incubo dell’animalista dovrebbero essere gli insetti, anche loro in fondo sono animali.

Le nostre auto ne uccidono a trilioni ma la cosa sembra lasciarlo indifferente. Anzi, collabora attivamente alla carneficina senza muovere obiezioni morali, quando per una gallina d’allevamento s’ immolerebbe. Il solo camminare di un vegano rischia di mietere vittime ma io non ho mai sentito da lui spendere una parola di formale condanna per aver generato tanta sofferenza nel mondo.

Viene naturale pensare che se anche i più scrupolosi difensori dei diritti degli animali cadono in tali contraddizioni nemmeno loro credano fino in fondo alla causa che professano. Questo che porto non sarà un argomento logico decisivo ma, nell’impasse della diatriba animalista, puo’ essere il fattore decisivo. Un po’ come l’affare dei preti pedofili: sono fatti che non scalfiscono la verità del cattolicesimo ma di fatto infliggono un duro colpo alla Chiesa.

Ma gli insetti soffrono sul serio? Per risolvere l’arcano, di solito, l’animalista si attiene ai dati comportamentali, alla presenza di un sistema nervoso appropriato e al fatto che la sofferenza sia un fattore utile all’evoluzione di quella creatura. Gli insetti sembrerebbero avere i tre i requisiti richiesti. Forse il loro sistema nervoso con è esattamente quello di una vacca ma la cosa è compensata dal numero delle vittime (vogliamo dire che 1000 insetti valgono una vacca?).

Se anche ci fossero dubbi in merito alla sofferenza dell’insetto la cosa sembrerebbe irrilevante poiché l’animalista è un cultore del principio di precauzione, e in caso di dubbio è tenuto ad astenersi.

A noi anti-animalisti gli insetti non fanno né caldo né freddo, da questo punto di vista siamo a posto con la nostra coscienza. Tu, animalista, mi accusi di non dar troppo peso all’intelligenza delle galline, e io ho gioco facile nell’accusarti di non darne all’intelligenza dell’insetto.

L’animalista puo’ sempre svicolare dicendo che considera microscopica l’intelligenza di un insetto rispetto a quella di una gallina, talmente microscopica che non puo’ essere compensata nemmeno dal numero più elevato di vittime, ma così facendo si mette nella condizione ideale per comprendere quel che dico quando sostengo che l’intelligenza di una gallina è microscopica rispetto a quella dell’uomo, talmente microscopica da essere praticamente irrilevante in termini di sofferenza.

A questo punto, però, ho posto un legame tra intelligenza, sofferenza e doveri morali e l’animalista avveduto potrebbe pormi l’ imbarazzante quesito che segue:

Supponiamo che tu pensi che la sofferenza degli animali non abbia importanza perché gli animali mancano di capacità cognitive sofisticate, intelligenza, ragionamento astratto e così via. Ora immagina di sapere che perderai presto e per sempre quelle capacità. Hai un tumore al cervello che ti renderà stupido, ti impedirà di cogliere concetti minimamente complessi, le essenze universali o qualsiasi altra cosa che nemmeno un animale puo’ comprendere. Domanda: una volta che questo accadrà potrò torturarti? Trovi che sia corretto per me  farlo? Non ti preoccupare, sarai stupido, quindi niente di tutto ciò ti infliggerà sofferenze.

Effettivamente la cosa è imbarazzante: se rispondo di sì, tutto ok. Ma io voglio rispondere di no! Purtroppo, se lo faccio, indirettamente supporto i diritti degli animali: creature ritenute dai più talmente stupide da poter essere torturate e uccise.

Il fatto è che per me un uomo non andrebbe mai torturato, anche se trattasi di un ritardato mentale. Per questo sono in imbarazzo: da un lato vorrei rispondere no, dall’altro non posso negare la rilevanza dell’intelligenza in tutto questo affare.

Fortunatamente questo imbarazzo lo conosce bene anche l’animalista quando si ritrova ad affrontare la questione degli insetti: come stabilire le specie animali da proteggere attribuendo loro dei diritti? La PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals), per esempio, ipotizza due vie: 1) o tiriamo una riga netta nelle specie ordinate gerarchicamente per complessità dei sistemi nervosi o 2) postuliamo una scalacontinua nella capacità di sentire il dolore stabilendo poi caso per caso il comportamento moralmente idoneo. La prima via è necessariamente arbitraria, la seconda implica trattamenti differenziati all’interno della stessa specie animale. Pensiamo al trattamento differenziato tra gli uomini: alcuni soggetti possono essere torturati in quanto più stupidi, altri no. E’ una situazione ripugnante! Per questo la tradizione utilizza il metodo della “riga” che, per quanto arbitrario, evita il razzismo inter-specie. Ora, così come la tradizione ha tirato una riga tra l’uomo e gli altri animali, vegani e vegetariani sembrano averla tirata giusto sopra gli insetti. Perché mai dovremmo passare da un arbitrio all’altro? Perché anziché passare da arbitrio ad arbitrio non ci uniformiamo alla tradizione restando fedeli alla vecchia “riga” sulla quale abbiamo fondato la nostra civiltà?

Gli insetti dipinti in anamorfosi dall’artista di strada Odeith

P.S. Mike Huemer ha in cantiere un libro per rispondere all’obiezione degli insetti originariamente sollevata da Bryan Caplan. E’ da lui che ho tratto l’ “imbarazzante questi” di cui sopra.