tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273966612024-03-07T18:52:31.911-05:00Searching for Truth"Search for Truth is search for God. Truth is God. God is because Truth is."- Mahatma GandhiIan Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-13466090298485765042010-02-07T03:16:00.002-05:002010-02-07T03:18:20.478-05:00Profit from an Islamic perspectives: Catholic Response to Zubair HasanThis snowy weekend I was reading essays on profit when I stumbled upon Zubair Hasan’s Theory of profit from Islamic perspective. It is a quick informative read that finished with a conclusion I do not agree with. “In sum, for formulating an integrated operational profit theory let profit be defined as a surplus over cost, the firm not the entrepreneur be made the focal point of its studyIan Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-85075923443208593452010-01-11T01:16:00.001-05:002010-01-11T01:17:27.064-05:00Political Economy of Harry Potter: Ministry of MagicThe 2000’s have been a decade of Harry Potter. Although the series has finished, the story continues through the movies, and the love for the story spreads. Interestingly enough, a main theme through out the series has been the error in the Ministry of Magic who continuously undermine one of the most powerful greatest Wizard of all time. The lesson? Government failure and their disillusion that Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-59211420277010299332009-09-17T10:25:00.003-04:002009-09-17T10:37:26.251-04:00Raising a child: Immediate solutions vs long term costsAfter having a child, many people will come to you with advice. One of the main ones I have continued to hear is to not let your child get used to sleeping with you in your bed.Yes, it maybe a solution to you finding some rest, but the some rest today, maybe the future loss of rest in the future when the child at an older age still feels comfortable sleeping in bed with his parents.Now this Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-68519662913228956572009-06-15T10:43:00.004-04:002009-06-15T13:36:07.054-04:00Rocky and EconomicsI have been stating that the Rocky series are some of the best films ever.There have been books written about the economics and philosophies behind The Lord of the Rings, Matrix, and Star Wars series. Why has Rocky not made the list??Rocky on comparative advantage: Yeah -- My ol' man who was never the sharpest told me -- I weren't born with much brain so I better use my body. Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-32411995565587505192009-04-14T17:04:00.000-04:002009-04-14T17:05:10.143-04:00Capitalism and Death ChallengeThere have been many comments in recent threads across the net (such as this one) stating that to find the problem with abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, etc one must simply follow the trail of money.Let me first define money in economical terms.Money is aGoodMedium of ExchangeStandard of ValueStore of ValueDo they believe the "Culture of Death"to be a product of capitalism?Why Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-68893392881159370632009-04-14T17:03:00.000-04:002009-04-14T17:04:00.186-04:00Critique of Capitalism by Hilaire BellocHilaire Belloc on Industrial Capitalism.Some quotes from his essay."It is equally clear that the more Catholic a country is, the less easily does it accommodate itself to the social arrangement of a proletariat subjected to millionaire monopolists." "There is the point of Usury, which I have dealt with elsewhere, there is the all-important point of the Just Price, there is the point of the "Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-5870272323275852792009-04-06T15:32:00.001-04:002009-04-08T09:17:08.250-04:00Was Pope John Paul II in support of Capitalism?This article advocates that he was not. It has many arguments but let us begin with solidarity.One paragraph in the article states:"John Paul II criticized the economic systems that lacked solidarity, lacked the biblical and Catholic vision of the “option or love of preference for the poor ,” a phrase coined by Latin American theologians and later refined, which eventually became a key concept ofIan Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-37037144056361708052009-04-02T08:51:00.001-04:002009-04-08T09:17:08.268-04:00In Memory of Pope John Paul II - Update 4/3It was four years ago today when Pope John Paul II left us for the heavenly kingdom.Let us pray for him today for his Beatification process so that we may know that he is in Heaven with our heavenly Father.Let us also take a moment to reflect on his life's work and perhaps receive a chance to browse through the Vatican's website on him filled with his many homilies, encyclicals, and other Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-30260863159824703482009-03-24T14:45:00.001-04:002009-04-08T09:17:08.282-04:00Milton Friedman on GreedEarlier I had proposed a question on greed.Milton Friedman responds.Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-34588715666995120612009-03-20T10:14:00.001-04:002009-04-08T09:17:08.292-04:00Thursday Evening HighlightUpon reading Fulton Sheen's You, I get to chapter "How You Are Re-made?" which has a great ending.Do not fear God with a servile fear, for perfect love casts out such fear. Be bold enough then to believe that God is on your side, even when you forget to be on His. Live your life not by law, but by love. As St. Augustine put: "Love God and then do whatever you please." For if you love God, you Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-17037489972754492802009-03-17T10:23:00.001-04:002009-04-08T09:17:08.300-04:00Love and Economics on Econ Log with Bryan CaplanBryan Caplan, professor of economics at GMU, blogs at EconLog and he raises questions on Jennifer Roback Morse's book Love and Economics.Why do I link it here?Morse defines herself as a Catholic first, a parent second, and an economist third.With priorities like this, why shouldn't we look into her work more.She also rebuts Caplan and others in the comments.Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-58292705688855058082009-03-12T11:10:00.001-04:002009-04-08T09:17:08.308-04:00Cardinal Fulton Sheen ChallengeThe fact is: you want to be perfectly happy, but you are not. Your life has been a series of disappointments, shocks, and disillusionments. How have you reacted to your disappointments? Either you became cynical or else you became religious. If you became cynical, you blamed things rather than yourself. [....] In every instance, you made happiness extrinsic to yourself. No wonder you are never Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-54085012492812833302009-03-10T10:30:00.001-04:002009-04-08T09:17:08.326-04:00Three Sentence Challenge: UpdateI answer the question I had raised end of last week.Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-24646495255528318752009-03-09T12:02:00.001-04:002009-04-08T09:17:08.347-04:00Obama orders funding embryo stem cellI watched the signing ceremony on CNBC for President Obama's "lauded and historic" signing; an executive order to allow federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.Larry Kudlow following the signing quickly added, "This is a bad idea. I have moral and religious objections to this type of stem cell research. It's a hot button issue. I'm not objecting to having private investment in the free Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-33303579759199062782009-03-05T13:36:00.001-05:002009-04-08T09:17:08.334-04:00Three Sentence Challenge, Encyclical Edition : UPDATELet us say the Holy Father is working on his new encyclical and needs assistance in his economic thought.He will take three sentences from anyone.What would you write?Update:I had made the challenge, but I had not given my own three sentences.Incentives matterInstitutions (rules of the game) matterPrice controls do not only have short term effects but long term effects.I think if Frederick Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-79790208351247202092009-03-05T09:34:00.001-05:002009-04-08T09:17:08.354-04:00Any system built on Greed will fail...I look forward to this new encyclical with each passing word of its coming.Morals are an important issue that should be addressed.The question will be, do most Catholics believe that Capitalism is based on greed?I know there are economic professors who teach that greed is good, but as Catholics, we recognize greed as one of the Seven Deadly Sins.Are professors and Catholics discussing two Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-2843055600257636652009-03-03T17:15:00.001-05:002009-04-08T09:17:08.361-04:00Catholicism and the SciencesMany are still taught today that Galileo went against the Catholic Church when he proclaimed the Earth went around the sun. This is false, and that it is still taught / believed is very troublesome.Truth is that many Catholics shared this belief of a helio-centric universe. It was Galileo's interpretation of scripture that caused the troubles, we all read about in history books.Find more Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-85835871494650196852009-03-02T09:01:00.001-05:002009-04-08T09:17:08.368-04:00Pigou Club for Children?If I'm a Green Puritan it makes sense. Children impose a negative environmental externality. Therefore, the social cost of a child is greater than the private cost. So we draw our little externality graph, and pick Q*, and tax each additional child for n >2 to get the "socially optimal" number of children. With moral and economic understanding like this, I wouldn't be surprised to see it Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-82472976168153354842009-02-28T23:11:00.001-05:002009-04-08T09:17:08.380-04:00A new Social Encyclical to be comingPope Benedict XVI is working on a new encyclical on macro and micro economic policies.Can find more info here.What do you expect Pope Benedict XVI to address in this encyclical?Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-15321862373857272222009-02-27T13:40:00.001-05:002009-04-08T09:17:08.387-04:00Signs and Symbols Help to CommunicateMan is an empirical being. We have been given our senses to learn things through our interaction with the world. Many philosophers try to use this as the staple to their thought, but man is not simply a body. We have a soul.This is the notion that we begin to understand once we begin studying Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body.Our Lord, Jesus Christ, has given us certain Sacraments so that Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-43651054769341073712009-02-26T09:01:00.001-05:002009-04-08T09:17:08.394-04:00Archbishop Chaput on Catholic Politcal VocationThis is the entire text of Archbishop Chaput's speech in Canada.It is well done and I recommend all to read it.It can be best summed with his concluding paragraphs:Anyone who hasn't noticed the despair in the world should probably go back to sleep. The word "hope" on a campaign poster may give us a little thrill of righteousness, but the world will still be a wreck when the drug wears off. We canIan Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-70760910832712378142009-02-25T23:14:00.001-05:002009-04-08T09:17:08.402-04:00Welcome Catholic Economists - Ash WednesdayIt is the final hour of Ash Wednesday. The beginning of Lent which prepares us for the death of Christ and the beginning of our freedom from sin. Today is the reminder for all Catholics that from dust we came and to dust we shall go. It is a reminder that death awaits us and that we should not be saddened by this fact but rejoice.This is an important fact because today we find ourselves in a Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-63115035854833843232009-02-19T09:09:00.008-05:002009-02-19T10:46:22.670-05:00Atlas may have Shrugged; Christ Did Not.In the Economic Way of Thinking blog (which if you hadn't already began reading, you should), Scott Beaulier cites Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. Below is the citation,FRANCISCO: “Mr. Rearden,” said Francisco, his voice solemnly calm, “if you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-37375754743499909452009-02-02T16:05:00.003-05:002009-02-02T17:10:10.498-05:00Prodigal ParentThis past summer I sat in a seminar with Jennifer Roback Morse leading to a discussion afterwards on parents leaving their children and then having to return.What's your take on the Prodigal Parent?Yes, mother, this one is to you...For those who don't know the story of the prodigal son, you can find it here.There are many points in the parable, but the easiest read is the reception in the return Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27396661.post-24207919401880921472009-01-23T11:56:00.003-05:002009-01-23T12:04:15.829-05:00A Challenge: Think you know Love?This morning I was listening to "Hey Ya" by Outkast. Popular song with a great beat and enthusiastic chorus, but there came a line that caused me to think for a bit.The line states that they say nothing is forever, so what makes love the exception?Can anyone answer the question risen by Andre 3000 in this song?If all things must come to an end, why do we expect our relationships to last forever?Ian Dunoishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10488129608396550503noreply@blogger.com0