Thursday, November 17, 2011

Is 'Harper Government' Ideology Pareto Optimal?

Any change that makes at least one individual better off and none worse off is an improvement in social welfare. A change that makes none better off and some worse off is a worsening of social welfare.
Kelvin Lancaster, Introduction To Modern Microeconomics, Second Edition, p, 299

After watching the 'Harper Government' in majority action in the House of Commons since the beginning of this Parliament, we have seen blind, raging, insane ideology in action. But to be fair the Oracle of Ottawa went to the original sources to identify and define this evil, so you don't have to. The best short definition with the source of the word is found in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). I have included the definitions below.

Can't happen in Canada?

1. The science of ideas; that department of philosophy or psychology which deals with the origin and nature of ideas. 
2. Ideal or abstract speculation; in a depreciatory sense, unpractical or visionary theorizing or speculation. 
The word is of French origin. It first appeared in print in 1796 -1797. And the names associated with its origin are Destutt de Tracy and Condillac.

Wait for it...

Now the expression Pareto Optimal originates with Vilfredo Pareto a philosopher and economist of the late 19th and early 20th century. A real interesting guy, but his original works are very scarce on the ground, so I used what I had on hand for this blog post epigraph. Now all the major legislation that the 'Harper Government' has introduced has one common characteristic; they all have reverse Pareto Optimality!
The elimination of the Per Vote Subsidy, the Omnibus Crime Bill, the killing of the Canadian Wheat Board and well, all the other legislation are things that make nobody better off and will actually leave many people much worse off. This is of course a worsening of social welfare. And years down the road as well as today this is a dark and ominous sign that Canada is changing into some other country...


Pass the Long Gun Registry records! The first "book burning" of the 21st century?

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