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Re:California Approves Statewide Rent Control by cryptoz on Wednesday September 11, 2019 @11:28PM (#20947644)
I think your illustration has failed, though, because I would very much choose b). I consider a) as an evil in the world and would avoid participating in that if at all possible. b) sounds like a really good choice for long-term investment in in sustainable society.

> All else being equal

Okay but all else is not equal, and in the real world, it is never equal. These thought experiments do nothing to improve conditions in the real world, since they are based on flawed models of how people behave.

Re:California Approves Statewide Rent Control by aianus on Wednesday September 11, 2019 @11:35PM (#20947680)
> Okay but all else is not equal, and in the real world, it is never equal. These thought experiments do nothing to improve conditions in the real world, since they are based on flawed models of how people behave.

By that logic, nothing affects anything else and we should all give up trying to think or plan.

Re:California Approves Statewide Rent Control by cryptoz on Thursday September 12, 2019 @12:08AM (#20947866)
I don't agree. We know that people are not 'rational actors' that maximize personal profit at every turn, and we should not base our economics around that known false idea.

I think it is wise to produce better models with new information - not to ignore everything or to knowingly use false models. People do not - and should not - act according to those 'rational' ideas of maximum profit.