Reading

Created
Sat, 27/01/2018 - 10:39
In Memory of Tamara Lothian

Tamara Lothian passed away in 2016, leaving behind two nearly finished books. The first of these works, Law and the Wealth of Nations: Finance, Prosperity, and Democracy, was published in 2017. On January 26, 2018, Duncan Kennedy, Mark Barenberg, Christine Desan, Robert Hockett, and Sanjay Reddy discussed Law and the Wealth of Nations, their friendship with Tamara, and what we can learn from her work. The panel was recorded and the video will be available soon.

Created
Sun, 31/12/2017 - 22:50

Earlier this year, in February, I wrote a blog post encouraging people to donate to where I work, Software Freedom Conservancy. I've not otherwise blogged too much this year. It's been a rough year for many reasons, and while I personally and Conservancy in general have accomplished some very important work this year, I'm reminded as always that more resources do make things easier.

Created
Mon, 25/12/2017 - 20:18

| Here I am starting again with another fresh blog. | My aims for this thing have changed once again. Now I’m using Nikola, a python based static site generator. It’s a bit more complex than I really wanted but I’m less inclined to build my own scripts these …

Created
Mon, 27/11/2017 - 07:30
Donald Trump and the Republicans are trying to restrict American freedom and destroy the Internet as we know it. They want to hand control of a crucial public resource – the Internet – over to corporations. These corporations will then be able to restrict the flow of information, effectively censor voices of dissent, and charge […]
Created
Thu, 21/09/2017 - 10:49

Dear Friend,

Since the 2008 Financial Crisis, macroeconomic issues have taken center stage in world politics. Increasingly, to understand what is going on in the world around them, students, academics and citizens need to grapple with questions and concepts relating to monetary and financial system design. The traditional economics curriculum and orthodox analysis is not well equipped to impart even a basic understanding of such issues.

Created
Thu, 21/09/2017 - 09:20

This panel explores the relationship between the Modern Money perspective and policy perspectives on corporate power, especially the power of financial institutions. How does understanding money recontextualize our understanding of corporate power? What approaches to regulating corporate power become more or less viable from a Modern Money perspective?

Created
Thu, 21/09/2017 - 08:59

This panel explores the legal and technological dimensions of contemporary payments systems, including the relationship between monetary law and federal budget policy, the role of safe assets in financial market design, and the implications of digital payments technology for macroeconomic regulation and the preservation of individual freedom.

Created
Thu, 21/09/2017 - 08:46

This panel explores the relationship between Modern Monetary Theory and legal theory, as well as the role of legal professionals in the MMT community, and lessons from prior law & economics movements for the development and operationalization of MMT ideas.

Created
Tue, 04/07/2017 - 05:40

It's fortunately more common now in Free Software communities today to properly value contributions from non-developers. Historically, though, contributions from developers were often overvalued and contributions from others grossly undervalued. One person trailblazed as (likely) the earliest non-developer contributor to software freedom. His name was Robert J. Chassell — called Bob by his friends and colleagues. Over the weekend, our community lost Bob after a long battle with a degenerative illness.

I am one of the few of my generation in the Free Software community who had the opportunity to know Bob. He was already semi-retired in the late 1990s when I first became involved with Free Software, but he enjoyed giving talks about Free Software and occasionally worked the FSF booths at events where I had begun to volunteer in 1997. He was the first person to offer mentorship to me as I began the long road of becoming a professional software freedom activist.

Created
Tue, 18/04/2017 - 17:21

I had worked a night shift. The dog woke me at lunch time. Re must have just left for work. I tried to sleep more but I was awake. I took the dog down the beach for a walk. Picked up some beer, food and milk on the way home …