Comments on: The Next Debt Ceiling Debate: Too Ugly to Write About

By: Misaki

Misaki — Sun, 20 May 2012 22:20:59 +0000

>and to say hello to even deeper cuts in discretionary programs to help the least advantaged.

See for example comments on this article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2146545/Man-fathered-30-kids-11-different-women-says-needs-break–child-support.html#comments

By: Misaki

Misaki — Sun, 20 May 2012 22:09:24 +0000

But that’s not the Aloha spirit~

By: luko

luko — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:30:48 +0000

There won’t be a debt ceiling fight if Romney wins. They will all act like the debt ceiling is irrelevant and quickly pass a bill. You know that’s true and what is so maddening about it is they know it’s true as well.

By: jonathan

jonathan — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:29:14 +0000

Game theory says more explicitly that when there’s no trust you act in your own interests. In the prisoner dilemma, it means you defect or confess to get the lesser sentence because you must assume the other guy will do the same and that the middle sentence is the likely outcome. It isn’t that you get the best outcome, which is the lightest sentence.

I’m not sure that game theory has much to say except Obama and the Democrats need to understand their positions very well while assuming irrationality and unreliability. It may be, for example, that the GOP will make noise about compromise down the road and then be unable to deliver publicly because their electoral base makes them unreliable cooperators.

In most game play, the winning long term strategy is a combination of nice until hurt. The always aggressive play wins in short rounds but loses over time to those who cooperate but who retaliate when betrayed. I’m talking computer simulation. In this case, the GOP has betrayed so the standard game simulation moves to retaliation.

By: foosion

foosion — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:35:42 +0000

-remember when the Rs railed against uncertainty? Now they’re creating it

-how can you negotiate with someone who doesn’t keep his word?

-the Rs are more convincing that they’ll blow up the economy, which gives them an advantage. This is generally known as the madman theory of negotiating

Would the Rs threaten armageddon if they thought Romney will win? Hard to say. Probably not, but they could always reverse course later and count on neither the media nor the public noticing

Can it be said often enough that you can’t both be in favor of deficit reduction and be in favor of extending the Bush tax cuts forever, at least, not if you want to preserve anything resembling a functioning government. Plus little details like we need spending on education, infrastructure, etc. to grow the economy or that we don’t so much have a deficit problem as a healthcare problem. Without a growing economy, we can’t pay debt and without fixing healthcare we’re doomed.