Monday, November 28, 2011
Europe's Problems Summed Up:
• Pythagorean theorem: .......... 24 words
• Lord's prayer: .......... 66 words
• Archimedes' Principle: .......... 67 words
• Ten Commandments: .......... 179 words
• Gettysburg address: .......... 286 words
• US Declaration of Independence: .......... 1,300 words
• US Constitution with 27 Amendments: .......... 7,818 words
• EU regulations on the sale of cabbage: .......... 26,911 words
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3 comments:
I think at least one of the problems is that regulations and laws usually have to be verbose. People keep trying to get around them.
Well, with the cabbage example, I cannot see where a moral hazard *need* exist. It is in the sellers interest to get the best quality cabbage at the lowest price. General property law covers basic theft moral hazard, and general food traceability to source covers health hazard shortcuts. The problem is when (Europeans are classic for this) an attempt is made to make the system *more* fair than a free market. Once you start subsidizing, moral hazard magically appears in the form of scoring more subsidy by fiddling the figures. The loopholes just keep following every new law ad infinitum. It becomes well past the point where the average citizen can be reasonably expected to keep track of their obligations.
Schopenhauer's "Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung", 251,847 words. That's the *real* problem.
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