Taking the modern for nature: methodological individualism as an interesting mistake

Abstract

Marx claims that what early modern writers took as the isolated individual in nature, was actually the individual in modern civil society. This is a mistake, but an interesting one. The paper traces the idea of the methodological individualist isolated individual in Hobbes, Locke, Bentham, Austrian and neoclassical economics. The idea is untenable because it prevents a distinction between the individual and the economy in which it supposedly pursues its interest. But the mistake pushes beyond itself, pointing to a tenable alternative, plural individuality. The alternative view is thus grounded in its contrary, rather than simply rejecting it.     

略论产品责任和产品质量责任之比较

产品责任是一种特殊的民事侵权责任.分散在《产品质量法》、《消费者权益保护法》、《民法通则》等法律中的相关法律条款构建了我国的产品责任制度.与产品责任相比,产品质量责任是由我国《产品质量法》新规定的一个概念,两者的性质不能等同.笔者认为从法律责任的概念以及相关法律条文的规定来看,产品质量责任应当是一种公法责任.     

Is Trade Good for Your Health?*

We use a panel of 219 countries to examine the relationship between a country’s openness to international trade and several health outcomes and find that, in general, increased openness is associated with lower rates of infant mortality and higher life expectancies, especially in developing countries. We find evidence suggesting that some of the positive correlation between trade and health can be attributed to knowledge spillovers. In addition, openness is associated with sound economic policies which themselves are related to better health outcomes.     

Litigation,liability, and incentives for care

In this paper, potential injurers are subject to a negligence standard and differ in cost of taking care; in the event of accident, the injurer's degree of care is private information in litigation that follows. Award of damages for pain and suffering will lead to a general increase in care and hence reduce the likehood of accident. A tighter negligence standard will lead some potential injurers to take more care and others to take less. Adoption of a rule under which the loser at trial must pay the litigation costs of the winner will reduce the pressure for punitive damages.