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Essays on paternalism
Rational and non rational decision making
Essays on paternalism
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Regulation for Conservatives: Behavioral Economics and the Case for “Asymmetric Paternalism”
To begin to understand this article we must first define what the authors mean by asymmetric paternalism. According to the Oxford Dictionary, asymmetric is without symmetry or not divided equally. The definition of paternalism states that it is behaving in a paternal way or limiting freedom and responsibility by well-meant regulations. The authors state that the paternal regulations discussed are those developed on an individual basis. The regulations are designed so that those that are uneducated in a particular area are greatly benefited by the regulations, and those whom are already educated, or fully rational, are not affected by the regulation.
To explain asymmetric paternalism, the authors divide people into two groups, those who are fully rational, people with goals, preferences and make decision based on those that suit their own best interest, and those who are boundedly rational. The boundedly rational individuals are those who fail to act in their own best interests and fail to use self-control when making choices. The purpose of the article is to help evaluate regulations which are paternalistic and have the regulations designed so that the set limits and boundaries are the boundedly rational, to help them make choices in their best interest and not make mistakes, at the same time not affecting the rational individuals.
The authors focus on four types of policies that demonstrate examples of paternalism, default rules, provision or reframing of information, cooling off period, and the limiting of consumer choices. With defaults, the authors discuss status quo bias. This is the idea that individuals will stick with the status quo, or the existing rather than change even if the cost to change is low. The reasons for this are stated as loss aversion, omission/commission bias, and procrastination. The authors state that the status quo bias effects mostly the boundedly rational because for the fully rational the choice of defaults requires very little effort. Examples of the choices of defaults are more fully explained in the examples of insurance rights, and retirement savings.
The second example of paternalism is framing and information disclosure. This policy requires businesses to provide “seemingly irrelevant additional information.” Since the rational individuals have no need for the additional information, they can simply ignore it. At the same time the boundedly rational individual can benefit greatly from the information. In order to illustrate this concept, the authors give an example of the lottery.
Lastly, the Hammurabi Code allowed parents to “rule” over their children and allowed adults to be more important than their kids. First off, children would be put into slavery if they disrespected their parents! Children had to be cautious of their actions, because whatever they did could result in punishment. Secondly, if a parent committed a crime, their child could be killed. The child could be completely innocent but still be put to death. Lastly, parents were in charge of the estate issues in the house. If parents were divorced, the kids would have no say in where they wished to go. Overall, children were considered property of their parents and did not get as much freedom as adults.
“the exercise of that authority is curbed and shaped by the concern of government officials for its possible adverse effects of business, since adverse effects can cause unemployment and other consequences that government officials are unwilling to accept. In other areas of public policy, the authority of government is again curbed and shaped by concern for possible adverse effects of business” (Lindblom page 178).
The Crusades were one of the most prominent events in Western European history; they were not discrete and unimportant pilgrimages, but a continuous stream of marching Western armies (Crusaders) into the Muslim world, terminating in the creation and eventually the fall of the Islamic Kingdoms. The Crusades were a Holy War of Roman Christianity against Islam, but was it really a “holy war” or was it Western Europe fighting for more land and power? Through Pope Urban II and the Roman Catholic Church’s actions, their proposed motivations seem unclear, and even unchristian. Prior to the Crusades, Urban encouraged that Western Europe fight for their religion but throughout the crusades the real motivations shone though; the Crusaders were power hungry, land coveting people who fought with non Christian ideals and Morales.
Decision-making would be so much easier if we all maintained our autonomy in making the decision, however, because our decisions do not always abide by autonomistic values paternalistic intervention must occur. The purpose of autonomy is to allow us to choose to do things that affect only ourselves and does not negatively affect those around us. Unfortunately, many choices do, whether we know it or not, involve those in our environment. Paternalism is in place to protect the rights that are in our best interest and that will benefit us in the long run. Paternalistic intervention occurs when decisions are no longer in our best interests. If the decision is like to be regretted and irreversible in the future, paternalism is again justified. Autonomy is a fleeting concept, for as soon as someone chooses to do something that will later cause an addiction, his or her autonomy is lost. They no longer have the decision to do or not to do the action; it becomes a need.
Walmart is one of the most successful franchises of all time and continues to take fire from multiple angles, whether it’s about the costing of jobs, the wages, the health insurance, the small business destruction, or the environmental impact, but can always back itself up by negating those claims with facts that proves that it is beneficial to the community.
When analyzing a classic fairytale such as, Snow White, by the Brothers Grimm through a feminist lens, it is clear that it is a phallocentric fairytale that includes stereotypes, gender roles, the male gaze, and paternalism.
The amount of government regulation, restriction, and intervention in the economy is substantial. No free markets, and rapid innovations in technology and communications, the need for government intervention in the economy is necessary to correct abuses or to promote general welfare.
The question of what is the government’s role in regulating healthy and unhealthy behavior is one that would probably spark a debate every time. Originally, the role was to assist in regulating and ensure those that were unable to afford or obtain healthcare insurance for various reasons would be eligible for medical care. However, now it seems that politicians are not really concerned about what’s best for the citizens but woul...
In order for the crusades to begin, the Christians needed to gather an army to travel and fight the forces of Muslims. With all the power being held by monarchies at this time, the church needed to be cleaver in order to gain troops to put their lives on the line. To gain the support of these warriors and dedication of men, Pope Urban II (1088-1099) challenged those morals of men by telling them to grab their weapons and join the holy war to recover the land of Jerusalem. It was not the challenge that convinced men to take part in this war. The promise of “immediate remission of sins” attracted the men to stand up for their religion and beliefs while at the same time, promising them a trip to heaven when life comes to an end. With this statement, men instantly prepared for battle which in a very short period of time gave the church power which has been held by the monarchies. Men of rich and poor prepared for battle, some wearing ...
Paternalism, Goldman says, is never to obstruct an individual’s deeper long-range preference. He starts off with a scenario in which an individual who wants to go to New York is about to accidentally get on board a train going to Boston. A good Samaritan, who we may assume is aware of the individual’s intentions of going to New York, pushes that individual off the train, displaying a form of paternalism. In Goldman’s terms, this scenario depicts justified paternalism because it only sacrificed the individual’s immediate autonomy in order to preserve his deeper long-range preference. In this situation the individual only acted the way he did (board the train to Boston) due to ignorance. His intentions were always the same as his long-term preference, of going to New York. But Controversy arises when an individual’s immediate preferences don’t match up with his or her long-term preferences. In one circumstance, the individ...
The first cause of the crusades was the shift in Medieval European society. Up until the eleventh century Europe was in what many historians call the “Dark Ages”. It was during this time that Europe was under constant Viking raids from the North, Saracens from the South and Magyar’s from the East. Europe survived these and came out stronger than ever. With these threats gone, Europe’s society recovered quickly. The Italian City States built large trade fleets and took to the sea trading in ports all over the Mediterranean(Nelson 1). In the mainland, farmers began producing more food and raw materials that before now had been looted or burned by Vikings and other raiders. Religion also became more important as pilgrimages to holy places became more common. Europeans were no longer accepting their faith passively but had an urge to act on their beliefs and do something positive for their God(Nelson 2). Well Europe was having a comeback from centuries of raids and violence there was one problem. Europe wa...
Women did not control her own wealth, so therefore, a woman’s family wealth, was controlled by her father or her husband. Law 128 in the Code of Hammurabi states, “If a man take a wife and do not arrange with her the (proper) contracts, that woman is not a (legal) wife.”1 (Hammurabi 45). A woman would receive a dowry once she was married and left her family. A dowry is a financial gift such as money, property, or goods, which was a gift to her husband once they got married. Once a man married a woman, he then had access to the family’s dowry and the property, money, or goods were then, controlled by him. If the man were no longer married to the woman and if the woman died childless, then the dowry returned back to the father of her family. If the father has already passed away, then the dowry was returned to the woman’s brothers. If the woman had any children that were boys, then the boy, or brothers, would share equally2 (“WOMEN…”). If women wanted out of the marriage, then she would take the dowry with her and go back to her father’s house. The father would then receive the dowry back. Law 138 in the Code of Hammurabi says, “If a man would put away his wife who has not borne him children, he shall give her money to the amount of her marriage settlement and he shall make good to her the dowry which she brought from her father’s house and then he may put her away.”3 (Hammurabi 49). In reality
Whenever a huge corporation such as Walmart moves into an area with local stores and merchants, all of them are bound to go out of business because all the customers will be attracted to the huge selections and discount. There has been huge protest by these merchants and locals whenever a Walmart is being decided to be implanted there. This hurts their business which can make families go bankrupt and although it can create job opportunities within the Walmart but as you know Walmart has really bad working conditions such as no wages and unfair treatment. Walmart is also to be said to be the most poorly run and understaffed retail store. In previous studies Walmart was shown to be listed as the lowest in customer satisfaction. If you have visited a Walmart previously you might have seen the customers swarming over just 2 or 3 checkout lanes. In recent days Walmart has been better about this by opening more lanes up whenever there are more
This paper will explore the strict parenting whether it has positive effects or negative effects on children. Before I begin my discussion, I want to ask you a question. How do you define an authoritarian parent? In response to this question, you can think about someone who has a complete control over his or her children. According to Kendra Cherry, the author of “What Is Authoritarian Parenting?”, she explains that, “Authoritarian Parenting is a style characterized by high demands and low responsiveness.” In this sentence, authoritarian parenting, also known as helicopter parenting, is parents who force their children to follow their needs without any explanations, so their children must be under their regulations even though children do not
...ues come with a lot more disadvantages then advantages. Children of authoritarian parents are unhappy, and have low in self-esteem. They receive poor grades in school and they become bullies. These children become dependent and they have a very poor relationship with their parents because they are scared of them.