Should I edit the comment, remove all the numbers, and prefix it with “Suppose one did this empirical work, and it came out this way. Then gun control would be bad.” Would that be an improvement?
Depends on how exactly would you edit the comment. But if you mean removing the numbers but leaving there your conclusion that gun control would be bad, then certainly it wouldn’t be an improvement. Overall I am not suggesting that you should edit the comment, once you have written it.
Cheaper means of signalling? Signalling can’t be cheap, or it wouldn’t be signalling.
Are you suggesting that there can’t be differently priced means of signalling? (Note that I am not refering only to signalling wealth, which has to be expensive. But adherence to a specific community subculture can be signalled quite cheaply. For an extreme example consider proponents of “alternative lifestyles” who often try to visibly minimise their spending to signal their distaste for mainstream consumerism.)
Given that all the problems you pointed out (and your accusation of bias) are on one side, and not having read anything else you’ve written on the subject, p=0.9 you favour an increase in gun regulation. Am I correct?
Not really. I don’t live in the U.S. and have no opinion on that matter. In my country gun regulation exists to some extent but it is politically a non-issue. Most people (me included) don’t even know how easy or difficult it is to legally buy a gun and most people (me included) don’t have any opinion about gun regulation, one way or another. (Anyway, why it is interesting whether I favour increased gun regulation or not?)
Regarding the heroin example: The point was to illustrate that when considering banning X, the pre-ban market value of X isn’t a particularly good measure of loss resulting from the ban. The market value of existing X may greater than the loss from all negative consequences of X, but it still doesn’t necessarily imply that destroying all X makes humanity worse off. If the post-ban society ceases to value X (as in the hypothetical heroin example, the former addicts no longer value the drug), it can spend resources formerly invested into X on something else. (Disclaimer: the heroin example as presented is clearly unrealistic for several reasons; I have chosen it because it is a case where it’s especially clear that the good in question loses almost all its market value after an effective ban makes it unavailable.)
Edit: Do you realise that this
Yes, I thought of this. I think it’s unlikely to be an effect in the real world, where a ban would be least-likely to disarm criminals.
is in conflict with your stated assumption that all gun-related violence would magically stop?
Depends on how exactly would you edit the comment. But if you mean removing the numbers but leaving there your conclusion that gun control would be bad, then certainly it wouldn’t be an improvement. Overall I am not suggesting that you should edit the comment, once you have written it.
Are you suggesting that there can’t be differently priced means of signalling? (Note that I am not refering only to signalling wealth, which has to be expensive. But adherence to a specific community subculture can be signalled quite cheaply. For an extreme example consider proponents of “alternative lifestyles” who often try to visibly minimise their spending to signal their distaste for mainstream consumerism.)
Not really. I don’t live in the U.S. and have no opinion on that matter. In my country gun regulation exists to some extent but it is politically a non-issue. Most people (me included) don’t even know how easy or difficult it is to legally buy a gun and most people (me included) don’t have any opinion about gun regulation, one way or another. (Anyway, why it is interesting whether I favour increased gun regulation or not?)
Regarding the heroin example: The point was to illustrate that when considering banning X, the pre-ban market value of X isn’t a particularly good measure of loss resulting from the ban. The market value of existing X may greater than the loss from all negative consequences of X, but it still doesn’t necessarily imply that destroying all X makes humanity worse off. If the post-ban society ceases to value X (as in the hypothetical heroin example, the former addicts no longer value the drug), it can spend resources formerly invested into X on something else. (Disclaimer: the heroin example as presented is clearly unrealistic for several reasons; I have chosen it because it is a case where it’s especially clear that the good in question loses almost all its market value after an effective ban makes it unavailable.)
Edit: Do you realise that this
is in conflict with your stated assumption that all gun-related violence would magically stop?