Saturday, December 25, 2010

Goodhart's Law

Goodhart's Law
Created: 1975.
Named after: Charles Goodhart, Bank of England Advisor and London School of Economics' Professor Emeritus.
The Law: "Once a social or economic measure is turned into a target for policy, it will lose any information content that had qualified it to play such a role in the first place."
More.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Nolan Chart



The Nolan Chart
Created: 1971.
Named after: David Nolan, founder of the Libertarian party
The Law: "The graph has two axes: one labeled economic freedom and the other called personal freedom. Under Mr. Nolan’s scheme, Libertarians dwell in the corner of the graph where both kinds of freedom are greatest. His hope was to persuade people to think of politics as a debate between libertarian and authoritarian positions rather than as one between the traditional left and right."
More and more.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Salem Hypothesis

The Salem Hypothesis
Created: Unknown.
Named after: Bruce Salem.
The Hypothesis: "A description of an observed correlation between scientists who profess a belief in creation and the engineering disciplines."
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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Godwin's Law

Godwin's Law
Created: 1989.
Named after: Mike Godwin, lawyer.
The Law: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."
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Monday, November 15, 2010

Joseph's Law

Joseph's Law
Created: 2009.
Named after: Peter Joseph.
The Law: That everyone deserves a law named after them.