Peter Gratton

@petergratton.bsky.social

1.8K followers 740 following 5.1K posts

Peter Gratton, PhD, is an editor at Investopedia, book author, and professor of philosophy. He covers political theory, technology, finance, and political economy. Views are definitely my own.

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Philosophy 31%

Political science 24%

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Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 12h

I waver between thinking Debord, Virilio, and some others were prescient than "god these tech bros thought these were instructions."

Reposted by Will Jennings, Fabián Muniesa, Greg Linden , and 1 more Will Jennings, Fabián Muniesa, Greg Linden, Peter Gratton

Josh Spero @joshspero.ft.com · 20h

I would say this because I edited it but @mshannahmurphy.bsky.social's piece on tech bros founding their own for-profit cities really is unmissable reading www.ft.com/content/b127...

Tech elites are starting their own for-profit cities

They want to escape from regulation and ‘failing’ democracy — but are they more opportunistic than libertarian?

www.ft.com

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 1d

Really good point on Carol’s car—it’s a very well-thought-out series in terms of allegory. That helps accent her ethics of freedom—who is she to contest these people who seem so happy? Then the scenes with the “concubines” are difficult to watch, but throw the balance back toward her view.

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 1d

So the idea is, from the first ep, this was some alien race virus sent to pacify us (and literally eat ourselves)? Admittedly, I stopped thinking of the larger rationale since I was easy to distract with the freedom/commune as utopia/dystopia plotline.

Reposted by Peter Gratton

elias isquith @eliasisquith.blog · 1d

when i was a young and in college and first read ORIGINS OF TOTALITARIANISM i was a little surprised by just how much contempt and disdain arendt had for the intellectuals of her generation, especially when compared to the actual perpetrators of the atrocities, but now substack exists so i get it

Reposted by Peter Gratton

Maia @maiamindel.bsky.social · 3d

East Coast Straussians about West Coast Straussians: wow look at all these fun weirdos, i am gonna make a special scrap book of their ideas...omg do i have a crush?

West Coast Straussians about East Coast Straussians: look, these guys are all jews

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 4d

Could be the one big tech of my lifetime that wasn't said to be the great disruptor of education. (But maybe I forgot about the "great segway classroom" experiments.)

More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 4d

The co-founder of Kalshi says: " The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion."

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 5d

This NBER was updated just this past week. It suggests the real gains from holding stock come with movement into leadership: www.nber.org/papers/w34524

This paper documents that members of Congress exhibit significantly improved stock trading performance only after ascending to congressional leadership positions. Because competing for congressional leadership is largely driven by political ambition rather than personal trading gains, ascension serves as a plausibly exogenous shock to information access and influence, allowing us to estimate the causal effect of leadership status on trading outcomes. Prior to ascension, future leaders and matched non-leaders display similar returns. After ascension, however, leaders outperform their matched peers by up to 47 percentage points per year.

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 5d

No parent I know, including myself, of kids with differences doesn't talk about the endless paperwork, cajoling, calls, etc., plus meeting with "I took a course" decision-makers to get the basics of what the law requires.

Reposted by Peter Gratton

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 5d

Several new tech start-ups are building replicas of sites so A.I. can learn to use the internet and maybe replace white-collar workers.

Silicon Valley Builds Amazon and Gmail Copycats to Train A.I. Agents

Several new start-ups are building replicas of sites so A.I. can learn to use the internet and maybe replace white-collar workers.

nyti.ms

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 7d

One sees this all the time in philosophy classes. You might think it relevant there, but the assignment might be "Describe democracy in Aristotle's Politics" and then have to figure (as the instructor did here) a nice way to say "um, you can have your Biblical beliefs but the assignment is..."

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 7d

I imagine the ultimate Faustian bargain is "You get a podcast...but you have to edit it."

Reposted by Peter Gratton

Adam Gurri @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com · 7d

Thank you Justin! Now, between GoFundMe, our matched donation, and patrons, we're at $130k! An incredible first six days gofund.me/cea47f510

The Liberal Currents Startup Fund
Gofundme 91.1k
Met Matching 35k
Subscriptions 3.9k
Progress to Goal 26%
Goal 500k

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 7d

Someone on here noticed that students can't seem to follow directions post-AI. And my god, it's an issue like never in my grading. Hard to offer supportive comments to cushion the negatives when it's done completely wrong.

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 7d

Between this and the former Nicaraguan president’s pardons, they don’t even bother with a press release I’ve seen about righting some injustice. I’ll just take the opportunity to drop another related LC piece: www.liberalcurrents.com/the-grift-so...

The Grift Society

Where neoliberalism required at least the performance of adherence to impersonal rules, the grift economy revels in the scam of it all.

www.liberalcurrents.com

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 7d

The rhetoric is usually one of being almost a non political arbiter stepping in only to restore order. Thailand is an example that keeps coming into and out of constitutional order.

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 7d

We do in fact have various digital mapping services available here. The maps work fine. It's the streets that are the problem.

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 7d

Obv you know there are various Constitutional and legal mechanisms meant to enforce that norm (though the "enforce" part requires at least the threat of the use of force by the very thing meant to be subservient), but it's a fascinating discussion, crucial in histories of many regimes (Weimar, etc).

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 7d

Very convincing rhetoric for those who like getting rained on.

Reposted by Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, Kathleen Kennedy , and 1 more Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, Kathleen Kennedy, Peter Gratton

Brian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 8d

I really appreciate that @pbsnews.org ended the interview with this graphic.

It captures, in the simplest and starkest terms, the brutal arithmetic driving this country's homelessness catastrophe.

Graphic that reads: "The average hourly wage necessary to afford a one-bedroom apartment in the United States is $28.17. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25." -- National Low Income Housing Coalition

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth, Peter Gratton

Cat Manning @catacalypto.bsky.social · 8d

A story Stoppard told several times, in several places:

"Years and years ago, there was a production of The Tempest, out of doors, at an Oxford college on a lawn, which was the stage, and the lawn went back towards the lake in the grounds of the college, and the play began in natural light. But as it developed, and as it became time for Ariel to say his farewell to the world of The Tempest, the evening had started to close in and there was some artificial lighting coming on. And as Ariel uttered his last speech, he turned and he ran across the grass, and he got to the edge of the lake and he just kept running across the top of the water — the producer having thoughtfully provided a kind of walkway an inch beneath the water. And you could see and you could hear the plish, plash as he ran away from you across the top of the lake, until the gloom enveloped him and he disappeared from your view.
And as he did so, from the further shore, a firework rocket was ignited, and it went whoosh into the air, and high up there it burst into lots of sparks, and all the sparks went out, and he had gone.

"When you look up the stage directions, it says, 'Exit Ariel.”

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 8d

Yeah who sniffed out his soccer career? Did that mean he had to turn to nascar and get sponsorships all over his jacket?

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 9d

Anyway, a real shift from Breaking Bad since it's about two forms of Breaking Good (Carol and the Kantian Afflicted).

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 9d

...that the "afflicted" are Kantian (always honest, etc.). Thus, it deepens the ethics at play as we see playing out the messy humans that we are (Carol) versus a lived-out categorical imperative (beings that make every choice as if everyone else did it—because they *are* doing it).

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 9d

IRL, the choice of Carol's individualism vs. its total loss into the One Community is a false dichotomy—one often trotted out in facile political narratives—but it's a great narrative trick to put these in believable motion in the show, which then gets better since (at least so far), it turns out...

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 9d

Right—these go together well. If she's too likable, the show become a very simple narrative (akin to Star Trek and the Borg). It's at times a profound working out of freedom as an ultimate value, versus the professed joy of the "afflicted."

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 9d

The anti-oligarch part is, I think, solid. Maybe it's BS in terms of our revealed preferences (voting in a kinda billionaire) but polling always shows vast majorities in favor of extra taxes, etc. Plus the right waged war on the tech CEOs for years—so an open door to push on the left and right.

Reposted by Colin F. Camerer, James Goodwin, Peter Gratton , and 1 more Colin F. Camerer, James Goodwin, Peter Gratton, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

CNBC @cnbc.com · 10d

While work-life balance may give you a sense of happiness and fulfillment, it isn’t always realistic, says Walmart executive vice president and chief people officer Donna Morris.

Walmart exec: ‘I’ve never believed in the term work-life balance’—this is the mantra that made her highly successful instead

Many professionals see work-life balance as a non-negotiable. Walmart CPO Donna Morris says people should practice work-life integration instead. Here's why.

cnb.cx

Peter Gratton @petergratton.bsky.social · 10d

It’s all about proper risk management until Thanksgiving, I guess ;)

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