Abu Yahya's definitions
*noun*; from Greek, θεός {god} + δίκαιον (justice). Literally, "the justice of God." Specifically, the attempt to explain God's ways to mortals.
The term was used by Gottfried Leibniz for his book {Théodicée} explaining how an omnipotent and benevolent God could allow suffering in the universe. Leibniz took the approach that this was the "best of all possible worlds," meaning that God could not have made this world better in any one respect, without making it worse in others.
In 1759, Voltaire published the novel *Candide* which was essentially a very long satire of Leibniz' views. The character of Dr. Pangloss is based on Leibniz, although it has been argued that Voltaire misrepresented Leibniz' views.
In common usage, the term *theodicy* refers to any defense of a thing based on the claim that whatever that thing does is the best possible. The obvious example is neoclassical economics, which insists that whatever outcome achieved by "the market," it is the best one that could possibly exist. It's a fallacy because it uses circular reasoning, and it is unfalsifiable.
The term was used by Gottfried Leibniz for his book {Théodicée} explaining how an omnipotent and benevolent God could allow suffering in the universe. Leibniz took the approach that this was the "best of all possible worlds," meaning that God could not have made this world better in any one respect, without making it worse in others.
In 1759, Voltaire published the novel *Candide* which was essentially a very long satire of Leibniz' views. The character of Dr. Pangloss is based on Leibniz, although it has been argued that Voltaire misrepresented Leibniz' views.
In common usage, the term *theodicy* refers to any defense of a thing based on the claim that whatever that thing does is the best possible. The obvious example is neoclassical economics, which insists that whatever outcome achieved by "the market," it is the best one that could possibly exist. It's a fallacy because it uses circular reasoning, and it is unfalsifiable.
Privileged and successful groups need religion for a very different purpose, namely legitimation. Their members are convinced that they deserve their good fortune and that the poor deserve their misfortune. {Max} Weber calls this the "theodicy of good fortune"...
Anthony Waterman in 2002 put forward the suggestion that Smith could be read as offering a kind of Augustinian theodicy of the market. According to him, Smith's idea could be interpreted as thus: just like God put governments in place to restrain sin, the institution of the market also restrains sin.
Nimi Wariboko, *God and Money: A Theology of Money in a Globalizing World* (2008)
Anthony Waterman in 2002 put forward the suggestion that Smith could be read as offering a kind of Augustinian theodicy of the market. According to him, Smith's idea could be interpreted as thus: just like God put governments in place to restrain sin, the institution of the market also restrains sin.
Nimi Wariboko, *God and Money: A Theology of Money in a Globalizing World* (2008)
by Abu Yahya March 23, 2009
Get the theodicymug. (FINANCE) when somebody buys a corporation using borrowed money ("leverage"), with the expectation that the new owner will able to pay for it from the corporation's own profits.
Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts (KKR) developed the LBO back when Jerome Kohlberg, Jr. and Henry Kravis were still partners at Bear Stearns (1960's). The technique was refined by Michael Milken's methods of underwriting and trading junk bonds. At the same time, corporate raiders and takeover artists like T. Boone Pickens perfected greenmail as a way to make money from failed hostile takeovers.
Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts (KKR) developed the LBO back when Jerome Kohlberg, Jr. and Henry Kravis were still partners at Bear Stearns (1960's). The technique was refined by Michael Milken's methods of underwriting and trading junk bonds. At the same time, corporate raiders and takeover artists like T. Boone Pickens perfected greenmail as a way to make money from failed hostile takeovers.
In constant US dollars, the largest leveraged buyout deal in history was the KKR takeover of RJR Nabisbo for $31.1 billion (1989). In 2006, several deals of even larger size were planned or attempted, but adjusted for inflation, they were not as large.
by Abu Yahya September 4, 2010
Get the leveraged buyoutmug. (CINEMA || TELEVISION) technique in which an actor reads lines, but is not shown speaking the lines in the video stream. So, for example, we might see Martin Sheen lying in bed in a decrepit hotel in Saigon, and hear his voice say, "Saigon... shit! I was still in Saigon!" But he's narrating in the past tense, and the Martin Sheen onscreen is not saying anything. Or we might see Robert Duvall sitting on the beach, and Martin Sheen's disembodied voice, calmly recalling, "Well, he loved his men... Felt safe with them.."
It serves to fill in events in the story that the director doesn't want to depict on screen; it helps to describe how a character feels about events shown in the scene, or remind viewers that they are currently watching a flashback; it also has been used successfully to explain away absurd holes in the plot that would otherwise ruin the movie.
The voice over (VO) is particularly popular in US cinema and somewhat less so in British and Japanese; non-US movies that are conscious imitating Hollywood cliches will usually use it as well.
Usually, artistic movies made outside the English-speaking world tend to avoid using the VO because it's a non-traditional narrative technique, and it looks lazy. A good screenwriter doesn't need to use it. However, in commercials and TV "journalism" it is almost supernaturally powerful in persuading people of utter nonsense; it's basically a form of posthypnotic suggestion.
It serves to fill in events in the story that the director doesn't want to depict on screen; it helps to describe how a character feels about events shown in the scene, or remind viewers that they are currently watching a flashback; it also has been used successfully to explain away absurd holes in the plot that would otherwise ruin the movie.
The voice over (VO) is particularly popular in US cinema and somewhat less so in British and Japanese; non-US movies that are conscious imitating Hollywood cliches will usually use it as well.
Usually, artistic movies made outside the English-speaking world tend to avoid using the VO because it's a non-traditional narrative technique, and it looks lazy. A good screenwriter doesn't need to use it. However, in commercials and TV "journalism" it is almost supernaturally powerful in persuading people of utter nonsense; it's basically a form of posthypnotic suggestion.
The propaganda effect of commercials is massively enhanced by the use of voice over narration; usually the VO script is a grammatical mess and crammed with logical errors. This actually makes it work as a tool of brainwashing, since the logic cannot be followed by the listener.
by Abu Yahya July 15, 2010
Get the voice overmug. (ECONOMICS) adjusted for the time of year the data refer to.
Economic statistics are often reported as rates of change from month to month, or quarter to quarter. However, some months, such as November and December, have very high retail sales, while May through September have very high home sales. For this reason, data is sometimes "seasonally adjusted" to offset ordinary seasonal variations.
The US Federal Reserve System reports changes in GDP from quarter to quarter in annualized form; so, for example, during the last quarter of 2004, US GDP was (about) $3,044.6 billion. But it was reported as an annualized (and seasonally adjusted) $11734.9. If you divide that by 4 you get 2957.8, which reflects the fact that the Fed shaved 86.8 billion off its estimate of economic activity for 2004Q4 and reallocated it to Q1 & Q2.
The reason the Fed (and everyone else) does this is to measure economic change separately from the usual seasonal change in business activity.
Economic statistics are often reported as rates of change from month to month, or quarter to quarter. However, some months, such as November and December, have very high retail sales, while May through September have very high home sales. For this reason, data is sometimes "seasonally adjusted" to offset ordinary seasonal variations.
The US Federal Reserve System reports changes in GDP from quarter to quarter in annualized form; so, for example, during the last quarter of 2004, US GDP was (about) $3,044.6 billion. But it was reported as an annualized (and seasonally adjusted) $11734.9. If you divide that by 4 you get 2957.8, which reflects the fact that the Fed shaved 86.8 billion off its estimate of economic activity for 2004Q4 and reallocated it to Q1 & Q2.
The reason the Fed (and everyone else) does this is to measure economic change separately from the usual seasonal change in business activity.
BILL: Hey! This data on GDP growth is way different from that data.
ANNA: That's because one set of data is seasonally adjusted. The Fed tweaked the numbers so economic growth from quarter to quarter reflects changing economic conditions, instead of ordinary yearly cycles.
BILL: You mean it's not an evil plot?
ANNA: It's an evil plot to make you forget about Christmas shopping season and labor day white sales.
BILL: Gasp! You mean the Fed is behind the War on Christmas?????
ANNA: That's because one set of data is seasonally adjusted. The Fed tweaked the numbers so economic growth from quarter to quarter reflects changing economic conditions, instead of ordinary yearly cycles.
BILL: You mean it's not an evil plot?
ANNA: It's an evil plot to make you forget about Christmas shopping season and labor day white sales.
BILL: Gasp! You mean the Fed is behind the War on Christmas?????
by Abu Yahya September 8, 2010
Get the seasonally adjustedmug. (MATHEMATICS) a logarithm whose base is e (2.71828...)
The number e is a transcendental irrational, which means that it has infinitely many decimal places but cannot be expressed as a fraction.
A useful feature of the natural log function is that the derivative of (ln x) is 1/x.
The number e is a transcendental irrational, which means that it has infinitely many decimal places but cannot be expressed as a fraction.
A useful feature of the natural log function is that the derivative of (ln x) is 1/x.
by Abu Yahya May 5, 2010
Get the natural logmug. In the social sciences, refers to the effectiveness with which a social benefit reaches its intended beneficiaries. When most of the cost of a particular social good is absorbed by intermediaries, such as scalpers and profiteers, distributional efficiency is low.
The state-owned auditorium hands out a fixed number of free tickets to students to promote the arts, but nearly all of them sell the tickets to scalpers for the money. It's very poor distributional efficiency.
by abu yahya June 23, 2008
Get the distributional efficiencymug. (FINANCE) the increase in wealth that goes to the owner of a financial asset when it increases in value. If you buy a share of stock, and the share increases in value, then you have capital gains whether you have sold it or not.
If you sell the stock at the higher price, you have made money on the transaction and have "realized capital gains." If you hang onto the asset in the hopes its value will increase even more, you have "unrealized capital gains."
If you sell the stock at the higher price, you have made money on the transaction and have "realized capital gains." If you hang onto the asset in the hopes its value will increase even more, you have "unrealized capital gains."
For owners of stocks, wealth can come in the form of capital gains or dividends. For owners of gold, the only benefit comes from capital gains. This is why gold is usually not a good investment.
by Abu Yahya April 15, 2010
Get the capital gainsmug.