62d Session of Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance

Dear all,

For the 62nd session of Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance (Friday 12 Nov, 6-8pm, Room 5.16, 309 Regent Street, University of Westminster), we will hold our own "G-20 Conference" and ask:

What does the current currency (?) crisis mean to mere mortals? 

If we read the business and finance press, we see Ben S. Bernarke, the chairman of the US Fed very unusually arguing publicly for quantitative easing (QE2) [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110307372.html] while China, Brazil, Germany [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/981ca8f4-e83e-11df-8995-00144feab49a.html#axzz14zm57rHG] and South Korea [http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/commerce/101110/qe2-global-economy] vehemently against QE2.

So far as of Nov 11th, 2010, a dozen countries have responded to Ben's QE2 with quantitative tightening [see, the Asian biz-chicks on Bloomberg television accessed at 12 midnight London time.]

All of this talk leads to a symmetric race to the bottom, evidenced in the 1930's as "trade wars" [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1322002/Mervyn-King-A-1930s-style-trade-war-ruinous.html] and in the current G-20 as a "currency war" [http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/11/20101111135923477349.html].

This current period is trader's paradise because there is risk symmetry between Quantitative Easing (QE) and Quantitative Tightening (QT). QE is what the US does, and QT is what the rest of the world does to protect itself from QE.

This is a period characteristic of DICTATORIAL FINANCE where sovereign states are trying to preserve their status by pledging to protect their currencies (read here economies and way of life) but are being beaten continuously by the disciplining force of the financial markets.

To understand how far and how deep the nature of dictatorial finance has reached into the regulatory realm, we will begin reading the Dodd-Frank Act, Title II, entitled the "Orderly Liquidation Authority" [sections 201 to 217] which empowers the Authority basically to segregate and strip out the good assets of a financially active company in the US and place them in a Corporation controlled by an agency of the US government. This will be done without any constitutional right to bankruptcy and only with the minimal right to judicial review based on an "arbitrary and capricious" standard.

The entirety of the Dodd-Frank Act can be found at http://www.sec.gov/about/laws/wallstreetreform-cpa.pdf.

For the afterwards dinner, we are currently indecisive about the restaurant choice but it will most likely be Korean in honour of the G-20.

Regards,
Rezi & Joe

62d Session of Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance

Symmetry in Law, Finance, etc--A Wondering

(Thanks to Interactivate)

From Joe Tanega

1. A contract is bilaterally symmetric between the offeror and offeree, precedent and good market memory is translationally symmetric over time, and fairness and justice are rotationally symmetric amongst agents or actors..

2. So what?

3. In most financial-economic and just plain economic analyses of law, scholars usually use vaguely defined terms such as "information asymmetry" to mean one party having information that can be used to one's advantage over the other.

4. The term "symmetry" is rarely defined in financial economics and almost never used in law except to mean "fairness" in a transaction.

5. I contend that our notions of symmetry underlie most of our perceptive, logical, mathematical, philosophical, religious, architectural, physical, chemical, biological, relativistic, quantum mechanical, sexual, etc etc forms of thought.

6. And because symmetry is ideal it is either at the very bottom of all reality ("this is really Kansas") or it will never come into existence except as an ideal in one's mind ("I think this must be Kansas").

7. Either way is ok.

8. Since about the early 1800s, symmetries turned into a body of work called Group Theory and in the mid-20th century became incorporated within an even more general Cateorgy or Topoi theory.

9. Maybe over the next hundred years the social sciences will be re-written from the perspectives and framework of symmetry theory.

10. We might find new meaning to Plato's inscription over the Academy: "Let no one enter who knows no geometry."

Symmetry in Law, Finance, etc--A Wondering

Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance - 39th Weekly Meeting

Dear all

On Friday 4th December the 39th Session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance will focus on:

(1) the Curie (Pierre) Principle of Symmetry which underpins all modern scientific theories--an important step in our ever continuous search for the meanings of symmetry; and

(2) readings from Plato's Meno, where Socrates "demonstrates" how the esoteric knowledge of the Pythagorean Theorem (for Pythagoras created a cult of secret knowledge) can be drawn out of an uneducated slave boy.

Note: the concepts of learning, education, knowledge and understanding for Plato are deeply philosophical--that is, they are entirely open to inspection from the beginning to the end of life; that they are linked to how we view and conduct our life every day, and possibly moment to moment, how they affect and effect our judgments about everything around us. If it is genuinely possible to "deduct" truths from ignorance, then it may be possible, although not assured, to discover the good and values which make our lives worthwhile living.

Such philosophical (self) examination will take place as usual from 6 to 8pm, in room 5.16, 309 Regent Street (University of Westminster). At 8.00pm we’ll head to Vapiano (19-21 Great Portland Street, W1W 8QB).

We hereby anticipate – with some eagerness – that the 40th Session will be extraordinarily hosted by Professor John Flood at his house in Marylebone. Details to come.

See you tomorrow!!

Joe and Laura

PS: Some interesting reading on contemporary events of law and finance: The Oil Drum (Discussions about Energy and Our Future) | Dubai's Debt Troubles: Beginning of the Next Leg Down? www.theoildrum.com/node/6000, 28 Nov 2009. Tags: debt unwind, Dubai, Dubai world, gold, oil prices.

Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance - 39th Weekly Meeting

Proceedings of 37th Session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance on Friday the 13th of November 2009 - Joe's Note

1. In attendance, 3 university lecturers, 8 PhD candidates, 5 LLM graduates and 3 professional bankers. If this were an Aikido class, this would be a class of san-dans just sharing their techniques with each other, having fun learning in a serious way.

2. Invariably, in "high-level classes", we engage in discussion about simple and fundamental things.

3. What we enjoy and genuinely appreciate from each other are not complexities for their own sake but clarity and risk.

4. Title of presentation was: "Grotesque Symmetries-- Blame and Defensive Arguments in Plato's Apology and Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice".

5. Thanks to Laura Niada for providing a marvellous set of slides and Ece Ozdilek for her assistance.

6. Although the discussion was vibrant with most making contributions, the following is a brief rendition of my intended argument which I believe I failed to make entirely clear. Also, I must thank James Waters in particular for asking questions which forced me to consider the following propositions in some sort of axiomatic and deductive form.

7. Blame and Defensive Arguments make up much of our world communications.

8. Perfect blame would pinpoint causes of misery while perfect defensive arguments would completely exculpate the blamed.

9. These forms of arguments are symmetric over cultures, over time, and evident in courts of law.

10. Does this observation of symmetry give us any important and fundamental information about how we are as humans and is there some way we can make use of this pattern of observations into our daily lives?

11. To find out, we resort to the extreme abstraction (which unfortunately requires some familiarity with an austere vocabulary) of symmetry theory.

12. Distinguish between "substantive symmetry" and "formal symmetry". From Kosso interpreting van Fraasen, substantive symmetry is the use of symmetry arguments which identify and re-describe a particular situation in symmetry terms without adding any extra risk of the person giving the description for being wrong. Thus, the claim made by a substantive symmetry statement is trivial. Nothing risked, nothing gained.

13. A Proper Symmetry Argument is fundamental, of great significance to the epistemological and ontological aspirations of humanity, and is in effect a big bet that a particular symmetry identified for a particular observed phenomenon applies generally. This is a scientific hypothesis waiting for confirmatory proof. This is a bet set by a financial trader that his hunch-based calculation will come right. This is a theory of law at the level of proposed legal or equitable remedy will be rendered in the affirmative by the judge. Or not!

14. So, all the grotesque symmetries that we see around us, from terrorists to soldiers killing each other and the highly emotive or insanely rational arguments in support thereof are substantive symmetry arguments. They add nothing to our fundamental understanding of humanity. They are to put it mildly, completely untrustworthy arguments, immediately betraying both a conflict of interest and evident biases which are at bottom self-interested.

15. A proper symmetry argument translated into human interaction is unconditional love, utter gratefulness and unqualified respect--these cannot be finally proved but only like big scientific hypotheses, worked out daily and lived out until proven wrong.

Proceedings of 37th Session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance on Friday the 13th of November 2009 - Joe's Note

Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance - 34th Weekly Meeting

Dear all

At the 34^th session of the Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance, on Friday 23 October 2009, from 6 to 8pm, in room 5.16, 309 Regent Street (University of Westminster), we will go back to Plato.

We will do readings out of the Phaedrus and examine the three great arguments against writing. For students and teachers who believe in the value of "reading and writing", these arguments show why reading and writing are weaknesses. This may be a good antidote to the pretensions of scholars and the critical limits of scholarship.

We will consequently turn from the graphics of reading and writing to the image of symmetry. Joe will talk about Joe Rosen's definition of symmetry from his book entitled Symmetry Rules (2008). Symmetry is two-step dance through the Universe: (1) a relation with the possibility of change and (2) the immunity of some aspect of that relation from change. Apparently, determinism is elegant and free will is awkward in symmetry terms.

The last stage shall always be Vapiano (19-21 Great Portland Street, W1W 8QB).

See you on Friday!

Joe and Laura

Philosophical Foundations of Law and Finance - 34th Weekly Meeting