Quantum Mechanics over Sets

This paper published in Synthese shows how the classical finite probability theory (with equiprobable outcomes) can be reinterpreted and recast as the quantum probability calculus of a pedagogical or “toy” model of quantum mechanics over sets (QM/sets).

Gian-Carlo Rota’s Probability Course: The Guidi Notes

This is a copy of the Guidi Notes for Gian-Carlo Rota’s Probability course at MIT the last time Rota gave the course. A copy of the Rota-Baclawski text used as course material can also be downloaded here.

Gian-Carlo Rota’s Combinatorial Theory Course: The Guidi Notes

This is a copy of the Guidi Notes for Gian-Carlo Rota’s famous Combinatorial Theory course at MIT taken the last time Rota taught the course.

Labor theory of property and Marginal productivity theory

This is a reprint from the journal Economic Thought of a paper on the labor theory of property and the neoclassial theory of marginal productivity.

Counting Direct-sum Decompositions

This paper uses elementary methods to derive the formulas for and to tablulate (in the case q = 2) two related q-analogs of the Stirling numbers of the second kind and the Bell numbers for direct-sum decompositions (vector space analogs of set partitions) of a finite vector space over a finite field with q elements.

The Joy of Hets (talk slides)

These are the slides from a talk on the role of heteromorphisms (hets) in category theory given at the Category Theory Seminar at NYU on January 13, 2016.

Neoclassical Economics as the New Social Engineering

This is a paper on the role of neoclassical economics in the disastrous “Big Bang” or “shock therapy” advice given by Western academics and Western advisory agencies to the post-socialist countries. It is part of the Oxford Handbook of Professional Economic Ethics.

On Vectorial Marginal Products and Modern Property Theory

When proposing some unorthodox theory, like the modern labor theory of property, orthodox economists always say: “Show me the math!” Well, here it is.

Does Classical Liberalism Imply Democracy?

This paper, written for a classical liberal audience, goes into the fault line running down the middle of the doctrine: does classical liberalism imply democracy? The libertarian wing, represented concretely today in the startup or charter cities initiatives, only requires consent (and exit) so the consent could be to a non-democratic pact of subjection. The democratic form of classical liberalism is represented by the mature James M. Buchanan who held that a liberal social order required people to be principals in their organizations who could only delegate but not alienate their rights of self-governance. That distinction is traced back to the Reformation inalienability of conscience that descends through the Enlightenment to modern times in the abolitionist and democratic movements.

PBS Making Sen$e blog: The case for employee-owned companies

This is the “justice in production” argument in a nutshell posted on the PBS Making Sen$e website.