Stubborn Attachments: A Vision for a Society of Free, Prosperous, and Responsible Individuals

focus on the broader conceptual question of whether growth or redistribution—in the public or private sector—is a more effective means of helping the poor.

a well-constructed welfare state can distribute education and nutrition more widely.

If we are pursuing self-sustaining and self-generating bundles of plural values, we are in one way or another paying homage to the power of human reason.

In other words, there will be certain events and consequences so significant that we will be spurred to action without much epistemic reluctance, even though we might recognize the broader uncertainties of such action in the very long run.

As a general rule, we should not pat ourselves on the back and feel that we are on the correct side of an issue. We should choose the course that is most likely to be correct,

positive discount rates apply to every choice before us. Sometimes we should be less impatient and pay the future greater heed. Even if you think that individual impatience

economic growth is the only permanent path out of squalor.

This becomes a problem of game theory, and as we know from game theory, the implied obligation of a single individual or group is very often indeterminate.

when it comes to non-tradable and storable assets, markets do not reflect the preferences of currently unborn individuals.