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Getting Past the Dominance of the Nation State
Albert Wenger – Jun 17, 2017
One of the important topics that I have not yet addressed in World After Capital is the role of the Nation State. So I am gathering up some of my thoughts in a post first. I believe it is critical [...] Read more
Uncertainty Wednesday: Entropy and Communication
Albert Wenger – Jun 14, 2017
The last two Uncertainty Wednesdays we have looked at entropy as a measure of uncertainty. Today I want to tie that back to the original communications context in which Shannon introduced it. We can use our really simple model of [...] Read more
Optimal Token Sales
Albert Wenger – Jun 13, 2017
The problem of finding an optimal structure for a token sale is quite difficult. For starters, the objectives between teams and investors are potentially different. Furthermore, these are not homogenous groups. Teams vary widely along at least two dimensions: intent [...] Read more
Monetary Policy for Crypto Tokens
Albert Wenger – Jun 11, 2017
In an information sessions for Congress, Peter Van Valkenburgh used my favorite analogy comparing crypto tokens to tickets at a fair ground. And William Mougayar has a new post about tokens where he specifically refers to them as “privately issued [...] Read more
Mobile OS Duopoly: Apple and Google Extending their Power
Albert Wenger – Jun 9, 2017
I have for some time pointed out the negative impact on innovation of the appstore duopoly. Things are getting worse though. With the latest releases of iOS and Android the ability of third party developers to create great experiences are [...] Read more
Uncertainty Wednesday: Entropy (Cont’d)
Albert Wenger – Jun 7, 2017
Last week in Uncertainty Wednesday, I introduced Shannon entropy as a measure of uncertainty that is based solely on the structure of the probability distribution. As a quick reminder, the formula is H = - K ∑ pi log pi [...] Read more
The Biggest Danger of the Trump Presidency: Abandoning Science and Rationality
Albert Wenger – Jun 6, 2017
I recently read “Seveneves” by Neal Stephenson and just last night finished “The Dark Forest” which is the second book in the “Three Body Problem” trilogy by Cixin Liu. What these books have in common is that they look at [...] Read more
Uncertainty Wednesday: Entropy
Albert Wenger – May 31, 2017
Today in Uncertainty Wednesday I want to start on the idea that just the shape of the probability distribution alone contains some measure of uncertainty. Let’s think about the simplest case again with just two states A and B and [...] Read more
Basic Income: The Potential of Cryptocurrency
Albert Wenger – May 30, 2017
In my book World After Capital, I have a chapter on Universal Basic Income, which I see as essential to getting from the Industrial Age into the Knowledge Age. Basic income gives people economic freedom, which is essential if we [...] Read more