Concerns about trust have played a central role in my project’s discussions about money, credit, and debt. My panels, time and again, have said that our whole financial system, and indeed money itself, is based upon it: ‘The full faith… Read More »
Author Archives: Mark Notturno
Heels and Soles
I took several pairs of shoes in for repair the other day. Heels. Heels and soles. New stitching. The usual thing. I go to a small shop that is owned and operated by a very hard-working brother and sister team… Read More »
Contrasting Conceptual Possibilities For Public Discussion
The goal of IF is to promote thoughtful consideration of a wide range of contrasting conceptual possibilities for public policy in our selected areas of public policy concern. We try to achieve this goal by conducting in depth ‘sanctuary’ discussions… Read More »
Social Science and Public Policy: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The task of social science is to provide true causal explanations of our most pressing social problems. And when social science works this way—taking into account competing hypotheses about the causes of our social problems, and testing them against all… Read More »
Reason and Ridicule⎯Or Sarcasm and Solidarity
Someone once said that sarcasm is the weapon of the weak. The same can be said of ridicule. This is why people often resort to them when they disagree with something that someone has said, but are unable to explain why… Read More »
Helping American Listen
Fifteen years ago, while I was conducting a series of round-table discussions on open society among university professors in Uzbekistan, one of them did something that has remained in my mind to this day—even though I have long forgotten what… Read More »
How to Evaluate an IF Policy Possibility—Part 4
Once you have a basic understanding of the policy possibility, the reasoning behind it, and whether and to what extent it is likely to work, the final step is to decide whether and to what extent you support it.… Read More »
‘Academic English for Legal Purposes’, IF-Style, in Georgia
Ekaterine ‘Keke’ Bakaradze is Associate Professor of Law and Education Quality Assurance Manager at International Black Sea University in Tbilisi, Georgia. She was also a participant in the 50-Hour Training Course in the IF Discussion Process that IF Fellows Mark Notturno and Ieva Notturno… Read More »
My First Discussion Classes
Alkida Hasaj is a Lector in the Tourism Department at the University of Shkodra ‘Luigj Gurakuqi’ in Albania. She was also a participant in the 50-Hour Training Course in the IF Discussion Process that IF Fellows Mark Notturno and Ieva Notturno conducted… Read More »
What’s Your ‘Fair Share’?
It’s common sense that billionaires should pay their fair share of taxes. Everyone should agree to that. It follows a fortiori, as people in the logic business say, from the idea that everyone should pay their fair share of taxes—which follows,… Read More »
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