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0 pointsnitrogen12y ago0 comments

Some predictors must be sacred because relying on them reinforces divisions in society, leading to greater long-term unrest.

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Houshalter12y ago· 2 in thread

>Some predictors must be sacred because relying on them reinforces divisions in society, leading to greater long-term unrest.

Even using something objectionable like race as a predictor wouldn't "lead to long-term unrest", just the potential of slightly higher and lower interest rates for different individuals. There is no "reinforcing divisions in society". If anything more accurate predictions benefit society with less risk for investors and lower interest rates for borrowers.

nitrogenOP12y ago

Society isn't a one-shot system; it's iterative with feedback. When you apply a slight bias in interest rates to different parts of the population in one iteration, then feed those results into the next generation, those segments of the population paying slightly higher interest rates now have slightly less cash and slightly fewer opportunities. Repeat this for a few generations, and you have inescapable poverty on one hand and nearly unassailable wealth on the other.

Houshalter12y ago

There are far greater forces at work that determine how people end up than small differences in interest rates. In any case it's not my fault if some population is worse at paying back their loans, why should I have to subsidize them? Or why should others have to subsidize me?

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