If I walk into a casino with a dollar, place a bet and win $1,000,000 dollars, does my risk/reward differ from the case in which I parley that same $1 bet all evening to $1,000,000? I'm not attempting to apologize for the claim that capitalists' risk yada yada yada, but rather, I question the assumption voiced on this list that one merely considers initial conditions and outcome and assesses risk/returns. Bill Gates et. al. may have a personal fortune of $40-50 bil (something like %80 in stock, right?), but the risk must capture the fact that he could have sold his shares and walked at any point. Getting back to my example, if one were to play poker, say, and be up by 100k, isn't one increasing risk by continuing to play?
John
John St. Clair University of South Florida Department of Philosophy Cooper 107 Tampa, FL 33620
Office: CPR 267 Phone: 813-974-5896 Hours: M 3-5, T 10-12 http://chuma.cas.usf.edu/~jstclair/