Homines libenter quod volunt credunt
Posted in Adaptation, Development, Environment, Immigration, Standards of Living, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Sep 12th, 2018
It is obviously extremely hard to pin down a solid figure for how many people are going to be displaced due to the challenges posed by a warming planet. But virtually every publication I have read on the challenges of global warming rank the issue of “climate refugees” as both a serious political and economic […]
Posted in Development on May 12th, 2017
The problems of nation-building on Earth sound pretty similar to the challenges of settling space: The authors are blind to the vision of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the prophet who started thinking seriously about space 150 years ago. Tsiolkovsky saw the future of space as a problem of biology rather than as a problem of engineering. He […]
Posted in Central Planning, Development, Entrepreneurs, Extended Order, growth, Innovation, Macroeconomics, Market Failures on May 27th, 2016
In revisiting my class discussions on the economics of public goods, I came across a paper from the OECD that incredibly I had never been aware of. One of the major results in the paper is shocking. Now the sample size, as with all cross-country analyses, is small, and there are the usual caveats about […]
Posted in Development, Flotsam and Jetsam on May 15th, 2016
Posted in Development on Jul 21st, 2015
From a speech given by Normal Borlaug many years ago: The most conservative man in traditional agriculture is the scientist, and sometimes I am not proud to be one of them. This is most discouraging. The scientist is a privileged person, the man who should lead us out of the wilderness of the static, underproductive […]
Posted in Behavior, Competition, Corporatism, Development, Disingenuous, Environment, ethical foundations, If I Really Hated the Poor ..., Politics, Price System, Special Privilege on Oct 2nd, 2014
It turns out that Californians have successfully made their lives less comfortable by banning plastic bags. As you surely know this is yet another feel good policy that will accomplish almost nothing in the way of real environmental benefits. Now, I have no problem with people making poor choices especially with their own funds, and […]
Posted in Development, Economic Illiteracy, If I Really Hated the Poor ..., Resources on Jul 14th, 2014
Should you be reading someone that claims “this is what economists think,” particularly if said person is not an economist, you may either want to head for the intellectual exits or you might want to politely send a note to the author/speaker asking them for evidence that ALL economists think that. Even better, you can […]
Posted in Development, Flotsam and Jetsam on Jun 10th, 2014
My grandparents and their parents clawed their way to New York approximately 100 years ago. The girls, too, worked. The men were stone cutters and worked in the garment district. We came from the bottom of the boot, literally and figuratively, in Italy – from Bari, Calabria, Naples and Sicily. I’ve studied the history […]
Posted in Development on Oct 20th, 2013
Kuchi Chicken, development and electricity: A former student of ours shares a story on chickens and development featuring his parents in Kenya. Enjoy, sans comments from me.
Posted in Development, Inequality, Regulation, Resources on Jul 21st, 2013
We’re staying at a condo right now here in the People’s Republic of the Berkshires. It occurs to me that the rich folks who built second homes here might be environmental Heros rather than demons, at least a little. How? These condos use a lot of lumber that was grown for the purpose of building […]