A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Economy

  • Questioning growth in Asia

    I thought this article in the NYT was very interesting: not only are some Asian economists questioning whether their countries’ economies can continue to grow at a double-digit clip, they’re questioning whether growth should even be the ultimate object of economic policy. In considering this risk and the increasing evidence of the toll that rapid Read more

  • Musings on a social- and ecological-market economics

    My two recent posts on property rights and libertarianism don’t really adequately represent the way I think about economics these days. For the sake of argument, I accepted certain principles held by libertarians, but I don’t think those principles are sufficient. Libertarian principles have a simplifying austerity that can be appealing–I found them appealing for Read more

  • German frugality: threat or menace?

    Is it possible that there’s something wrong with an economic system that requires us to scold people for being too frugal, not buying a bunch of useless crap they don’t want, etc.? Read more

  • Tilting at locavorist windmills

    This NYT article scores some easy points against a rigorous or simplistic locavorism (e.g., there are areas of the country where pickings are pretty slim this time of year), but skims along at what turns out to be a pretty superficial level. “Food miles” is just one consideration when it comes to eating sustainably, and Read more

  • Factory Planet

    I’m both sympathetic to and skeptical of the ethos on display at Front Porch Republic. On the one hand, an ethics of limits is precisely one of the things we desperately need. On the other, FPRers evince a sometimes-disturbing nostalgia for an agrarian arcadia that never was and to which we wouldn’t want to return Read more

  • Sustainable food and the importance of class

    Interesting article from Tom Philpott at Grist on the connections between cheap food and cheap labor, and the need for the sustainable food movement to address issues of class. Key paragraph: In short, an economy hinged on cheap labor needs cheap food. And that’s the structural problem faced by Slow Food and other would-be reformers Read more

  • Farmers vs. “agri-intellectuals”

    A while back, the American–the magazine of the American Enterprise Institute–published an article by farmer Blake Hurst called “The Omnivore’s Delusion,” taking to task “agri-intellectuals” like Michael Pollan who have criticized industrial farming. Here Tom Philpott points out some of the holes and omissions in Hurst’s argument. Philpott acknowledges that the sustainable food movement hasn’t Read more

  • Links: food, animals, the environment, etc.

    This piece from the Boston Globe looks at the tensions between an increasing sense of idealism among zoo officials–they want to treat their animals better and raise awareness of wildlife conservation–and the undeniable need to entertain zoos’ human visitors. James McWilliams writes on the recent report out of the UK which found that organic foods Read more

  • Democratizing the Fed

    I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have a particularly good grasp on the complex and recondite issues surrounding the Fed and monetary policy, but William Greider (who literally wrote the book on the Fed) lays out the case for making it more accountable and transparent in the latest Nation. Crucially, he says Read more

  • Market theodicy

    Economics as a religion: When critics of free markets point to instances of severe poverty, market supporters promise that eventually, since a rising tide floats all boats, the poor will be lifted up, that what is now apparently problematic is ultimately for the “greater good” in a way we cannot discern. It is clear that Read more