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Why trying to blot out the sun might not be the cleverest answer to global warming.
links for 2007-10-28
28-Oct-07
links for 2007-10-25
25-Oct-07
links for 2007-10-22
22-Oct-07
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Jonathan Jones asks, is Gaudi the greatest urban architect of modern times? Yes, yes he is.
links for 2007-10-20
20-Oct-07
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“It is indeed a sad irony that the Achilles heel of the new institutional economics is the very definition of the term “institution.”" Much like how microeconomics seems to have great difficulty defining “utility” in a non-tautologous way, I suppose.
Gini Derangement Syndrome
19-Oct-07
This here IMF report linking globalisation to higher inequality seemed to hit a nerve with someone over at the Economist’s blog, who rants and raves for a while before asking
those of us not deranged by opposition to human co-operation across political boundaries will ask: What’s the problem?
Well, those of us not suffering from whatever’s eating you might be aware that inequality can be a big problem, particularly in poor countries. Nancy Birdsall, who is hardly a card-carrying member of the loony left, writes
The IMF report calls for more and better education as the solution to the problem of rising inequality. But education should not be the only domestic policy instrument for addressing the risks — in social tension and populist backlash — that high and/or rising inequality in developing countries poses. Gary Becker (Nobel prizewinner in 1992 for his work on human capital) in his posting puts the full burden on developing country policymakers. He blames “intellectuals and politicians” in Asia, Africa and Latin America that criticize globalization but have done a bad job of educating their own populations. That strikes me as willfully naïve about the evidence — in the U.S. and the developing world — that high and rising income and wealth inequality (”market inequality”) drive inequality of education (reflecting inequality of power, influence and political clout). Education inequality is endogenous to domestic politics, which is endogenous to income and other inequalities. Damn that endogeneity again. That’s why low inequality East Asia has done so much better than high-inequality Latin America in education access and quality — and why in the U.S. fewer than 10 percent of students from the bottom half of households by income, attend top universities. How about revisiting the potential of dreaded “redistribution” programs, including taxes and expenditure policies, eliminating regulatory and other barriers to the middle-income people’s access to credit in the developing world, developing sensible unemployment, pension and other social insurance programs?
This is sensible, non-crazy stuff. Yet people like the blogger at the Economist feel the need to expend great efforts trying to persuade us not to think about the issue, even to the point of appearing somewhat hysterical. Weird.
links for 2007-10-10
10-Oct-07
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“I hate to be a sexist, but maybe we ought to put more women in charge in tough places around the world.”