Food for Thought

[mcfnord]

Mainstream economics does not assume a priori that markets are preferable to other forms of social organization. In fact, much analysis is devoted to cases where so-called market failures lead to resource allocation that is suboptimal by some standard.

Here's a wikipedia entry containing fascinating discussion of agricultural policy. It turns out

Comments

[syzygy]

This is something I've been trying to think intensely about, but the fact is that I have almost none of the background knowledge necessary, though I recently stumbled upon some interesting related questions.

I'm blurry headed lately, but I'm saving your entry and will probably be asking you something about something later on =)

[kenatent]

Every time someone is diagnosed with cancer, every time a forest is clearcut, the GNP rises.

That's an interesting insight, although it seems to coincide with the data is collected, not how it's used, and is of no consequence.

The environmental impact of farm subsidies:

The government pays farmers more for their crops than they would otherwise be worth, so farmers employ more land than they would without subsidies. Because the most efficient parcels of land are already in use, those brought into production as a result of the subsidies are more likely to be environmentally sensitive areas.

Do you disagree?

You'll enjoy these assertions:

The elegant simplicity of economic models is what makes them useful.

The term "green economics" is not truly a term, but rather a curious combination of two mutually exclusive terms. What exactly are you pitching? Is it feminism, peace, or anti-globalization?

[mcfnord]

Would you believe that the best farmland in the world is paved by suburbia? Efficient, apparently. Maximizing short-term gain.

You know what I do for a living? I write about technical things. You know the easiest failing? Oversimplifying.

Feminism acknowledges the value of unpaid social labor. Believe it or not, a studied economics in college, though clearly not your overly-abstracted sort. Feminism and economics? Certainly. And globalization raises questions that I don't believe have been answered, and we should not rush into it, certainly not at the hand of non-transparent, non-democratic organizations like the current WTO.

I don't think the GNP link to negative events can be so easily rejected. Except by you.