Category: Economics

  • Bubbles

    Irrational Exuberance In a lovely talk to the Concept Exchange Society, economist Daniel Friedman told us about financial markets. He said that a financial market is a “marketplace where promises are bought and sold by strangers”. I like that image. A bond is such a promise; a promise to pay interest at fixed intervals and…

  • Waste

    Throw-away virtue. Waste is a deliciously ambiguous notion. What is discarded and not used in the venture is waste. Food that is not digested. But waste is also a mark of prosperity. Where much is being done there is waste. Little being done, little being scrapped. So waste is a product of achievement. For those…

  • Save Prosperity

    Save Our Prosperity. Tax Ourselves The essential premise: Prosperity is desirable. Austerity is undesirable. Everyone wants prosperity. Austerity brings violence and unrest. What is prosperity? Prosperity is the ability to buy what you need – or what you may not need. It is everyones desire – this ability to buy what you need; having the…

  • Whence money?

    Where does money come from? Up to even the mid-eighteen hundreds a large fraction of people in the world lived without using money! Most people managed on subsistence farming and barter. Or they were peasants or serfs or share croppers. They were fed, clothed and housed by their masters; not paid a wage. Occasional small…

  • Sustainable Growth?

    Can growth be sustainable? Free giveaways generate buying. Chris Anderson, in a recent article in Wired Magazine, rejoices in the idea. He perceives a new business paradigm in this form of selling. The article is called, “Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business”. It’s a confused and disjointed article burdened with irrelevancies and embarassing…