Well, this is only the second entry for humanitarian efforts and already I’ve encountered problems with the selection process. Charity Navigator is one of the resources I used, particularly for the efficiency data. Yet they also rate organizations according to their capacity. This is a formula for concentrating resources, though I’m sure not intentionally on [...]
The NYT article I linked to in the last post detailed how the oil industry reaps subsidies. In responding to the article, the oil industry representatives did not refute the tax breaks that the oil industry gets, but rather justified them. One thing to keep in mind is how big and consolidated the oil industry [...]
This feature started with a NYT article about risks that BP has been taking for years. There recently was a related NYT article, titled “As Oil Industry Fights a Tax It Reaps Subsidies,” by David Kocieniewski. This hearkens back to when I first started this blog, in late spring of 2008. At the time oil [...]
The last post established that the power of nation states serves to legitimize corporate wealth. The most striking application of this principle has been in the Middle East, where since the start of the twentieth century western intervention has formed nation states in the region with an eye towards oil. Though the indulgence of oil [...]
Our indulgence through oil begins, historically, with the indulgence of corporations. The explosion at BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig begins with the first stock issued to the Dutch East Indies Corporation. Here’s a question for you to ponder. What do nation states have that previous city states did not have?
The answer is not great territories or [...]
There’s an article in Science titled “The Psychological Consequences of Money.” The authors liken the effects of money to an intoxicating drug that encourages antisocial behavior. People enamored with money want to be left alone.
The problem with the article is that they label this antisocial state as self-sufficiency, a serious bit of misinformation. How [...]
A teachable moment recently occurred on The Middle Class Forum. I received a comment faulting how I related entitlements to stockholders. I approved and replied to that comment, but I’m going to cut and paste that reply here for three reasons: 1) my original reply was “off the cuff” and there was sloppiness in my [...]
There is a simple one-size-fits-all solution to restoring economic balance, a solution that no one would disagree with in principle, a solution that will never be implemented: good economic indicators. We are bombarded with stock market indicators incessantly. Consequently, that is where our focus lies for “restoring balance.” When the stock market does well it’s [...]
Continue reading about Restoring Economic Balance – Good Economic Indicators
“Think Tank Explosion” is a white paper produced by the Government Research Service, reporting on their Think Tank Directory. The paper starts off by stating that think tanks have had a major impact on public policy. This statement is, in a sense, beside the point. The mission of a think tank is to influence policy; [...]
I’ve asked the following, somewhat rambling question over on the forums page.
A person who is not an economist, like myself, gets so easily confused by the things certain types of economists say these days. For example, many an economist from many a “free market libertarian” think tanks are claiming our government has been moving towards [...]
