As our list's only known bona fide economist I am happy you took the
bait I offerred here.
I am expressing doubts that I would like to see addressed, about things
that I have rarely seen called into question.
I do not like it when climatologists argue from authority. I think it
is not only fair but appropriate for entire discpilines to be called
into question when their conclusions are consequential for the world
outside the acedemy.
I would like to see similar standards applied to economics.
I am absolutely convinced that economic thinking is necessary for
long-term policy, and I am interested in linking climatology with
economics. However, I am concerned that the bulk of the economics I see
appears to me to suffer from some unexamined assumptions and circular
reasoning, especially when applied to long-term problems.
I am disappointed that you only address a secondary supporting point,
though. For what it is worth, I reply.
Housing construction is a very important part of the US economy, which
goes through considerable contortions to encourage it. A "bubble" has
emerged, wherein enormous and impractical houses are perceived as a
good investment. In addition to the economic risk that this entails, it
definitely and obviously causes direct environmental damage both
locally and globally. I think most people would be aware of the
"externalities" that drive this dynamic, in part.
What I don't often see questioned is the idea that this trend is good
for the people participating in it. My question is whether the person
in the 5,000 square foot house is in any real sense 5 times better of
than the person in a 1,000 square foot house. I doubt it. On the whole,
in my observation, the former is nasty, agressive, confused, alienated
and unhappy. Such a person even has a tendency to take solace in
bizarre superstitions, much as people in the poorest and most destitute
societies do, and much to the detriment of those of us who share a
planet with them.
In short, I see a policy driven by a universal agreement in the
political sector that growth is good as a root cause of many of the
worst trends in America.
This is not to say that getting regulations, subsidies and constraints
right is easy. It is to say that it is hard. Just because there are
other ways to get it wrong doesn't imply that "growth" is the right
metric.
mt
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
Global Change ("globalchange") newsgroup. Global Change is a public, moderated
venue for discussion of science, technology, economics and policy dimensions of
global environmental change.
Posts will be admitted to the list if and only if any moderator finds the
submission to be constructive and/or interesting, on topic, and not
gratuitously rude.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected]
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/globalchange
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
