Growth is a funny thing. Without growth, that is without change, we are, by definition, dead. As such, for most of human history, growth has been considered to be a good thing – growth and flourishing were synonymous. Politicians promised it, citizens demanded it, economies and investment bankers grew fat on it, and living standards … Continue reading What is growth?
Tag: future thinking
Monkey Bars
I’m very interested at the moment in what is happening with the various social contracts that hold our civilisation together; those explicit and implicit agreements that govern what society is and how it functions. This topic of “social contracts” covers everything from the agreement states have with their citizens to provide services and protection for … Continue reading Monkey Bars
Debt and Taxes
Ah, I've been thinking a lot about the late David Graeber lately. He was right about diagnosing so many problems (and quite wrong about many of his proposed solutions). Debt, The First 500 Years, has become one of my favourite economics books. I keep coming back to it and how it makes explicit the dirty … Continue reading Debt and Taxes
Built not to last
“the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same … Continue reading Built not to last
The great divide -and the Disappearing Co-Dependant Class
This essay was first published in the book, Aftershocks and Opportunites. It was written in 2020. I think it aged fairly well. Is COVID-19 a great equalizer or a great divider? COVID-19 is by no means an equalizing crisis. Indeed, one of the most significant lasting socio-economic effects of the crisis will be the opening … Continue reading The great divide -and the Disappearing Co-Dependant Class
Look, don’t touch
When cathedrals and manor houses become museums and billboards, open to "the public" (for a fee), but closed to being an integral part of our individual, personal lives their beauty becomes ugly, garish, and unnecessary. They no longer belong to us. They are just objects to be looked at, not spaces to play and pray … Continue reading Look, don’t touch
The herasy of pricing that which is invaluable
Let’s talk about capitalism. Everyone has an opinion on it. Definitions, of course, vary according to personal agendas; its merits (or lack thereof) are even more hotly contented depending on what quadrant of the Nolan political compass the subject leans towards. Today, however, I want to focus on the future of capitalism, specifically the near … Continue reading The herasy of pricing that which is invaluable
Of Markets, Money and Monopolies
Sometimes a picture gets the point across quicker. Money is a necessary evil for allocating real scarcity - therefore it needs to be definitively scarce itself. Markets make more (good for maximising and allocating goods, bad). Monopolies make less (good for limiting bads; evil for limiting goods). Artificial abundance has unintended consequences (artificial goods can … Continue reading Of Markets, Money and Monopolies
Protection Rackets
"But there was more to it than that. As the Amazing Maurice said, it was just a story about people and rats. And the difficult part of it was deciding who the people were, and who were the rats." ~ The Amazing Maurice I can't help noticing the protection rackets all around us at the … Continue reading Protection Rackets
Don’t Sleep With The Fire
The rise of the machines (aka AI everything) is like fire. In that it's awesome and dangerous. Particularly dangerous in that it (like fire) is seductive - indeed, more literally seductive than fire. AI generated girls and boys paired with AI generated conversational (manipulation) skills can give you everything you want, all of the time, … Continue reading Don’t Sleep With The Fire