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: futurenomics
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
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
Very Personal Futures
People are just waking up to the fact that the same cryptographic game theory and technology involved in creating and securing the digital scarcity and ownership immutability that make cryptocurrencies, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) of digital goods and services (from gifs and articles to tracks and tweets) valuable and tradable, can also be used to mint … Continue reading Very Personal Futures
Real Scarcity
There is lots to celebrate about creating abundance out of scarcity. Creating scarcity out of abundance, however, is not a fantastic look for any society. And yet here we are - trying to do just that - to create legal monopolies out of thin air. Patents, copyrights, and now, NFTs all fall into this bastard … Continue reading Real Scarcity
Economics in One Lesson
“The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that policy not merely for one group but for all groups” The premise of Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson is simple: Policy should be honest about the losers, … Continue reading Economics in One Lesson
Narrative Economics
Narrative Economics by Robert J Shiller has been on my to-read list for a while (I was waiting for the paperback edition to launch in South Africa. The book looks at the thesis that narrative a way of presenting or understanding a situation or series of events that reflects and promotes a particular point of … Continue reading Narrative Economics
Be careful what you beg for
It has been rather depressing to watch people get exactly what they want. In South Africa in March, people begged to "be lead" through the COVID crisis - and they were. Crop-bottom pant regulations, arbitrary prohibition and all. They are now number three on the global misery index. In the UK, people demanded schools were shut down - … Continue reading Be careful what you beg for
Skin in the Game
"Bureaucracy is a a construction by which a person is conveniently separated from the consequences of his or her actions." What a poetic quote. Nassim Taleb is a polarising figure; yet there is no doubt that he is on top form in Skin In The Game. Less academic and mathematical heavy than some of his … Continue reading Skin in the Game