Hard work for an economist 
Via Marginal Revolution I came across Chris Foote’s account of his work on the Iraqi economy last year:
“The macroeconomic model I take with me to Iraq is simple: In the long run, markets and prices allocate resources efficiently, so its best to keep government interventions in the market to a minimum. But in the short run, prices dont adjust to changing circumstances right away, leading to temporary problems like recessions. Because the U.S. economy is set up well, the problems at the CEA were usually of the short-run variety. Iraq is different. Under Saddam, Iraqs economy was riddled with corruption, inefficiency, and waste. The looting and sabotage to the countrys infrastructure immediately after the war made things worse. The job of the economists I work with is to stabilize the economy from the immediate effects of the war, then help to put the country on a solid long-run foundation.”
Top 10
Francis Wheen’s top 10 delusions. A useful tonic:
| |
2. The market is rational |
| |
3. There is no such thing as reality |
| |
4. We mustn’t be “judgmental” |
| |
5. Laissez-faire capitalism is the prerequisite for trade and prosperity |
| |
6. Astrology and similar delusions are “harmless fun” |
| |
8. Sentimental hysteria is a sign of emotional maturity |
| |
9. America’s economic success is entirely due to private enterprise |
| |
10. “It could be you. . .” |
Finding voices
Bonobo Land picks up on Joi Ito’s challenge about making people care about developing nations.
“How can we make ordinary voices from developing nations, often seemingly irrelevant to the daily realities we see in whichever richer part of the world we reside, more interesting to the world? Put it another way, how do we make a local perspective relevant and interesting on a global level?”