Thank you, Ray, for allowing that while most economists are bad, there are
some good ones. However, for the most part, it's not economists who mess
things up. They try to explain why things are messed up and how they might
get un-messed up. A fundamental requirement of an economist is to
take a dim view. So they have to assume things are messed up even when
they are not especially messed up. They're a little like journalists, if
you get what I mean.
Heavens above! If we didn't have people around to tell us the sky is
falling, it might just stay up there.
Does that make sense?
Ed
Ed Weick 577 Melbourne Ave. Ottawa, ON, K2A
1W7 Canada Phone (613) 728 4630 Fax (613)
728 9382
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 10:15
PM
Subject: Re: [Futurework] La Guardia's
Rule
Yes they are free but economists and other "developers"
just mess up the things that make those free things free. I can
remember the beautiful water from the aquifer, now I buy bad tasting "spring"
water which is safer than what comes out of the faucet. And the
story is that this New York municipal water is the best in the
nation. And then there is skin cancer and the ozone hole and
global warming etc. I think we should say that "man's
desires to screw things up are unlimited. "
I realize
that there are good economists who are benevolent because some of them are on
this list. What is it about Friedman that makes him miss the
humanity that you and Arthur, the Mikes and Harry in his trickster phase
have? If they poke me I will poke back but I feel their
humanity and their compassion. That is not what I feel from
these soulless number crunchers out there.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 9:09
PM
Subject: Re: [Futurework] La Guardia's
Rule
> Economists have lots of blind spots. Energy from the sun is
one of them. > Air and water are others. I do believe that they
were known as "free goods" > in Economics 101. I don't think they
are nearly as free as economists have > liked to think. > >
Ed > > Ed Weick > 577 Melbourne Ave. > Ottawa, ON,
K2A 1W7 > Canada > Phone (613) 728 4630 >
Fax (613) 728 9382 > > -----
Original Message ----- > From: "Keith Hudson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 3:32 PM > Subject:
[Futurework] La Guardia's Rule > > > > David Smith, the
Economics Editor of the Sunday Times has just published a > > book
called "My Own Free Lunch" (Profile Books). It takes its name from >
the > > famous rule, "There is no such thing as a free lunch",
invented by the > > legendary New York mayor, Fiorella La Guardia but
taken to heart by > > economists everywhere as being something
equivalent to Newton's Laws of > > Motion or Einstein's Theory of
Relativity. > > > > To celebrate the launch of the book, the
publishers have agreed to pay for > > a free lunch (for two actually)
for the person who can come up with the > > best exception to the
rule. > > > > I've come up with the biggest exception to the
rule -- and have once again > > taken the opportunity of criticising
almost all the economists of the last > > century and a half since
Ricardo -- in particular all those brilliant, > > though woefully
misguided, people called neo-classical economists. > > > >
<<<<< > > Dear David Smith, > > > >
Ah! Having read your articles every Sunday for several years (with
much > > enjoyment and profit -- I got out of shares about four years
ago partially > > due to something you wrote then), you have now
given an opportunity to a > > publisher of early choral music to
teach a thing or two to an economist! > > > > There is, in
reality, one immense free lunch, which has been available for > >
most of man's past, is not totally free at present, but will be free
once > > again in the future. > > > > It is the
most important feature of our survival and our economy. It is > >
something without which our species could not have survived. Malthus
came > > close to realising its importance, and Ricardo might have
done so, but > > didn't quite because he became preoccupied with
fertility of soil rather > > than sunshine. Marx then followed the
Ricardian trail and, since then, has > > led all the economists
(whether Marxist or non-Marxist) of the last > century > > and
a half up a cul-de-sac from which only the odd one or two have peeked >
> out in a mystified way with worry lines on their faces. >
> > > One of the rare exceptions is Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen whom
you will know > > as a pupil of Schumpeter and who took the energy
basis of economics very > > seriously. ["The Entropy Law and the
Economic Process", Harvard U.P. > 1971]. > > > > The
economists' blind spot is energy. This is the free lunch. True, it >
> isn't technically free at the present time because our main source
of > > energy is only available in concentrated pockets and has been
monopolised > > by naughty people. But energy is essentially free and
has been absolutely > > free for most of man's existence. A very
brief survey of mankind's past > > will suffice to show this: >
> > > 1. Hunter-Gatherer times (from circa 100-150,000 ya): the
only energy > > available (apart from a little from burning wood at
campfires) was that of > > the food he gathered or hunted. This was
freely available, and needed only > > a portion of the energy
obtained from it in order to obtain more of it. In > > other words,
man made a profit from the balance of energy was freely > >
available. This enabled him to use muscular energy for his only
industry > > (making tools and flint axe- and arrow-heads). >
> > > 2. Agricultural times (from circa 10,000 ya): free solar
radiation > received > > on most temperate and equatorial land
surfaces with decent soil and > > rainfall could support selected
plant life, supplying proteins, sugars and > > starches for personal
energy, and wood for advanced metal smelting. > > (Malthus came close
to understanding the essential role of energy because > > he was
concerned with the necessary amount of energy [food] that a >
labourer > > must have in order to survive and procreate. Ricardo
brilliantly developed > > the concept of profit due to the landowner
and the squeezing of profits to > > all subsidiary entrepreneurs and
labourers but he was dominated by the > > variable fertility of
different grades of land, and didn't give importance > > to the other
necessary ingredient -- the receipt of solar energy.) > > >
> 3. Industrial times (from circa 2,000 ya): use of free coal
outcrops and > > oil seepages, followed circa 250 years ago by
full-scale development of > > deep coal mines and then from 150 years
ago by oil drilling. These > > concentrated sources are only legally
"non-free" by being legally owned by > > a small number of
individuals able to exercise monopoly power. (Marx > > followed
Ricardo's Iron Law of Wages in assuming that profit being surplus > >
energy, or increased energy productivity, it was was measured in money
by > > the portion of the wages that the employer should have paid,
but didn't. > > Just as Ricado overlooked the energy of the sun, Marx
overlooked the > > immense amounts of energy [coal, steam power,
water mills] being supplied > > increasingly efficiently to the
factories.) > > > > 4. Hydrogen economy (circa 2030
onwards): when fossil fuels start to > become > > steeply
expensive because of China's and India's demands and man is more > >
concerned with pollution, and perhaps CO2 in the atmosphere, a totally >
> non-polluting and massive new fuel technology will need to be created
-- > > far beyond anything in scope than nuclear power. This will be
derived from > > free energy from the sun once again. The amount of
solar energy received > > every year by the earth is at least 5,000
times the amount of energy in > the > > total fossil fuel
reserves plus radioactive energy sources. > > > > Solar
energy will, of course, have to be intermediated either by > >
silicon-electronic cells or genomically (hydrogen produced from water
by > > man-made bacteria. The hydrogen economy is now being
researched by Craig > > Venter of Human Genome Project fame and now
the head of the Institute for > > Biological Energy Alternatives,
Maryland, and undoubtedly also by the > > Chinese who are already
pulling ahead in some areas of research to do with > > the
genome. > > > > The new hydrogen-based economy will supply
energy at such low costs as to > > be considered free even at the
point of use. Genomic methods will need > very > > little by
way of high-tech equipment -- once the formidable genetic > >
problems have been solved. (See a recent New Scientist article for
further > > discussion about this.) > > > > The
hydrogen economy will encourage local production of both useful >
energy, > > electricity and of sophisticated goods. It will diversify
the polarised > > structure of the present global economy and
population densities. It will, > > however, require large amounts of
land-use (wherever fresh water is > > available) and will compete
with land used for agriculture at present. It > > is therefore
desirable that world population should decline quite steeply > > from
now about 2030 onwards. Thankfully, this is highly likely from > >
present-day fertility trends in over 60 countries of the world. >
> > > I look forward to a free lunch but I will give notice that
if I were to be > > succcessful I would choose The Royal Crescent
Hotel, Bath as the venue -- > > being a place that is so expensive
that I've never dared enter it > > previously. However, I will do so
gladly on this occasion if I am rewarded > > with this Novel Prize
for Economics. > > > > Yours sincerely, > > >
> Keith Hudson > > >>>>> > >
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- >
-- > > ------------ > > > > Keith Hudson, General
Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com > > 6
Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England > > Tel: +44 1225
312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >
>
________________________________________________________________________ >
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