Rollerball: The game is created to demonstrate the futility of individual effort

Marshall Auerback sent me this video of Rollerball. I liked it so much, I thought I would post it

Foxconn and China’s Capitalist Revolution

The promises of reform at Foxconn are the latest of many as China painfully adjusts to the inevitable social realignment that comes with a capitalist economy. What is occurring in China now happened in Europe during the transition from feudal to industrial society. That transition is more germane than it might appear at first blush because over the past two generations China has been emerging not from a Marxist, but from a feudal state

Propaganda: Brainwashing in Communism and in Democracy

by Frank Li and Derryl Hermanutz, Guest Authors from Global Economic Intersection This is the fifth article of the series: “Towards An Ideal Form of Government”. In my 1/20/2012 post (Democracy and Communism: Are They Really the Same?), I stated: “Democracy,   as we know it today, is akin to communism in one critical aspect: 

Greece: On Pace for the Worst Recession in Modern History

The financial situation in Greece is deteriorating at a remarkable clip

Adam Smith and Joseph Schumpeter on the Bifurcation of Society

On the issue of the bifurcation of society and the widening income gap in the U.S., and the strains appearing from the factory system in China that have recently been highlighted, there is useful commentary that comes from a surprising quarter, or perhaps not surprising in itself, but in the view taken on the subject: Both Adam Smith and Joseph Schumpeter, defenders of capitalism as the source of “universal opulence”, see a road leading from capitalism to the disenfranchisement of the worker and the vaulting of the elite

Stop Censorship, Stop SOPA

Enemies of freedom will always tell you that there is some trade-off between freedom and civil liberties to get you to give up your freedom. This is a false dichotomy and always will be

Hans im Glueck

My friend Scott sent me the following story

Unemployment Insurance for the 21st Century: The Job Guarantee as an Alternative to Enforced Idleness

A new universal direct job creation program would improve working conditions in the private sector as employees would have the option of moving into the JG program. Hence, private sector employers would have to offer a wage and benefit package and working conditions at least as good as those offered by the JG program. The informal sector would shrink as workers become integrated into formal employment, gaining access to protection provided by labor laws

Managing the 99 Percent

The McCourtny Consulting Group: We are witnessing a simmering backlash in the face of the widening class distinction. It is wise to address the fundamental issues behind the backlash and consider approaches to deal with the problem, especially given that these conditions may be persistent and structural. Therefore, we have prepared a brief overview of approaches to the problem

Video: Beach Creatures

This week’s New Yorker magazine features Ian Frazier on Theo Jansen, a Dutch artist who makes kinetic sculptures called Strandbeests that walk along the beach.

In the video below, Frazier discusses the sculptures and how they fit into the tradition of Dutch landscapes. Very cool

American education, parody version

This is what American education now feels like

What can we learn from the policies that spurred the Industrial Revolution?

Some of the dominant policy issues of today – immigration, energy, the emergence of China – have their analogues in the great Industrial Revolution. The key government policies that laid the foundation for the Industrial Revolution in England include supporting the immigration of skilled workers, allowing for private ownership of farm land, weakening the unions of the day (the guilds), and addressing the energy crisis (in charcoal). And contrary policies in Italy and Spain – countries that were far wealthier and advanced than was per-Industrial Revolution England – derailed a similar revolution from occurring in continental Europe.
England would not have been anyone’s first bet as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution