[Development] Focusing on Metrics and Not People

by | Oct 31, 2009 | English

Whew. I just published the third and final part of my “New Era of Media Development” series over at Idea Lab. I’m glad to have that out of the way. I know I’ve been whining quite a bit lately about the funding community, but that’s...
The Guilt Economy

The Guilt Economy

by | Jun 14, 2007 | English

A few nights ago Mari and I arrived home when we usually arrive home: late. It was another 10-hour work day, the fourth in a row. And on the answering machine there was a flashing number. It was a one. It was my grandmother. ‘Hi David and Marisa …...

Market Efficiency and the Gas Tax

by | Apr 25, 2006 | Economics, English, Politics

Gas prices seem to be a big issue in the USofA these days. Of course, gas prices in Europe and elsewhere have been far higher than in the US for decades — and they only get a litre! In spite of this, many pundits are speculating that the price we pay for gas...

Pitching Outside the Strike Zone, Part III

by | Jul 11, 2005 | Economics, English, Muse, Politics

The last time I read El Norte, I suppose I was somewhat suprised to skim over a graph that listed Mexico as the 10th wealthiest nation in the world; well ahead of most European countries. But not that surprised. The problem is, we’re accustomed to measuring wealth by metrics like minimum wage ($4 a day in Mexico, $7 an hour in California) and property value., But, if you were to measure something like purchase of $40,000+ cars per capita, I bet you’d be surprised. In fact, per capita, I’d be willing to bet that Mexico would “win out.”

3 Hours a Day

by | Mar 15, 2005 | English

At the outset of the Great Depression in 1930 Keynes wrote an essay entitled “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren” in which he declared that the economic problem, in the sense of meeting subsistence needs of everyone in the rich societies, might be solved in...