New at Reason
Ron Bailey files his second and final report from the World Future Society.
Comments to "New at Reason":
Drew W | August 1, 2007, 4:16pm | #
If it's from the World Future Society, shouldn't he have filed it yesterday?Or would that be tomorrow?
Christ, there's a joke in there somewhere.
Bergamot | August 1, 2007, 4:16pm | #
Has Crossman ever actually played a video game?Most of them have words. Some of them have *lots* of words.
Those graphs look pretty interesting. Any chance we could see them in higher resolution?
Any interaction effects of Safety/Justice/prosperity related to Freedom?
Steve Verdon | August 1, 2007, 5:14pm | #
Why didn't Dahl do a multiple regression? Sure would have been better in terms of giving us an idea of how safety, economic freedom and justice are at explaining productivity.cecil | August 1, 2007, 5:50pm | #
An informed grasp of a multiple regression is essential to forming rational thoughts.Regressions are like paragraphs and stuff are to communicating, man.
Captain Christopher will have a son...
Anonymous Bastert | August 1, 2007, 6:44pm | #
PWNAGE!bill | August 1, 2007, 11:26pm | #
Has anyone at the World Future Society ever heard of Adam Smith?Jose Ortega y Gasset | August 2, 2007, 9:48am | #
C'mon, Bill. It is the World FUTURE Society. Adam Smith is clearly a part of the PAST.Ron Bailey | August 2, 2007, 10:21am | #
bill: As far as I could tell from my interactions at the conference, a good percentage of futurists were blissfully ignorant of economics.Steve Verdon: You ask an insightful question and it turns out that I misunderstood Dahl. He did do a polynomial regression which is why they add up to more than 100%. I will be making a correction later today.
Floccina | August 3, 2007, 10:18am | #
Your title was “Peace and Prosperity Through Productivity” but causation also seems to run the other way low crime leads to prosperity less effort to watch people. War and corruption destroys prosperity.Crime went down in the great depression Crime went up during the great 1960 boom. Professional athletes commit crimes a fairly high rate even though they have lots of money and have had plenty of opportunities to get educated.
It was much touted before that invasion of Iraq that because it had a more middle class and more educated population that the nation building would go smoothly. Now some are pointing to polygamy as a cause of violence. I do not know why they are choosing violence in Iraq but it seems that the level of education and income did not prevent it.
Prosperity is a good in and of itself. I am all for prosperity but let us not sell it as ending to crime and war.
Tor Dahl | August 4, 2007, 3:39am | #
The title of the piece draws upon a framework that includes freedom, safety and justice. This framework is associated with prosperity, using data from countries around the world to make the case. Prosperity gives us the means to fight hunger and disease, and free trade makes it possible for a country to develop relationships that deter war and conflict. However, the engine of wealth creation is productivity, and there is where it all starts."Peace and prosperity through productivity" is the motto of the World Confederation of Productivity Science, an organization that offers World Productivity Congresses for those who want to learn more.China and India have lifted some 400 million people out of poverty in what must be characterized as the largest and most effective antipoverty program in history. It was done through annual productivity improvement rates of 10% (China) and 9% (India). The power of the productivity engine is not in dispute, and the US have lost at least $20 Trillion since 1973 by not paying attention to its own productivity. The reasons for that are discussed in the second half of the paper, and you may read it for yourself by requesting it from me at tor@tordahl.com.