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Assorted links
1. Why don't all peoples form neat, orderly lines?
2. Japan will label carbon footprints for many items
3. Charles Mann, on our eroding supply of dirt and the economics of soil. I am a big fan of Mann (he wrote the superb 1491) and this is one of the best magazine pieces of this year if not the best. On top of all the good economics in this piece, learn how the "black revolution" -- putting carbon in the soil -- may solve agricultural problems and alleviate global warming at the same time. Hat tip to Kottke.
4. The latest: "Chile's lower house of congress has suspended plans to boost a $1,626 gasoline subsidy for each of its members."
5. Vegan-libertarian debate and discussion
6. The new Neil Stephenson book
Posted by Tyler Cowen on August 22, 2008 at 07:46 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink
Comments
In Cuba there is a kind of virtual line. You just ask for "el ultimo?" ( "the last?") and the last person in the line raises his hand. You know exactly your place when the line moves and you do not have to wait standing up. It is an excellent system for long lines.
Decades of Castro's dictatorship have lead to something useful after all.
Posted by: Leo at Aug 22, 2008 9:14:13 AM
What's up with this obsession about lines? This is the third post about it during the last week....
HC
Posted by: Happy Camper at Aug 22, 2008 10:19:03 AM
Interested to see that the Japanese are labeling for carbon. I'm reading "Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Changing Seafood" right now, and he makes some sad points about how the Japanese are not too concerned about eating ethically. Don't have the book in front of me, but he cited a survey (WWF?) that said that maybe 5% of seafood buyers factor in sustainability.
Posted by: Ren at Aug 22, 2008 11:09:48 AM
I have been reading (and posting) about biochar(also called terra preta or agrichar) for a while. IMO it has the potential to reduce co2 cheaply. Glad to see you link to a story that gives it a mention. Biochar is why I think any co2 tax should be matched with a payout for removal of co2 from the air.
Posted by: floccina at Aug 22, 2008 12:35:34 PM
Labeling rules can make sense with respect to things that directly affect the buyer like nutrition, purity, ingredients, quality, certification, safety, contract terms, and of course, price. A self-interested buyer can make better decisions when the relevant information is clearly presented.
However, it's less clear that labeling is the solution for internalizing externalities like carbon footprints, sustainability, etc. Self-interested buyers will not automatically internalize those costs, even if they know all about them. That's the definition of externalities.
Hence, for externalities like carbon footprints, Pigouvian taxes or assignment of property rights (where feasible) are likely to be better solutions.
Posted by: a student of economics at Aug 22, 2008 12:36:07 PM
If you want to read about Soil problems in the broader context of ecological damage leading to the collapse of a civilization, I'd suggest Jared Diamond's book appropriately titled "Collapse".
In it he talks about saltification(?) of the soil particularly in Australia. He also discusses the consequences of clear-cut farming, erosion in Hispaniola and Easter Island
Posted by: Skeptigator at Aug 22, 2008 1:02:20 PM
However, it's less clear that labeling is the solution for internalizing externalities like carbon footprints, sustainability, etc. Self-interested buyers will not automatically internalize those costs, even if they know all about them. That's the definition of externalities.
Except that a consumer, if given a choice between two otherwise identical products but with one product having the lower carbon footprint, will very likely choose the one with a lower carbon footprint.
Also, because having a lower carbon footprint can have a huge effect for consumers on the margins of purchasing a product, producers would compete to have lower carbon footprints.
The real problem is: how do you effectively measure carbon footprint for a product? That is such a complex task, with a lot of ambiguity in many cases, that it could probably be easily gamed by the unscrupulous.
Posted by: Rex Rhino at Aug 22, 2008 1:50:29 PM
I don't follow the logic of biochar. In one place the literature says it's very stable in the soil, lasting many years even in tropic conditions. Sounds almost like a catalyst. That's great for its contributions to improved yields; apply biochar to the soil once and get a relatively permanent increase. But how does a one-time application of bio-char counteract the annual release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?
Posted by: Bill Harshaw at Aug 22, 2008 3:08:38 PM
"this is one of the best magazine pieces of this year if not the best"
You've read every magazine piece written this year to know that this is one of the best if not the best? Impressive!
Posted by: Potrero John at Aug 22, 2008 11:06:07 PM
Bill, making char removes carbon from the atmosphere and adding it to the soil can promote growth removing
still more carbon. However, after that it won't remove carbon from year to year. But the beauty of
adding char to soil is that it both sequsters carbon and improves soil quality, efectively killing two
birds with one stone. Since farmers are willing to pay for char to add to soil to improve the
productivity of their farms, it could be a very cost effective way to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Posted by: Ronald Brak at Aug 23, 2008 12:11:30 AM
Even Later from Chile:
"Ministro de Hacienda anuncia plan de US$1.000 millones para combatir la inflación y dar un impulso al crecimiento. La iniciativa incluye reducción transitoria del impuesto específico a las gasolinas ..." (http://www.hacienda.cl/prensa.php?opc=showContenido&id=12955&nav_id=10287&contar=1&tema_id=&code=saNK0IDctC3gI)
So while congressmen won't get their subsidy increased, the government is adopting John McCain's gas tax holiday to try to keep prices down. Won't be saving much gas this way.
Posted by: jps at Aug 23, 2008 10:20:33 AM
That's a terrible attempt to try to explain disorderly line behavior in, at least, Indonesia. Indonesians are quite simply far more willing to cut other people off than Americans are. When a light turns red, they continue to drive through it until a car from the now-green street drives into the middle of the intersection and they are forced to stop or crash. Motorcyclists will, with 100% regularity, drive through the (disorderly, Indonesians don't drive in anything like lanes) cars to get to the intersection. When they come to the US, they are astonished by the fact that we pull over to allow ambulances and fire trucks responding to an emergency to pass us easily.
They don't care about non-family members as much as we do, and they're far more willing to screw them over. While #3 (lack respect for rule of law) most likely explains some of it, #1 explains virtually none of it (you should see how slowly they walk) and 2/4 are probably very small factors.
Posted by: Careless at Aug 23, 2008 11:30:01 PM
Thanks for the tip about Stephenson's book. He is my favorite hard SF writer today. I have the book placed on hold at the Fairfax library.
Posted by: techreseller at Aug 26, 2008 11:45:55 AM
Thanks for the tip about Stephenson's book. He is my favorite hard SF writer today. I have the book placed on hold at the Fairfax library.
Posted by: techreseller at Aug 26, 2008 11:46:15 AM
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