Econ-Atrocity Bulletins

Jonathan Rowe at On the Commons is writing about clotheslines, and the “tragedy of the private” market that has made them illegal for millions of people. A useful reminder that–while no view is strictly objective–some absurdities are pretty easy to identify, and these are just as likely (more likely?) to derive from the unfettered association of individuals through the marketplace as from any other source, particularly when profit maximization is the mantra. (Because, in this case, it’s the hope that property values will rise as fast as possible that leads snobs to ban clotheslines from a neighborhood.)

Given that the Supreme Court has ruled that carbon dioxide should rightly be treated as a pollutant, but the EPA continues to fail to act, clotheslines in restricted neighborhoods might make a great form of civil disobedience. If you live in such a neighborhood, set up a clothesline and wait for the order to take it down. It’d make for a great story in the local paper, which would help to spread the word about this absurdity and, hopefully, lead to laws that overrule the we-prefer-to-pollute-the-atmosphere snob factor.

*Ha ha!

I’ve tried, oh I’ve tried, but good ole Katha Pollitt has said it better than I’ve ever managed. A tidy summary to why, indeed, poverty is bad for your health–IF you live in an economy like the U.S.’s where access to health care is largely dependent on your financial standing. Poverty, I’m sure, isn’t particularly good for your health if you live in an economy with a sensible, universal health system; but it sure won’t be nearly as outright dangerous to be poor.

My wife and I wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper yesterday. Out of respect for the paper’s request that submitted letters be otherwise unpublished, I won’t copy it here, but I will spell out some of what we were writing about.

So it started with an article about the recently successful filibuster by Senate Republicans, to prevent a vote on a bill that would allow Guantanamo Bay detainees, and other prisoners in the “war on terror,” to have access to the court system for review of their cases; that is, to return to them the right of habeus corpus that was stripped in previous legislation. (We read it in our local Valley News, but it was originally from the Washington Post.)

A Republican filibuster in the Senate yesterday shot down a bipartisan effort to restore the right of terrorism suspects to contest in federal courts their detention and treatment, underscoring the Democratic-led Congress’s difficulty with terrorism issues.
…
The detainee rights amendment was an effort to reverse a provision in last year’s Military Commissions Act that suspended the writ of habeas corpus for terrorism suspects at the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and other offshore prisons.
…
The authors of last year’s bill said that advocates of such rights would open the federal courts to endless lawsuits from the nation’s worst enemies. “To start that process would be an absolute disaster for this country,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), an Air Force Reserve lawyer who was instrumental in crafting the provision in question in last year’s bill. …

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New World Notes has a story concerning Italian IBM workers in a contract dispute. The twist is, they’re planning a labor action at IBM’s virtual campus in Second Life, the online game world. Apparently this is the first virtual labor action, although Korean “Gold Farmers” (workers that play World of Warcraft in order to sell the virtual gold to wealthier 1st world players) are forming a trade association in response to proposed regulation of their $1 billion a year trade (thanks to story at Ars Technica).

First Life (look outside) labor activists might be excused for wondering what good a virtual picket line will do for the cause. Big Blue, in response to demands of an extra 40 euros pay, slashed compensation by 1000 euros. Perhaps some more tangible action is called for.

(Thanks to How the World Works for the link).

Update (9/27/07): Here is a report from New World Notes on the 12 hour picket in Second Life. Definitely not your usual picket line. Still waiting for a response from IBM.

As was more-or-less expected, if not exactly at that precise moment, the Federal Reserve has cut both the “discount (interest) rate” and its target for the “federal funds (interest) rate.” Most stock markets around the world have reacted with big increases. Does this mean a rising tide for the foreseeable future and beyond? A couple of responses from outside the cheerleader squad.

Dean Baker: ‘…According to much of the coverage, the markets soared yesterday because they are now confident that Bernanke will move aggressively to try to counteract a recession. A bit of history would have been useful to include in this context…’

Jennifer Waters, MarketWatch: ‘…”It will help those who need it the least,” said Richard Hastings, an analyst at Bernard Sands LLC. “But for those who need the most help, this does nothing for them. The Fed cannot help them at all.”…’

Peter Dorman at Econospeak has a good conversation going on the advantages of controlling carbon emissions through auctioning off limited permits rather than using a tax on consumption of carbon fuels. Naturally, this reminds me of my implied plug for permits in my review of Peter Barnes’ Capitalism 3.0 [parts 1 and 2]. Regardless, Dorman is on the money when he concludes

Folks, this is a very important issue at a very important time. In the next year the contours of the national debate over climate change policy will be set. Huge ecological consequences – and gobs of cash – are on the line. It is essential to start off in the right direction. I’d like to see enough clarity and truculence in the activist community that journalists are forced to take notice.

In last month’s New York Review of Books, Freeman Dyson leads off with an essay on “Our Biotech Future“. He predicts that biotechnology will, in this new century, become relatively cheap and widespread in a similar way to the cheapening and spreading of physics-based and computer technology over the past several decades.

It has become part of the accepted wisdom to say that the twentieth century was the century of physics and the twenty-first century will be the century of biology. Two facts about the coming century are agreed on by almost everyone. Biology is now bigger than physics, as measured by the size of budgets, by the size of the workforce, or by the output of major discoveries; and biology is likely to remain the biggest part of science through the twenty-first century. Biology is also more important than physics, as measured by its economic consequences, by its ethical implications, or by its effects on human welfare.

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Heterodox Economist reminds us of a useful point: Wall Street types might deserve to eat a bear market in some sense of getting their just deserts, but the connections between the financial world and the rest of the economy (including millions of working stiff jobs, etc) mean that the bear is likely to be shared around with plenty of people who don’t deserve the downside. The system as we know it is rigged in favor of the owners. Because they own, they cannot be allowed to suffer for their suffering trickles down much faster than any of their advantages. He also talks about Rosa Luxemburg, which is cool.