3 ms·

What are you referencing in regards to poverty? I would have guessed that the recent reduction in poverty is largely attributable to wealthy nations reducing ef

by baddox 11y ago

What are you referencing in regards to poverty? I would have guessed that the recent reduction in poverty is largely attributable to wealthy nations reducing efforts to centrally plan the economies of poor nations.

manachar 11y ago
While this article was more focused on poverty, the other major theme was that things and people are better now in many respects that people think it is. For me, the environmental successes of the last 30 years are a pretty amazing example of some of the awesome things humans can do when they put their minds to it. Additionally, the overly negative and pessimistic view of government and laws removes critical tools for that improvement. That move away from centrally planning poor nations was often achieved by changes in laws, and by the actions of a wide variety of organizational bodies and peoples. I'm not sure I have enough information in this article or elsewhere to state what has been effective at reducing the poverty.
- ArkyBeagle 11y ago
  It's less than awesome, really - people got richer and demand rose for a cleaner environment.
malchow 11y ago
The conceit of the article -- borne out by economic history -- is exactly that: it's the reduction of efforts to centrally plan, and the rise of entrepreneurial, capitalistic efforts to advance, that has reduced poverty. [1] [2] [1] https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/deirdre-mccloskey-ideas-not-capital-are-root-cause-development https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/deirdre-mccloskey-... [2] https://ricochet.com/perhaps-the-most-powerful-defense-of-market-capitalism-you-will-ever-read/ https://ricochet.com/perhaps-the-most-powerful-defense-of-ma...
- Steko 11y ago
  The article is actually fairly silent on the reasons so read into it what you will. If anything the author is endorsing his friend's book without giving away the thesis and if the link is accurate it covers a wide range of factors. As for Deirdre McCloskey, as Noah Smith says,"do not believe things that Deirdre McCloskey says just because she says them." http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/deirdre-mccloskey-says-things.html http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/deirdre-mccloskey...
Zigurd 11y ago
> reducing efforts to centrally plan the economies "Reducing" is technically correct, even in China. But China still has a command economy in housing, infrastructure, telecommunication, transportation, etc., and is still run by a big 'C' Communist Party. That's where the uplift happened, and it needs to be explained in terms of local conditions.

by baddox 11y ago

manachar 11y ago

While this article was more focused on poverty, the other major theme was that things and people are better now in many respects that people think it is. For me, the environmental successes of the last 30 years are a pretty amazing example of some of the awesome things humans can do when they put their minds to it. Additionally, the overly negative and pessimistic view of government and laws removes critical tools for that improvement. That move away from centrally planning poor nations was often achieved by changes in laws, and by the actions of a wide variety of organizational bodies and peoples. I'm not sure I have enough information in this article or elsewhere to state what has been effective at reducing the poverty.

ArkyBeagle 11y ago
It's less than awesome, really - people got richer and demand rose for a cleaner environment.

malchow 11y ago

The conceit of the article -- borne out by economic history -- is exactly that: it's the reduction of efforts to centrally plan, and the rise of entrepreneurial, capitalistic efforts to advance, that has reduced poverty. [1] [2] [1] https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/deirdre-mccloskey-ideas-not-capital-are-root-cause-development https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/deirdre-mccloskey-... [2] https://ricochet.com/perhaps-the-most-powerful-defense-of-market-capitalism-you-will-ever-read/ https://ricochet.com/perhaps-the-most-powerful-defense-of-ma...

Steko 11y ago
The article is actually fairly silent on the reasons so read into it what you will. If anything the author is endorsing his friend's book without giving away the thesis and if the link is accurate it covers a wide range of factors. As for Deirdre McCloskey, as Noah Smith says,"do not believe things that Deirdre McCloskey says just because she says them." http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/deirdre-mccloskey-says-things.html http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/deirdre-mccloskey...

Zigurd 11y ago

> reducing efforts to centrally plan the economies "Reducing" is technically correct, even in China. But China still has a command economy in housing, infrastructure, telecommunication, transportation, etc., and is still run by a big 'C' Communist Party. That's where the uplift happened, and it needs to be explained in terms of local conditions.