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A world of free economist articles would be _____ richer. Yet they built the paywall. There seem like a lot of obvious objections that are not addressed and r

A world of free economist articles would be _____ richer. Yet they built the paywall. There seem like a lot of obvious objections that are not addressed and raises more questions than it asks. > Workers in rich countries earn more than those in poor countries partly because they are better educated but mostly because they live in societies that have, over many years, developed institutions that foster prosperity and peace What are these institutions, and would they be damaged at all by free movement? If the people in good_country made the institutions, and they get demographically boxed out by people in other_countries, what happens? What are "institutions," exactly? Why did other_countries grow bad institutions? Would emigrants damage those countries further? The article semi asks these questions then drops the thread. I think articles like this tend to simplify or handwave the caveats in unrealistic ways, so their result is always a lopsided analysis. Example of such a simplification: > But most Western cities could build much higher than they do, creating more space. Yeah they could, but most won't. See: The bay area, Boston, NYC. (A few do: Montreal, or Tokyo, which added more housing than all of California last year)

quickthrower2 9y ago
A world of free whatever simonsarris does for a living would be _____ richer.
pram 9y ago
These guys basically believe in magic soil, and that the inhabitants of "rich countries" are inherently interchangeable. The institutions just magically appeared separate from culture and demographics.
- ForHackernews 9y ago
  Institutions are mostly policies, procedures and process. What's the difference between a well-run company and poorly-run one? Would you rather work in a team of geniuses with no process, or a team of average developers who follow best practices?
  - shard972 9y ago
    > Institutions are mostly policies, procedures and process. Which are influenced by culture > What's the difference between a well-run company and poorly-run one? Mostly culture in my opinion
  - concede_pluto 9y ago
    "Don't hire the average developer" tops the list of best practices.
kevindong 9y ago
I believe the article is talking about the (lack of) corruption and general respect for rule of law (and the implications it entails; such as a independent judiciary and fair/transparent trails). The author really should've gone into detail and defended their assertion though.
conanbatt 9y ago
> A world of free economist articles would be _____ richer. Yet they built the paywall. The actual analogy would be a world where you need to get a visa per-magazine to read the articles they have, to the which you might not qualify. A newspaper-immigration-patrol would look at this comment of yours on HN and possible deny you access, you should watch out. > What are these institutions, and would they be damaged at all by free movement? If the people in good_country made the institutions, and they get demographically boxed out by people in other_countries, what happens? What are "institutions," exactly? Why did other_countries grow bad institutions? Would emigrants damage those countries further? The article semi asks these questions then drops the thread. A great open question is what happens to institutions when there are culture changes. But bear in mind that without immigration, there would be no institutions in the U.S. whatsoever. It is a point of view of past immigration being great, but current and future immigration being bad, which I think it makes very little sense holistically speaking. > Yeah they could, but most won't. There really isnt a limit on living space. The rent is high in places like the bay area precisely because moving there is still a good deal. Problems of residential prices are widely overstated.

quickthrower2 9y ago

A world of free whatever simonsarris does for a living would be _____ richer.

pram 9y ago

These guys basically believe in magic soil, and that the inhabitants of "rich countries" are inherently interchangeable. The institutions just magically appeared separate from culture and demographics.

ForHackernews 9y ago
Institutions are mostly policies, procedures and process. What's the difference between a well-run company and poorly-run one? Would you rather work in a team of geniuses with no process, or a team of average developers who follow best practices?
- shard972 9y ago
  > Institutions are mostly policies, procedures and process. Which are influenced by culture > What's the difference between a well-run company and poorly-run one? Mostly culture in my opinion
- concede_pluto 9y ago
  "Don't hire the average developer" tops the list of best practices.

kevindong 9y ago

I believe the article is talking about the (lack of) corruption and general respect for rule of law (and the implications it entails; such as a independent judiciary and fair/transparent trails). The author really should've gone into detail and defended their assertion though.

conanbatt 9y ago

> A world of free economist articles would be _____ richer. Yet they built the paywall. The actual analogy would be a world where you need to get a visa per-magazine to read the articles they have, to the which you might not qualify. A newspaper-immigration-patrol would look at this comment of yours on HN and possible deny you access, you should watch out. > What are these institutions, and would they be damaged at all by free movement? If the people in good_country made the institutions, and they get demographically boxed out by people in other_countries, what happens? What are "institutions," exactly? Why did other_countries grow bad institutions? Would emigrants damage those countries further? The article semi asks these questions then drops the thread. A great open question is what happens to institutions when there are culture changes. But bear in mind that without immigration, there would be no institutions in the U.S. whatsoever. It is a point of view of past immigration being great, but current and future immigration being bad, which I think it makes very little sense holistically speaking. > Yeah they could, but most won't. There really isnt a limit on living space. The rent is high in places like the bay area precisely because moving there is still a good deal. Problems of residential prices are widely overstated.