For approximately 150 years Sears, Roebuck & Company was a retail giant. It made a fortune by selling quality products at low prices to middle- and lower-class Americans. Its innovative business strategies effectively drove its chief competitor, Montgomery Ward, from the market. The famous Sears catalog, for the first time, provided rural Americans access to […]
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For over two centuries economists have agreed that free trade is mutually beneficial. They argue countries should specialize in what they do best — and buy the rest. They explain why the usual alternatives, protectionism and trade barriers, ultimately destroy wealth or frustrate its creation. Princeton economist Paul Krugman, a high priest of the anyone-but-Bush […]
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Public school funding challenges communities across the nation. My hometown of Bozeman, Montana, is no exception. Our community highly values education and understands good schools are a key ingredient for social and economic progress. Like many others, our school board is deciding how to trim its budget in reaction to reduced state funding. The school […]
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I recently read a book by a biologist who doesn’t apply the evolutionary theory she no doubt knows well. Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is her compelling picture of American workers (especially single moms) trying to make ends meet in minimum wage jobs. Our empathy with and sympathy for […]
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I recently had the pleasure of talking with two senior high school government classes. We explored the use of language and the nuances beyond words such as “conservative” and “progressive.” I urged them to think in terms of causal relationships, not the slogans so common in today’s political discourse. Here’s an example. Critics of markets […]
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Some of the best observers of America were not born here. Alexis de Tocqueville is the classic example. His 1832 book, Democracy in America, is considered one of the most insightful accounts ever written about American society and our political institutions. Fareed Zakaria, born in India with degrees from Yale and Harvard, is in this […]
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Some of my best memories come from summer road trips with my wife, Ramona. I naturally focus on economic anthropology, i.e., how folks organize, coordinate, and exchange. Differences are huge. They testify to the vitality, viability, and variety we’ve come to expect from an open society. Here are a few examples. We twice visited the […]
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I recently spoke on the scientific and ecological issues of genetically modified foods. But many in the audience, as well as friends I meet at our co-op, were actually concerned about “globalization.” Some want to arrest the spread of the market economy and modern technology. They believe these are the root causes of environmental degradation […]
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I like to help reduce communication barriers that isolate and alienate people. This task is especially compelling when individuals share core values. However, the exchange of ideas across ideological camps is difficult and rare. The debate over benefits and costs of modernization and markets exemplifies this problem Why don’t all nations adopt institutions of the […]
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Bozeman’s farmers’ market is a charming way to purchase locally grown produce and handicrafts. The ideal of self-sufficiency such markets imply is often advocated by environmentalists and community food co-ops, e.g., “Be a yokel, buy local.” But while it may appeal to the well-off and socially conscious, if taken to its logical conclusion it has […]
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