Economic change is a process, and in this book I shall describe the nature of that process. In contrast to Darwinian evolutionary theory, the key to human evolutionary change is the intentionality of the players. The selection mechanisms in Darwinian evolutionary theory are not informed by beliefs about the eventual consequences. In contrast, human evolution […]
Entries from March 2005
Douglass North on “Understanding the Process of Economic Change”
March 31st, 2005 · 2 Comments
Make No Little Plans
March 29th, 2005 · Comments Off
Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. […]
Tags: Quotes
Sequencing — Part 2
March 27th, 2005 · 6 Comments
A few days ago, I wrote about sequencing of interventions for development. Now it is time to ponder the question of leapfrogging, a buzz word very much favored by some who write about emerging economies. For instance, there is the claim that India can leapfrog into a service economy from an agricultural economy without the […]
Tags: Development
Desi Bloggers’ Meet in NY City
March 26th, 2005 · No Comments
A bunch of Indian bloggers are getting together on Saturday 2nd April in NY, NY for lunch. Details are at Seshu’s Tiffinbox. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere, as the song goes.
Tags: Blogging
Alexis de Tocqueville: Distinguishing Between Democracy and Liberty
March 25th, 2005 · 1 Comment
Alexis de Tocqueville said that “the only passions I have are love of liberty and human dignity.” This is the bicentennial year of his birth. He was only 30 years old when his Democracy in America was published in 1835.
Gary Galles’s article Tocqueville on Liberty in America at the Mises Institute is worth reading. “The […]
Tags: Democracy
Blegging, anyone?
March 25th, 2005 · 1 Comment
Tim Worstall requested this one. He wrote
An advertiser has got their pricing seriously wrong, offering 10 pounds for each person that signs up for their free demo (no credit cards, no payment, no software download, seriously, just name, address, phone number, confirm with emailed log-in). It’s the Easter weekend so they won’t approve anyone else […]
Tags: Public Service Announcement
The Care and Feeding of the Permanent Arms Industry — Part 2
March 24th, 2005 · 14 Comments
There must be a cheaper method of ensuring security for India. I am referring to the talk that is going around about the US selling F-16 fighter planes to India. I don’t know how much they cost exactly but I guess that they go for about a $100 million a piece. India may end up […]
Tags: Conflict
As India Develops
March 16th, 2005 · No Comments
Rajesh Jain’s blog, Emergic, is an extended memory of all kinds of emerging technologies and markets. His “Tech Talks” summarize his learnings and ruminations on various subjects. I use his blog to better understand what is going on in various areas. And paradoxically I use his blog to better understand what I wrote myself because […]
Tags: Development
Beware the Ides of March
March 15th, 2005 · 1 Comment
Thus spake the soothsayer…
Tags: Public Service Announcement
Sequencing
March 14th, 2005 · 4 Comments
“Forgive him Theodotus: he is a barbarian and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature”
–Caesar and Cleopatra, George Bernard Shaw
In a sense, we are all barbarians believing that our personal experiences are universally applicable. This tendency is all too evident in those who intervene, often with the […]
Tags: Development
Contemplative?
March 12th, 2005 · 6 Comments
Green
You are a very calm and contemplative person. Others are drawn to your peaceful, nurturing nature.
Find out your color at Quiz Me!
Tags: Humor and Silliness
A Letter from America
March 9th, 2005 · 4 Comments
Hi from the Big Apple. Brilliant day outside with snow from yesterday’s blizzard blanketing the city. I am visiting with my friend Reuben who lives on 116th and Broadway (Columbia U.)
I have been wandering around the world for the past couple of weeks. Which partly explains why I have been neglecting this blog. Then there […]
Tags: Places · Travelling Places
