A grey old day in Hobart today, but it is anything but grey in my heart! I thought after yesterday’s tale of poor parenting and the outrage that it prompted, I’d best switch on the positive vibe and look on the bright side of life. In order to do that, I felt it appropriate to post some lovely blossoms that I photographed right next to the bus stop this morning
Congratulations are in order for Paul Krugman, on his receipt of the Nobel Prize for Economics. Krugman will be a familiar name to many – even those not interested in the dismal science, but I will forever remember him for helping convince me of the positives that can emerge from the on the liberalisation of trade, and more generally to the multiplicity of impacts related to the globalisation of capital. His work on Mexico and the Philippines in the mid-1990s, in particular, helped me broaden my outlook considerably and helped lead to the reconstruction of a lad who at that point was a wholly unreconstructed social democrat, and for that, I owe a debt to the man.
More recently, Krugman has been surprisingly vocal on political issues, and (for mine) has one of the keenest minds on the interaction between the market, politics and public policy. A neo-Keynesian (of a fashion), he tipped both ENRON and the housing bubble well in advance. He’s also known for routinely having a read hot go at some of the poor choices of the present Bush administration. That said, I generally find him someone who tries to stress the positives. For that, he should also be congratulated.
He is also – unusual for an economist – eminently readable. If I were to recommend one work, I really couldn’t look past Peddling Prosperity: Economic Sense and Nonsense in an Age of Diminished Expectation, one of the best-written books on economics ever. I shall give any interested parties a link to his blog for you to explore at your leisure (and so I can cease prattling on about something as dreary as economics.
Don't worry people, I plan to post a photo of Henry and Ezra to cleanse you all later this evening.
Comments
The flowers, as you may know, are a variety of ceanothus, native to my landscape. It will be lovely to watch your springtime and summer, as we sink into darkness up here.