Review of Benjamin Friedman's new book, The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth, reviewed by Joseph Stiglitz in Foreign Affairs. Worth a read, and in line with some of the stuff I teach -- the critique of both the economic growth mantra and anti-growth positions such as those found in ecological economics. From a philosopher's perspective, both are problematic, though I lean towards the latter in light of the urgency of current environmental problems. Stiglitz suggests that Friedman is shooting through the middle to explore new territory. It's good to see, but it has been done in other kinds of ways -- see my colleague Mark Sagoff's work on economic valuation, for instance, or Stiglitz's own work on the information economy and his critique of the IMF.
Who Will Control the Internet? by Kenneth Cukier, also in Foreign Affairs. This is a huge multi-faceted issue. Many bloggers have been discussing it, and I'm a newbie to the issue. But one present, related concern regards exclusionary practices by ISPs signing contracts with other businesses. America will then be like China -- the only difference is in the content of what is not accessible. Anyone interested in an open internet ought to read this essay, critically.
Melvin Laird discusses the Vietnam - Iraq analogy.
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