Tag: Thomas Malthus
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Prosperity: Final Thoughts on the Cycle of Prosperity
It is time to bring my Cycle of Prosperity series to a close. I began this series by discussing shalom's centrality to the biblical narrative. What we call "economic well-being" is an essential component of shalom. While we can talk of shalom for an individual, the biblical image is of shalom is community-wide. Next, I…
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Prosperity: Food Supply
Today we turn to the food supply component of the cycle of prosperity. At the core of the food supply is crop production. With the exception of what few hunting and gathering methods are still used, most food comes from domesticated crops or animals that feed on crops.Arrow B Historically, food supply has been directly…
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Prosperity: Technology
Technology is the devices and machines used in society, and the practical knowledge society has about its material existence and methodologies for applying technical knowledge. Technology has several important impacts on the cycle of prosperity. Arrow A As Thomas Malthus correctly concluded, food production is critical to achieving prosperity. Domestication of crops and animals is…
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Malthus, the false prophet
The Economist: Malthus, the false prophet The pessimistic parson and early political economist remains as wrong as ever. AMID an astonishing surge in food prices, which has sparked riots and unrest in many countries and is making even the relatively affluent citizens of America and Europe feel the pinch, faith in the ability of global…
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Throw Malthus Off the Bus!
Business Week: Throw Malthus Off the Bus! This is the opener in my week of optimistic posts. And it’s a good time to do it, given the multifaceted surge of pessimism. One branch of pessimism is environmental/natural resources. This morning we had Paul Krugman writing a column entitled “Running Out of Planet to Exploit” where…
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MEC: Recap of My Concerns
We are about to turn specific passages from Everything Must Change by Brian McLaren, but before we go there, I want to recap my central observations and clarify my perception of some key issues. My primary concern over the last eight posts has been McLaren’s claim that we live with a “suicide machine.” He generally…
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Malthus was right!
New York Times: Malthus was right! by Paul Krugman …The fact is that Malthus was right about the whole of human history up until his own era. Sumerian peasants in the 30th century BC lived on the edge of subsistence; so did French peasants in the 18th century AD. Throughout history population growth had always…
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Economic Fallacies: “Linear Projection”
The Linear Projection Fallacy projects present circumstances and trends endlessly into the future without allowing for innovation and societal change. There are about 300 million people in the USA today. About 13% (39 million) would say they were Black, and another 13% would say they were Hispanic. Let's say that by this century's end, we…
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The Real Climate Change Alarmists
One of my favorite movie scenes is from the 1984 Bill Murray classic Ghostbusters. Dr. Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions. Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"? Dr Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath-of-God type stuff. Dr. Peter Venkman: Exactly. Dr Ray Stantz:…