Cary Neeper's Blog: Reviewing World-changing Nonfiction - Posts Tagged "economics"

Add these two books:
for exploring the impact of diversity on complexity Scott E. Page's "Diversity and Complexity"
for exploring the saga of the Chacoans and Puebloans as an example of the staying power of efficiency and the role of complexity in the survival of a culture, add David E. Stuart's "Anasazi America."

Completing the Picture--Adding Ecological Economics and steadystate.org imperatives to Complexity Economics

A little late with a big Aha--it's time to put together a mini-Bibliography to review the new economical thinking that could save the future.

Start with a general overview of problems with classical economics, economics as a complex system, and the role of government, leaving the How of solving problems to citizens. Be sure to read The Gardens of Democracy by Eric Liu and Eric Hanauer, Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books, 2011.

For tending the economic garden that has become overgrown, go to steadystate.org and see C.A.S.S.E.'s twelve steps to a no-growth economy--how to get over our obsession with growth and its cause, uncontrolled debt.

For the latter idea and a connection to complex systems, see Gaian Democracies by Roy Madron and John Jopling, Devon UK: Green Books Ltd., Schumacher Society Briefing #9, 2003.

Don't forget to stir into your reading Thomas L. Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008 as a reminder that nothing can grow forever.

Related studies are found in Lester R. Brown's Eco-Economy, New York, WW Norton and Co., 2001 and Plan B, 2003.

The moral implications of all this and a scathing critique of classical economics is beautifully covered by Herman E. Daly and John B. Cobb Jr. in For The Common Good: Redirecting the Economy Toward Community, the Environment and A Sustainable Future, Boston: Beacon Press, 1994.

Eric D. Beinhocker's The Origin of Wealth, Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2006 covers such a critique and tells good stories that define economics as complex, giving us a huge bibliography and lots of useful notes. However, he fails to talk about how an overused planet is impacted, hugely, given the reality of economic complexity, with its tendency to do unpredictable amplification. Remember 2008.

Finally, for an understanding of complexity, first read Per Bak's How Nature Works: The Science of Self-organized Criticality, New York, Springer-Verlag, 1996, then Thinking In Systems --A Primer by Donella Meadows,VT: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2008. The newest recommended primers I've found are Deep Simplicity, John Gribbin, New York: Random House, 2004 and Diversity and Complexity, Scott E. Page, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2011.

Let's do it.

Finally, after working on editing the sequel to A Place Beyond Man for two weeks, I will be continuing the social saga of forty years living with ducks, turkeys, hens, one rooster who lived 11 years, and the dogs who have watched over them--on my web site blog page. I'm not sure the connection is working here.
I would love to hear from you. Is this good book material? Or is it too off the cuff?
When I have more time, I'll check in and see what's happening. Soon, I'll be ready to share some new readings. Meanwhile, don't miss Liu's "Garden of Democracy."
Right up my scifi alley.

Here's the link to a review by Douglas Cobb, including an overview of the entire series THE ARCHIVES OF VAROK. WEBS is the second in the series, which is setup in A PLACE BEYOND MAN.
http://www.bookspotcentral.com/2012/1... A Place Beyond Man: The Archives of Varok

Penscript Publishing House is offering a drawing for ten free copies of A Place Beyond Man, the prequel to THE WEBS OF VAROK,now available in trade paperback, hardback, Kindle and Nook Editions. http://archivesofvarok.com/articles/n...

Neither dystopia or utopia, THE WEBS... is a realistic scifi crossover novel set in an alternate 21st century solar system, where the nearby aliens are too interesting and too nosy to ignore.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH is a standout choice in understanding why steady state economics is the answer to our current dilemmas. Why? It's the elegant simplicity and regularity of its presentation. First, engaging anecdotes set the stage. 2) Undeniable data and simple graphs make the reason for change clear. 3)This why is then followed by a no-nonsense listing of what needs to be done.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH's crystal clear how and why makes it a book for anyone, and an excellent text for students of any age preparing to design the future. Rob Dietz and Dan O'Neill have handed us the prescription we need to cure the ills of our overused planet and to secure a perpetual, humane future for its life. There is no illegible scrawl in the prescription. The directions are precisely laid out--even the troublesome imperatives, like population stability. The authors introduce each chapter with engaging anecdotes, and illustrate data with simple graphs. A striking conclusion expresses the need to recognize which nations need economic development to attain a good life for their people, countries that should maintain their steady state, and those that need to plan and execute substantial degrowth. The benefits of a no-growth economy are beautifully summarized near the end, along with extensive notes on sources of information and a usefully detailed index. It should be required reading, not just for students.

Buried in the authors' reasoning, which tells us why we must take this medicine, are concepts we can all expand on--the need for technical development that is rationally selective, the need for legal ethics that do not allow the obfuscation of truth, and the need to deny business ethics that trample integrity in pursuit of the bottom line.

Dietz and O'Neill's pills may seem difficult to swallow, but they will go down easily, for their necessity is made quite clear. We all want the same thing. We want human genius and the awesome beauty and diversity of life on Earth to survive the long-run--with health, ever-growing enlightenment, and joy in living for all. They outline a good plan for how to achieve that.Rob Dietz

The rumors are true. I am reading Robert Fishe's "The Dimwit's Dictinary cover to cover. I'm underlining it too. What? You heard me. (Ha! I just looked up that phrase. He forgot that one.) I said, I'm underlining words and phrases that I probably would use, phrases like "express (concern)" or "attitude." Fiske lists helpful alternative words, sometimes, so I'll continue reading and underlining. I'm up to G. I'm sure his book will help me in the ongoing struggle to ramp up my verbiage to new heights. (Ooops. No, that one's not there, either.)

That said, I'm moving on. (Ha again! Neither phrase is listed, but "moving forward," is.) I'm going to express my doubts about the phrases listed in the Dimwit's Dictionary. Some are too useful; they express too precisely what I mean to say, sometimes with a tone that no alternative phrase or word captures. Take, for example, the title of Rob Dietz and Dan O'Neill's excellent, concise summary of why we need to do this and that to begin the conversion to a steady state, now. "Economics for Dummies?" No! It's called "Enough Is Enough." Rob thought long and hard about using that title. A search can get 150 hits on the phrase. But it says exactly what they wanted to say, and I agree. They say why. They say how to make a steady state work for the betterment of all. It's a text that should be required reading in every school in the country, important for all of us to read before we can't stop imploding. I doubt that the title will hurt his sales. Enough Is Enough memorable and right on target. Just be sure to add the Dietz and O'Neill to your search.
Enough Is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources

The Webs of Varok portrays a steady state economy, with all its differences from our current situation, hence it provides ripe fruit for Book clubs to pick, in discussion. Varok's legal definition of family provides another topic, as does the metaphor represented by the traitor Mahntik's unnatural ability to block her mind from reading.

The Webs of Varok might be called soft or relational or women's science fiction, because it features a mixed family of aliens and humans in an alternate 21st century solar system, dealing with their complex relationships. The book's aliens provide more fun than in most scifi stories, while the main thrust of the story deals with current economic issues.

The family is determined to see that an overcrowded Earth finds a way to solve its dilemmas. They decide that Varok would serve as a good model for how to maintain a sustainable, equitable society. However, when the family arrives on Varok, after a realistically long voyage, they find their trust in each other and in Varokian economics threatened by an ambitious traitor. The story's metaphor for human double-dealing is presaged in the first scene, in which the lovely human protagonist practices her mind-link with her varokian partner. The varokian traitor has learned to block her mind from its natural openness, giving her unusual leverage in the society.

The Webs of Varok is told by two storytellers. The human protagonist TANDRA tells her first person view on things as she leaves Earth for the alien planet Varok. When she is not present, the third person omniscient storyteller gets into the other interesting heads pushing the plot forward. The most fun is the ahlork Nidok, not too literate and yet able to exchange ripe insults with his best friend, the aquatic elll of the mixed family, CONN.

The book by Herman Daly and John Cobb "For the Common Good" is a detailed analysis of steady state economics contrasted with classical economic theory with its infinite substitution and necessity for growth. Though this was updated in 1994, it is still an excellent critique of economics and steady state thinking.
For the latest summary go to steadystate.org and check out "Enough is Enough: Building A Sustainable Economy In A World Of Finite Resources" and the newsletter for CASSE (Center for the Advancement of Steady State Economy at steadystate.org)

In a more recent book "The Necessary Revolution" Peter Senge (author of "The Fifth Discipline"), tells encouraging stories about how large industries have turned around in their thinking. Using theories of how groups interact and paradigms change, Senge suggests practical ways of convincing businesses and other large groups to consider new options.

A must-read for my family is Donella Meadows "Thinking In Systems," the every-reader textbook I have been hoping to find. It is an easy read for anyone in any field of interest--critical for understanding complexity in every aspect of life and non-life. It does neglect the fun, unpredictable indicators of complex systems, like amplification and emergence, but those are treated in other books, also well written for non-scientists.

Here's an issue that the books in “The Archives of Varok” address--how should we define a "family" and provide it legal rights and protection? Come join the comment contest until June 20—a set of books going to the most thoughtful ideas about two issues. The first issue is directly related to my blog, the Hen House theme of our responsibility to animals that we adopt, as well as humans to whom we commit.

My reviewer at the Los Alamos Daily Post asked the best question yet--could an extended family including aliens and humans really work? The mixed family of The Archives surely do have their problems, and though they’ve met them head-on in The Webs of Varok, there are more to come in the next volume, Conn: The Alien Effect, to be released early this summer.

I’d like to believe that we humans have matured to the point where we could appreciate the alienness of other beings. We’re doing much better now, since Temple Grandin shared her experiences with us in her book Animals In Translation, New York: Scribner, 2005. I agree that my birds do see things in WISIWIG mode. It takes them some time to learn, then to remember, that the gate is really open and that they need to go around the pen to see that it is. Scientist now are not hooted down when they seek to explore the emotional lives of animals.

The grin on DeeDee’s face expresses unmistakable delight when she greets me at the gate, ready to join us in the living room for the evening. So why not aliens? Surely they can also feel emotions, even if their DNA reflects a different code. Does their evolution have to be so different we can’t relate to it? If we connect, can’t we commit to mutual support and be family?

My experience studying biology suggests that our understanding of chemistry, complex systems and self-organizing selection makes it reasonable to expect that evolution on Earth is a sorting process that could occur anywhere conditions are right. Some elements, like carbon, get together more easily than others, are more stable, more capable of devising interesting strategies for survival.

This is not to say that we are not unique. Even as individuals we are unique, though the details of our existence, the chemistry and physics that define our lives, are universal—and downright awe inspiring in their complexity and precision. Makes one very thankful to be alive.

Join the conversation and win a set of books. Place a comment here.

See my review of Brian Czech's "Supply Shock: Economic Growth At the Crossroads and the Steady State Solution" here on Goodreads. The timing again was amazing. His book arrived just in time for me to reference it while doing in-depth editing of the third book in The Archives of Varok, which model the steady state in a fun alternate 21st century setting.
Thanks to ecologist Brian for learning so much about economics and sharing it.