Category Archives: economics thinking

Education as investment. Why do companies not invest more in making education systems work? One of the most common complaints I hear from employers/supervisors/managers where I’ve lived in Uganda and Tanzania is that there aren’t enough competent staff. There aren’t enough people with the basic computer skills, language skills, team work, coordination, and time management skills. Sometimes I hear complaints about a lack of work ethic also, although I tend to think that this is due to a lack of […]

What would happen if we put a really high tax on garbage. Not recyclables, not reusables, not composted organics, but garbage that is burnt or taken to landfills. “Waste.” If we had a significantly high enough tax on garbage produced, then there is a very big incentive to 1) produce things that can be reconfigured into a resource input at the end of its life cycle, and 2) figure out ways to make sure current garbage is reused. Add on […]

I’m really wary about using culture to explain social phenomena. It’s not because I don’t believe there are social norms, or trends, or identities. There are. They exist, and have huge influences on how individuals and collectives act. But it’s because “culture” has a much more permanent connotation than the other terms I’ve listed. Norms change every few decades. Trends every few years. Even identities are starting to be recognized as being fluid. Culture, though? Always, unchanging, eternal fall back for an explanation […]