Getting democracy into focus

Getting democracy into focus
John Dunn
20 - 10 - 2005

The very potency of democracy as word and idea creates an impulse to extend it beyond plausible limits, and this is at the root of the flaws in Anthony Barnett & Isabel Hilton’s article. John Dunn, professor of political theory at the University of Cambridge, continues openDemocracy’s debate.

Anthony Barnett & Isabel Hilton’s article “Democracy and openDemocracy” raises many urgent issues and virtually all the political tastes they express and recommendations they offer are effortless to share. What is less compelling is their decision to lump all their approvals and disapprovals together and equate the result with democracy correctly understood. If there is a way to understand democracy correctly (quite an elusive idea in itself), that certainly can’t be it.

Link to source...

Ben Bernanke, economist

Ben Bernanke, economist: "

I associate Ben Bernanke with several major contributions: 1. The theory of irreversible investment, circa 1983. Before Bernanke, Dixit, and Pindyck, models often assumed that investments could be reversed or taken back. Bernanke outlined how the …

"

Hey, have you seen that Guinness advert?

Hey, have you seen that Guinness advert?: "

My putting in the third consecutive CT post on the Bernanke appointment is exacerbated by the fact that it’s only a quick link, but redeemed by the quality of the link. As always, Max Sawicky has his priorities in order: Best of all is the …

"

Vanity Fair: PRINTABLES

Vanity Fair. With a unique mix of image and intellect, Vanity Fair captures people, places, and ideas that are defining modern culture. From the arts and entertainment, to sports and media, to politics and world affairs, Vanity Fair is what the world is talking about now.

Link to article...

Student blogs

Student blogs: "

For your weekend reading pleasure, my Internet & Society course blog links to 25 students’ class blogs. They are required to blog about their readings (which already leads to some interesting posts), but additionally, several of them have …

"

Cliff Notes From the Blog World

Blog addicts overwhelmed by information may have found their savior.

Memeorandum, which started with a focus on political blogs in 2004 and launched a technology version just weeks ago, aims to be the automated newspaper of the online world.

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,69288,00.html?tw=rss.TOP

Who Will Control the Internet?

Foreign governments want control of the Internet transferred from an American NGO to an international institution. Washington has responded with a Monroe Doctrine for our times, setting the stage for further controversy.

Who Will Control the Internet?
Kenneth Neil Cukier
From Foreign Affairs, November/December 2005

Summary:  Foreign governments want control of the Internet transferred from an American NGO to an international institution. Washington has responded with a Monroe Doctrine for our times, setting the stage for further controversy.

  KENNETH NEIL CUKIER covers technology and regulatory issues for The Economist.

Link to source...

Recipe for Destruction - New York Times

The 1918 influenza virus is even more dangerous than an atomic bomb. Revealing its recipe on the Internet is extremely foolish and unnecessary.

Link to article...

Is Blogging Dangerous for Your Academic Health?

From: Freakonomics Blog

Maybe, maybe not. But here’s the story of how Daniel Drezner, an assistant professor in political science at the University of Chicago (and an active blogger) was just denied tenure.

Link to article...

Bird Flu Genome: Recipe for disaster?

Bird Flu Genome: Recipe for disaster?: "

Some of the world's greatest minds are consumed these days with the threat of avian flu. TED Prize winner Larry Brilliant, for instance, is likely to build his 'wish' around it. In an effort to better understand the evolution of...

"

A new blog that is way better than ours

A new blog that is way better than ours: "

There is something called the TED conference, held annually in Monterey, California, which brings together a very high-powered audience of technology big shots and an amazingly diverse set of speakers. When I spoke there a few years ago, the guy best …

"

Nationalize Tamiflu Now!

From: Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal

Dean Baker writes some very good sense about Tamiflu and compulsory licensing: MaxSpeak, You Listen!: BIRD FLU, BIRD BRAINS, AND ECONOMISTS : Those of you who like to prepare for potential crises in advance, rather than waiting until after the fact (i.e.

Link to article...

Lonewolf and El Conquistador

Lonewolf and El Conquistador: "

In the past month I've read that academic bloggers don't get jobs, don't publish enough, give away their best ideas and are denied tenure:I shouldn't be doing this. I'll be going up for tenure soon. It was with those words...

"

Is Population Growth Good or Bad? BECKER

From: Becker-Posner

In a previous entry I gave an optimistic view about the possibilities of sustainable growth, while Posner was more pessimistic in part because he feels that continuing world population growth might make economic progress not sustainable for many nations.

Link to article...

Response on Sustainable Development-BECKER

From: Becker-Posner

Thanks for correcting two errors: the name of the energy consulting company I referred to is Cambridge Energy Research Associates (my friend, Dan Yergin, the head of this company, will be unhappy I made this mistake). BRCA1 AND BRCA2...

Link to article...

Sustainable Growth--Posner's Response to Comments

From: Becker-Posner

A few brief responses (Becker and I are planning to discuss population issues further next week) to a characteristically interesting set of comments. The most frequent comment is that I am worrying too much about population growth because the vast...

Link to article...

On Sustainable Development-BECKER

From: Becker-Posner

The very large increase in oil and natural gas prices in the past couple of years has led to renewed concern about whether world economic development is "sustainable". This term is typically not defined carefully, but sustainability requires that...

Link to article...

Is Population Growth Good or Bad? Posner's Comment

From: Becker-Posner

There is much in Becker's posting with which I agree, in particular that population growth will not cause us to run out of natural resources. I also agree that a combination of preventing carbon dioxide emissions from reaching the atmosphere...

Link to article...

Freakonomics of urban pollution

From: Enviromental Economics Blog

From the NYTimes magazine (Dog-Waste Management):In 1978, New York enacted its famous (and widely imitated) pooper scooper law, and the city is plainly cleaner, poop-wise, than it was. But with a fine of just $50 for the first offense, the...

Link to article...