EconAir

I HEARD THE NEWS TODAY The government of Greenland is putting the country up for sale. It will accept bids from any country or corporation. The reservation (minimum) price is $2 million per person, or $100 billion (the cost of 3 data centers), and distribute the money equally to its 57,000 citizens. Russia and China have expressed an interest, Russia to control the strategic Nordic region and China to strengthen its near-monopoly on rare-earth minerals. If sold, almost all residents said they intend to put their homes up for sale on Greenhouses.com and move to Denmark. A number of other countries are watching to see what happens. If Greenland is successful, they also intend to put their countries up for sale. For most countries of the world, even $1 million per person is substantially more than their residents could make in a lifetime. Some of the countries will probably be sold to corporations because of their mineral or oil resources. Invested at 5%, people from some of...

Roman Legion Why Study Rome? Americans have focused on comparisons between Rome and America twice in American history.  The first time was during the period from before the Revolution to after the ratification of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, when the founding fathers and others looked to the Roman Republic for ideas and inspiration on how to structure the new government. After the American Revolution, the founding fathers, having read the Roman authors detailing the collapse of the Roman republic, worried about internal threats to the survival of their new republic.   The second time was when the United States became a superpower, especially after WWII, and then again after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Commentators compared America to the Roman Empire at the height of its power. There was some discussion about how America became a permanent warfare state and how it affected domestic democracy and civil society. ...

Adam Smith - Our Founding Father INTRODUCTION   This essay on Adam Smith and his famous example of a pin factory also serves as an introduction to some of the themes in the over 100 essays in this blog.   Adam Smith wrote the  Wealth of Nations  during the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. It was published in 1776. The dynamics of the Industrial Revolution continue to be a disruptive force; because of AI, it might be even more disruptive in the future.   ADAM SMITH’S PIN FACTORY   Adam Smith’s description of a pin factory is on the first page of  The Wealth of Nations .  (Chapter 1 – “Of the Division of Labour”)  Drawings of pin factories of this period show workers using hand tools. Smith says the process can be broken down into 18 distinct steps, including packaging the pins. Smith mentions that pin factory workers were poorly paid, despite their high productivity.    Adam Smith says he visited a pin factory empl...