Comments biopolitical has made

  • My food bill of 2007 would:

    1. do nothing
    2. cost $0.00
    On The U.S. needs a food bill more than a farm bill posted 3 years, 8 months ago 14 Responses

  • My take

    David Cameron should instead be reassuring consumers that GM foods are perfectly healthy and that food these days is the safest and cheapest ever. Although perhaps not for long. More here.On Once the global capital of bad food, London shows the way forward. posted 3 years, 9 months ago 10 Responses

  • Stereotypes

    David, countering the prejudices and stereotypes of some libertarians by openly displaying your prejudices and stereotypes about libertarians is quite emotional and irrational. But I respect your behavior because you aren't physically hurting anyone or anyone's property. For the same reason I respect Whole Foods. (On the other hand, I do not respect the fact that politicians forcibly take people's money to build wind farms, subsidize oil use or invade other countries.)
    On Ha ha, stupid hippies and their, uh, markets! posted 3 years, 10 months ago 8 Responses

  • Why?

    "assuming of course that the government would create a level playing field buy enforcing laws that protect wetlands and streams on these properties"

    Why?On Arrested development posted 4 years ago 3 Responses

  • What about the costs?

    What about all the goods and services the US will cease to produce because of the diminished oil input to the economy? Maybe you personally don't give a damn about them, but you have to display those losses along with the good-looking numbers. With the gas tax less money would go to oil producing countries, but also less money would come into the US because the US would sell less stuff to other countries. And more money would go to other countries to buy things those countries would produce more cheaply than the US because they would haver cheaper gas.

    If you want to reduce gas consumption above all other considerations, then the gas tax is a good idea. But keep in mind that this will not result in collateral economic miracles. Quite the opposite.On Taxation without privation posted 4 years ago 2 Responses

  • Environmentalist coercion

    I have left a comment in my blog.On Environmentalism will never succeed by relying on personal virtue posted 4 years, 1 month ago 7 Responses

  • Yes, excellent

    As all your pieces are. They always strike a cord in me.On Dreams of growing your own food don't look so hot in reality posted 4 years, 3 months ago 2 Responses

  • Positive externalities

    I think that using positive externalities as an argument for government intervention only leads to trouble. Once you open this door, all sorts of people start begging for subsidies. Instead of doing productive things people waste their time finding and promoting arguments about the positive externalities of their activities. In the end governments subsidize those who beg better, and not those who have larger positive externalities. On Could it work? posted 4 years, 4 months ago 10 Responses

  • An alternative to the gas tax

    I suggest eliminating subsidies first. Make roads private. Let private owners collect fees, build new roads and abandon unprofitable ones. There would be less pollution, less asphalt and less taxes. More here.On The pseudo tax posted 4 years, 4 months ago 2 Responses

  • Beautiful post!

    As usual!On Young biodiversivists posted 4 years, 4 months ago 2 Responses

  • Tyranny in the garbage dump

    Given the choice I prefer to live free in a garbage dump than slaved in a beautiful garden. And I am afraid Monbiot's politics would lead to servitude in a garbage dump. More here.On There are worse things than hypocrisy posted 4 years, 4 months ago 8 Responses

  • Beautiful post

    VeryOn Brush pickers chew up our forests to make your flower bouquets. posted 4 years, 5 months ago 2 Responses

  • To be continued

    Thank you for your comment Andy!

    By the way, did you ever write the "to be continued" part of this post? I couldn't find it on your blog...

    Do you mean this post? No, I haven't. But there is a bit here.
    On Beyond Econ 101. posted 4 years, 5 months ago 11 Responses

  • The bright side of subsidies

    I have argued here that food production subsidies in rich countries are very bad for those of us who live in rich countries, and are not farmers. But subsidies in rich countries that result in lower international food prices are good for consumers in poor countries. Thanks to lower prices these people can now eat more food and spend more money in non-food products. Here I argue that subsidies that result in lower international food prices may be better than official aid to poor countries.

    Also, as rich countries are now producing an artificially high share of the world's food, perhaps tropical countries are now allocating an artificially small amount of land to agriculture. So, are farm subsidies in rich countries helping to preserve wild nature in the tropics, which is perhaps more valuable (e. g., in terms of biodiversity) than wild nature in the temperate zones?On Beyond Econ 101. posted 4 years, 5 months ago 11 Responses

  • Don't buy local

    The rise in the environmental costs of production under a "buying local" regime would more than offset the environmental benefits of reduced transportation.

    More here.On The question of whether to buy locally grown food is not as clear as it might appear. posted 4 years, 5 months ago 7 Responses

  • GM plants, labels and other things

    If non-GM foods are so wonderful, why won't they tell me which foods have them so I can make up my own mind?

    I have more comments here.On GMOs have their upsides and downsides; a little balance is in order. posted 4 years, 5 months ago 10 Responses