The Staple Theory & Aspects of Pioneer Economies
The Staple Theory at 50: Who’s your grand daddy? Watkins, Innis and W.A. Mackintosh | rabble.ca.
It’s a pretty interesting read and in conjunction with Stross’ recent _Neptune’s Brood_ (which owes a fair amount to Krugman and is really an experiment on the role of time in economic valuation and which also ties into NZ economists’ efforts toward a dual monetary system), clarifies much of the economic topography both of Canada and Australia, where natural resources have persisted in shaping the nations.
Toronto’s Rob Ford Problem : The New Yorker
Comments (3)Why, exactly, did a reasonable kind of place like Toronto elect its current mayor?—you have to conclude that it doesn’t matter anymore. Why we did it is the least of our problems. The only point worth making at this juncture is that Rob Ford turned out to be a staggeringly bad choice.
Oh Canada…
Our Nation’s Businesses Suffer From Canadian Disease | Diane Francis.
I find myself agreeing with much of the argument presented, though I would look to the formation of provincial monopolies (or otherwise dominant corporations) closely tied to politicians and parties. The end result is pretty much the same: smug profit machines operating within provincial boundaries and relying perforce on the US as a market for raw goods, resources. And I can’t help seeing that the efforts by the Tories have only worsened the situation.
On Moocs
A perspective on MOOCs as experimentation | john hawks weblog.
Quote:
The real challenge for a MOOC is to make the students into active participants. To give learners a meaningful opportunity to help build knowledge instead of just witnessing others building it. That is where true learning happens.
Of course, the student really does in fact have to learn things, not just get the impression that she has. And then the other hard part is proving that she has indeed learned what she thinks she has–as well as other things that may not have been ostensibly part of the course, like how to think about interesting questions that can be solved in a reasonable period of time.
Hey, this is important!
Worldwide Aaron Swartz Memorial Hackathons – Noisebridge.
In memory of hacktivist Aaron Swartz, there will be a series of hackathons around the world in Jan.-Feb., 2013 dedicated to understanding Aaron’s work and keeping his projects alive. This page is intended as a record of what was done at each of these hackathons. If you’d like to suggest project ideas or help organize stuff, see the coordination spreadsheet. You can contact the main coordinator for the worldwide effort via email.
In order to provide some online continuity between events please feel free to use the #aaronsw IRC channel, and the #aaronsw tag.
Who are the climate change deniers?
I was curious who, at this point, actually publicly maintained denial of scientific consensus (that is, fact). The estimable David Suzuki (or at any rate, his foundation), helps. Disturbingly, a senior Tory, Joe Oliver, Minister of Natural Resources (think tarsands), has been, well, tarred as being one.
I find it frankly amazing that there is any shred of doubt, and that we, as a collective of peoples, are not actually racing to do slow, if not stop, the inevitable seas, storms, wars.
Public Information on Oil Pipelines Hard To Find in Canada
Pipeline safety: Canada lags U.S. on making data public – Canada – CBC News.
This is important and relates to making what is essentially public data maintained by government open to the public:
“I was kind of shocked how little there is available in Canada,” says Carl Weimer, executive director of Pipeline Safety Trust in Bellingham, Wash., a non-profit group focused on improving pipeline safety.”
—
Over at the NEB, the head of business operations, Patrick Smythe, acknowledges that its information may not always be available online.
“But if anyone wants any information on any Canadian pipeline that we regulate they can come to us and ask us for that information and we’ll provide it,” he said.
In Canada, general maps are available from individual pipeline companies, but there is no comprehensive one showing all the systems and their exact locations.
The difference in the U.S. is that any member of the public can go online and view maps of pipelines accurate to about 150 metres right across the country.
The National Pipeline Mapping System allows citizens to search by operator, pipeline name or even the status of the pipeline, whether it’s in service or abandoned.
These data, these maps, are important. They not only make it possible (and not just easier) to identify and track leaks and other problems, and how they may affect local (and downstream) residents (and the environment), but they also give a sense of the actual cost of piping the oil. Actual cost includes the overall cost of the pipe and its fluids to the communities through which the pipes go, as well as those claimed by the relevant companies. So, in Canada:
The data that the CBC collected for our searchable map suggests that the rate of pipeline incidents has doubled, from one to two incidents for every 1,000 kilometres, between 2000 and 2011.
It was difficult to do much analysis with the data set since some reports were incomplete or had inconsistent information.
newspeak 