In economic thought, those that advocate for free markets often speak in terms of the “rational actor”. That presumes that those purchasers with disbursable assets consider their personal or strategic needs and analyze and rationally choose their best option (delaying purchase, or choice of product/service/supplier). And, it assumes that providers of goods and service, analyze [...]
Archive for the ‘Land Use’ Category
The Economic Necessity of Regionalism
Posted in Energy policy, General economic, Land Use, Regional Economy, Sustainable Economics on February 27, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Agent for Posterity
Posted in Ethics, General economic, Land Use, New England on September 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve had a few discussions recently with individuals that suggested libertarian philosophical bases of sustainable approaches. I very much respect the integrity and consistency of the individuals that I’ve been conversing with, and at the same time I note what could (or might not be) a fundamental philosophical disagreement. That is the old bugaboo on [...]
I’m a Gadfly on Climate Change
Posted in Energy policy, Land Use, Sustainable Economics on February 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I had two experiences yesterday touching directly and indirectly on the global warming/climate change discussion. I’ve been an advocate of the preventative and responsive solution for/to global warming (and peak oil) for decades, but am not an advocate for either of the reasons. The over-arching reality is that climate change is natural, necessary, real, unavoidable. [...]
Next Decade – Thin or Thick Ice (Pioneer Valley)
Posted in Land Use, New England on January 5, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Its hard to predict the future. Most of the characteristics that describe Greenfield (aging people, aging buildings, lack of clarity as to future, increased cost of living) affect the people of the Pioneer Valley (our micro-region). Land is still being gobbled up by sprawl, though the pace has declined since the 80′s and 90′s, when [...]
Rural vs Urban priorities
Posted in Land Use, New England on November 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday I wrote about the some of the mix of incentives that deter the likelihood that sustainable/simple practices will be adopted in urban and/or more accurately suburban affluent areas. The relationship between urban and rural communities is a critical concern, deserving of great attention. Risking over-generalizing, cities are human-centric. The virtues of city life are the virtues [...]
Food – Living Lightly (Region)
Posted in Food, Land Use, Regional Economy on September 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
What do we mean by “region”. A community is a family of families. A region is a community of communities. A region is by definition, geographic, but could also refer to a non-geographic “nation”. The regional scale is the optimal scale of definition for most economic/market approaches. A region (say 30,000,000 people) should be largely [...]
Food (Living Lightly) – Community
Posted in Food, Land Use on September 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
“Community” is really family of families. Our neighborhoods, our extended family, our “tribes”. Eating together is an example of community. In festivals, we gather to celebrate, to eat, in our family of families. In most of our meals, we think of eating as more intimate than a community event. Even in restaurants, we simulate intimacy. [...]
