Editors Picks III: Does Growth Always lead to a worse Enviroment?
This weeks recomendations concern the Overton Window, Cold War II, and the possibility of Green Growth.
By Lars Harhoff Andersen
Does Saying Extreme Things Make Moderate Action Easier?
The first recommendation of the week is a critique by Matthew Yglesias of the concept of the “Overton Window”, the idea that by suggesting something extreme on a topic (such as abolishing the police), we make it easier to achieve modest goals (reforming the police). Yglesias makes a convincing case that such thinking ends up being an excuse to make incoherent arguments, that end up hurting the causes it was supposed to help.
Should we Fight Cold War 2?
The second recommendation of the week is a blog post by Noah Smith on why he thinks that America should fight a cold war with China. Smith argues that China and Russia’s move towards a confrontational and blatantly imperialistic foreign policy, be it in Ukraine, Taiwan, or the South China Sea, fundamentally means that the question is not between war and status quo, but between a US leas world order and one lead by China. Although the US has at times been a bad actor, there is no question that such a world would be worse for the majority of the world population.
Does More Growth Equal a Worse Environment?
The final recommendation of the week is the book “More from Less” by Andrew McAfee. The book argues that although there historically has been a strong connection between economic growth and environmental degradation, that connection has broken down in the most advanced economies. Not only do they emit fewer and fewer greenhouse gasses, but the use of other resources is also going down.
It seems to me that the climate crisis is too important for us to let its solution be guided by ideology, no matter which one.
Lars Harhoff Andersen is an editor and writer at Unreasonable Doubt, where he writes about Culture, Politics, and Philosophy. Lars is a Ph.D. fellow at the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen where his research centers on Economic History and the impact of culture on societal development. Lars is also the host of the (Danish language) podcast Historien Fortsætter.