Economics and Politics
Economic and political systems. Their benefits and flaws.
Economics and politics has been a hot topic ever since the 2008 financial crisis. Increasingly more people are asking question about whether our current economic and political system works for the benefit of its citizens.
I am trying to give a Scandinavian and social democratic perspective on a lot of these issues.
Especially for people on the political left who want to learn more about economics, it is hard to not get a very libertarian or conservative view presented if you are reading in English. Thus here I am trying to discuss various Economic issues seen from a more Scandinavian social democratic perspective.
Current Issues
- The Horrors of Wealth Redistribution. We look at some common misconceptions about the effects or raising the minimum wage.
Economic History
- Why Did China Not Industrialize First? Also what specific advantages did Europe have over the rest of the world, which caused industrialization to happen first in Europe?
- Geography and Economics. How land, rivers, coastline and landmass orientation affects economic development.
Scandinavia
- No, Norway Was Not a Poor Country Before Oil Was Discovered. When did Norway become a rich country, and if not due to oil, what caused it?
- Why Only Two Parties in the US, But Nine in Norway? An explanation of what causes America to have a two-party system and what specifically is different in various European countries such as Norway, which produces a rich multi-party system.
Capitalism
- Failures of Capitalism: The Prisoners Dilemma. A thought experiment from Game Theory, explaining important limits to competitive markets based on individual decisions.
- Failures of Capitalism: Incomplete or Asymmetric Information
- Failures of Capitalism: Manufactured Needs and Planned Obsolescence. How products are made to break and how we are induced to consume ever more products regardless of whether we need them or not.
Socialism
- Socialism and Capitalism in Venezuela and Norway
- What is Modern Scandinavian Socialism in 2020? Looking at the history and current party programs and ideology of modern Scandinavian socialist parties. How are they different from say Soviet or Chinese socialists?
Health Care
The Theoretical Case for Socialized Medicine. How for-profit health care compare with socialized medicine, if analyzed based on what we know about the behavior of markets.
Racism
Not quite intentionally I have been one of the top writers on Racism on Medium. I am writing from a dispassionate anti-racism perspective. I try to take the views and arguments of racists and race realists serious and provide rebuttals without naming and shaming.
A note to my European readers on the use of the word race in my writing. The way I use the word it is not meant as a biological terms, but as what we call a social construct. Wether we want it or not humans like to put each other in boxes based on external appearance, language, customs etc. One of these boxes is race.
How people get divided into race will depend on the society they live in. Racial categories in the US and in say South Africa are quite different. I will however typically rely on an American concept or race although it will be heavily influenced by me being European.
“Just Comply and Everything Will Be Fine”. Addressing the common misconception among white American conservatives that African-Americans get shot by the police simply because they are not any good at complying with police directives.
IQ, Race and Racism. We really should not be discussing race and IQ, but modern day racists are using research in this area to push racism. Hence we need to be able to push back on their claims without moral indignation but with reason and logic.
Have African Americans Been Given Rich Opportunities?. In the nature vs nurture debate, it is hard to push the nurture view, if the other side is not convinved that each race have not been given equal opportunity. Here I am trying to give an honest overview of the conditions under which African Americans live and have lived in the US.
No, You Don’t Get Racism This article came about because I noticed I had to explain the same concepts about racism to conservatives in particular American conservatives over and over again.
Race is not the Main Driver of Crime. A common conservative view is that America has more crime than other Western countries due to racial minorities being prone to being criminals. This is a push back against this perspective, using statistics to show culture and society plays a bigger role.