http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/magazine/11Economy-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 This New York Times article by Paul Krugman asks the question “can we build a green economy?”, the answer is a resounding yes.…
Author: hatfield
In my Development Economics class we spent extensive amount of time researching and reading about why developing nations are not narrowing the gap (in terms of technology) between themselves and developed nations. It would seem that developed nations are closer to the metaphorical “ceiling.” In contrast, developing nations have much room to grow, thus they should grow faster. This narrowing of the gap is referred to as “convergence.” Knowledge spillover would seem to benefit developing nations, these countries do not have to invest in R&D and should be able to piggyback off the research and breakthroughs of developed nations, without all the headaches.
In practice, studies do not show convergence, studies in fact show divergence. In other words the overall technological gap between developing nations and developed nations is widening.
Ron Paul’s January 15th talk in Washington and Lee’s Lee Chapel was inspiring, exciting, and overall great for the University. Ron Paul is an exciting speaker and it is easy for a crowd of young students to get caught up in his rhetoric and forget about what is actually being applauded. The crowd clapped for his “protect our borders” and “protect our liberty” points. Sandwiched between all of these points was Ron Paul’s assertion that America needs to go back to the gold standard. The natural knee-jerk reaction was for the students to clap. In that moment, I was disappointed that the crowd did not pause in silence.