Book Summary: Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie
In Not the End of the World, Hannah Ritchie uses data to explain why we can stand to be more optimistic about […]
Tag: policy
Book Summary: How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner
Why did the Sydney Opera House ruin its architect’s career? What can we learn about megaprojects from Pixar’s movies? This summary of […]
Book Summary: How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
This summary of How Democracies Die: What History Reveals About Our Future by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt explains how American democracy […]
“Thinking in Systems” and Economics
Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows uses many economics-related examples. Even though Meadows’ background is as an environmental scientist, she clearly knows […]
Book Summary: Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows
This summary of Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows explains how systems thinking can help us better understand and change […]
Book Summary: Economics: The User’s Guide by Ha-Joon Chang
I’m prefacing this summary of Economics: The User’s Guide with a disclaimer: There’s a lot that I haven’t summarised, because the book […]
Game Theory (from Algorithms to Live By)
This post is split out from my main summary of Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths. Check out that summary to […]
Book Summary: Why We Fight by Chris Blattman
What motivates people to go to war? In this summary of Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to […]
Book Summary: The New New Zealand by Paul Spoonley
Spoonley discusses the demographic challenges facing New Zealand over the next few decades. The book tackles an interesting and neglected topic and its overall message (i.e. that there need to be informed, national discussions about this) seems sensible enough. Unfortunately, however, Spoonley’s writing isn’t great, and he relies too heavily on secondary sources.
Problems with the Total View of Population Ethics
The Total View suggests that we should seek to maximise total wellbeing, including by creating new lives. There are problems with the Total View that have concerning implications in practice.