This article in the New York Times summarizes new research on the effects that early human populations had on on the oceans. Sample quote: “Hunter-gatherers with fairly simple technology were actively degrading some marine ecosystems” tens of thousands of years ago. Humans have been remarkably clever at finding new technologies for harvesting large protein packets from the oceans. We have lagged far behind in the discovery and implementation of rules that avoid the most wasteful and inefficient uses of aquatic resources.

Excerpt: “OK, it’s one year too late to be part of the 1960s (although a ragged version from 1967 is available on the outtakes DVD from the Monterey Pop festival.) There’s no improvisation. No lead. No discernible influence of jazz, country, bluegrass or blues. But if you play it loud, this song reminds you that in the end, live rock and roll was all about having fun.” Click here to read the full article edited by Courtney Boyd Myers.

Here’s a common objection to the logic behind the proposal for building charter cities in poor host countries: If investment in urban infrastructure can really generate win-win benefits for investors and residents of poor countries, why isn’t it happening already? To see why, start by picturing a familiar long-term investment. Imagine that a lender (an insurance company perhaps) wanted to do a long-term deal with a borrower (someone who takes out a 30 year mortgage to build and live in a home.

For each of us, other people truly are (to borrow a phrase from Julian Simon) the ultimate resource. Rules matter because they determine whether we reach our collective potential. Bad rules divide us and diminish us. Good rules free us to collaborate and grow. Many important rules are embedded in values, norms, customs, beliefs, conventions, and shared understandings. This makes some observers pessimistic about changing a system of bad rules. “Culture,” they say, “is what really matters, and culture can’t change.

The distinction between objects and ideas is arguably the most important in economics. In a world with more people, each person has fewer objects but access to more ideas. So far, the benefit we derive from access to more ideas has far outweighed the disadvantage of fewer objects. People today have less arable land per capita, but still consume more food per capita because of all the ideas we have discovered and shared.