So far, the Egyptian military has largely sided with the protesters in the streets of Cairo.
This is not only because the military supports the people; it’s also because the military sells the people lots of stuff.
On today’s Planet Money, we look at the Egyptian military’s deep business ties to everything from dishwashers to resort hotels. And we consider how those ties influence how the military responds to the crisis.
Takes a critical look at the Tragedy of the Commons Elaborates the true tragedy of the monopoly, which has been taken to new heights by the global land grab in response to food insecurity. Examines how the usurping of land for oil, gas, logging, and mining has led to the massacre in the Amazon, due to the US-Peru Free2Raid Agreement. Introduces Presidents Correa and Morales UN sideshow on dismantling the International Center for Settlement of Investor Disputes.
Reads Mark Jarman’s poem, Coyotes. Elucidates the US position that favors democracy but backs paramilitary groups and secession to control resources. Reports breaking news on the military coup in Honduras and the popular support that has not been deterred. Talks about the 225 cardboard pigs delivered by Avaaz to the WHO, representing 225,000 petitioners demanding an investigation of the swine flu link to factory farms. With the possibility of State Park closures in CA, develops a plan to turn Wilder Ranch into a working eco-ranch with heritage chickens, heirloom pigs, and dual-purpose dairy.
Read the show transcript while listening, and view our images, videos, and links on the Third Paradigm website:
Discusses a 1999 book, Believing Cassandra, by Alan AtKisson, a 2000 book called Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam, and last month’s updated version of Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia by Rob Brezsny.
Read two of my own poems: To Sleep with a Child’s Heart in Your Hand, and The Constellations of the Day. Explain the concept of Cassandra’s Dilemma. Cite graphs on economic disparity as a champagne glass, working women who want to vs. have to work, the generational divide in malaise, and the rise and fall of the news audience. Relate the Honduran coup regime’s midnight assault on independent radio, and Argentina’s media reform bill to prohibit broadcasting monopolies.
Read the show transcript while listening, and view our images, videos, and links on the Third Paradigm website:
Explores the results of the Pew Forum that asks Christians whether torture is justified. Brings in al-Jazeera footage of the Bagram chaplain exhorting soldiers to "hunt souls down for Jesus." Comments on the NY Times article about Explorer Scouts’ paramilitary training for border patrols, marijuana raids, and anti-terrorism.
Reads a Lisel Muller poem called Hope. Talks about Frances Moore Lappe’s talk called The Work of Hope, and the game of Monopoly being designed by a Quaker woman as a lesson in what not to do. Continues to develop the Sovereignty Game as a way to try out better models. Plays the Public Citizen YouTube of an intern opening a tax- free Panamanian shell corporation. Defines the difference between a peacekeeper and a terrorist as how high-tech your weapons are. Rewrites the Ten Commandments and plays a rap song by a Tibetan Buddhist lama.
Read the show transcript while listening, and view our images, videos, and links on the Third Paradigm website:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2009/09/podcast_the_economics_of_ticke.html
A listener wants to know why Ticketmaster charges a convenience fee if you want to print out the tickets you buy online. After all, it’s your ink and paper, and you’re not asking Ticketmaster to mail your purchase.
Economist Emily Oster of the Chicago Booth School of Business has been decoding the universe for us, and she’s got an answer for you. It’s got to do with the network effect, locking up a market and — of course — supply and demand.
Tagged with economics ticketmaster monopoly
http://www.sfu.ca/cstudies/mpprog/sfubmo_levine.htm
Copyrights and patents have come to be called “intellectual property,” a phrase which suggests that they are much akin to ordinary property. They are not: they are a government grant of monopoly power. The argument in favour of intellectual property must then be that these monopolies provide important offsetting incentives for innovation and creation.
However, all the available evidence suggests that patents and copyrights are a failure, and inhibit innovation and creativity at least as much they encourage it.
In this lively and entertaining lecture, Dr. David Levine documents the history of intellectual property, arguing that the best strategy for stimulating creativity in 21st century society is to eliminate copyrights and patents entirely.
SFU/BMO Bank of Montreal Lecture Series
From http://econtalk.org/
Economist Michele Boldrin argues that copyright and patent are used by the politically powerful to create monopoly and that there are surprisingly few examples in history that demonstrate this monopoly was what drove innovation.