Shakespeare,procreation, and progress

His books include The Economics of Population Growth; The Ultimate Resource; Theory of Population and Economic Growth: Effort, Opportunity and Wealth; The Economic Consequences of Immigration;and most recently Population Matters: People, Resources, Environment and Immigration,published by Transaction.     

‘When I find myself in times of trouble …’ : The conditional effect of international organisations on policy convergence

Most quantitative analyses of policy convergence treat transnational communication in international organisations and domestic economic problems as additive factors. By contrast, this article argues that domestic economic problems motivate governments to search for successful policies, while international organisations offer channels for policy learning. Thus, both factors interact, magnifying each other's effects. The argument is corroborated by a quantitative analysis of the privatisation of telecommunications providers in the Western OECD world. A dyadic logit model shows that joint membership in international organisations increases the likelihood of policy convergence if governments face budget deficits. The argument of the article builds a bridge between theories of international organisations and domestic theories of policy making. Theories of the former gain an important scope condition specifying the conditions under which transnational communication works, while exploring the latter gains a theory specifying where new policy ideas come from.     

Cultural climate change

The cultural climate in the last year has changed globally with potential significance for stability. Unless politicians, defence forces and ministries learn to monitor cultural tensions as effectively as environmental ones, they will constantly find themselves surprised. Failing security is a symptom, not a cause, of social and political unrest. In much the same way the current rush to religion is symptomatic of the battle between conservative and liberal agendas, with conservative forces summoning renewed religious zeal to redefine identity and counteract freedom of movement, behaviour, expression and belief. It is a battle liberal thinkers cannot afford to lose.