There is an emerging realization that failing to recognize the real value of nature has negative fallout in many areas of our lives. Thinking systemically is a pre-requisite to understand this and many other phenomena. Historically, ‘helicopter money’ is very rare but its use in 17th century Venice offers some insights. Science increasingly backs an inextricable link between our health and what we eat and where it comes.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Our economies, livelihoods, and well-being all depend on our most precious asset: Nature.” – Dasgupta Review
Helen Briggs, Prosperity comes at ‘devastating’ cost to nature
(BBC, 2 February 2021)
A landmark report (the Dasgupta Review on the Economics of Biodiversity, commissioned by the UK Treasury) concludes that prosperity has come at a “devastating” cost to the natural world. It argues that losses in biodiversity are undermining the productivity, resilience, and adaptability of nature, which in turn put economies, livelihoods, and wellbeing at risk. The report proposes to recognize nature as an asset and to reconsider our measures of economic prosperity. The Dasgupta report will do for nature what the Stern Report did for climate change and will set the policy agenda going forward (reads in 5-6 min). The full (606 pages) report is HERE.
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Ezra Klein, To Understand This Era, You Need to Think in Systems
(The New York Times, 2 February 2021)
This is an abridged transcript of “The Ezra Klein Show” with the sociologist Zeynep Tufekci – best known for “being right on the big things”. How does she do it? What frameworks does she use? She describes herself as a “systems thinker.” She also pays attention to “herding effects”, exponential effects, and thinking at the population level versus the individual level (reads in 4-5 min, the full podcast is 1h and 10 min).
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Charles Goodhart, Donato Masciandaro, Stefano Ugolini, Helicopter money in another pandemic recession: Venice, 1630
(VOXeu, 4 February 2021)
The possibility of ‘Helicopter money’ (unconventional monetary policies that range from central banks handing out cash to individuals to the permanent monetization of budget deficits) is much discussed and debated as a policy option at the moment, but its occurrence in history is exceedingly rare. This short article (reads in 5-6 min) describes one concrete illustration: the monetary financing of the pandemic recovery plan put in place by the Republic of Venice during the bubonic plague of 1630. It was triggered by redistributive policies politically motivated (for fear of riots) but ended up with price instability and currency devaluation. Might there be some lessons for today?
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Tim Newman, What have we learned from the world’s largest nutrition study
(MedicalNewsToday, 2 February 2021)
NutriNet-Santé – the largest ongoing nutrition study in the world – investigates the exceedingly complex relationship between nutrition and health. Its main findings so far: (1) Ultra-processed foods are THE nutritional pariah, associated with an increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, mortality, depressive symptoms, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and gastrointestinal disorders; (2) Nutritional scores will become widespread thanks to their major impact on consumer choices; (3) Organic food seems to be beneficial –something highly contested until now (reads in 6-7 min).
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Steve LeVine, Jeff Bezos Swallowed Our Economy Whole
(Medium, 3 February 2021)
The Amazon founder shrewdly steps down at the peak of his company’s power. In earnings reported at the same time as his shift to executive chairman, Amazon announced a 40% year-on-year surge in fourth-quarter sales, to $125 billion, the first time a quarterly company revenue has surpassed $100 billion. (reads in 3-4 min).
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