Archive for Christopher Lingle
Casualties of the War on Poverty
Newspapers around the world recently carried a news item that seems to be a damning indictment of the U.S. government and the American people. The 2005 U.S. Census indicates that the percentage of poor Americans living in “severe” poverty was at a 32-year high. This put the proportion of poor people in deep poverty at [...]
1Dec2007 | Christopher Lingle | 0 comments | ContinuedExport-Led Recovery, Multipliers, and Other Fanciful Notions
Christopher Lingle is senior fellow at the Centre for Civil Society in New Delhi and visiting professor of economics at Universidad Francisco Marroquín, Guatemala.
Many developing and emerging market economies are struggling to keep their economic growth rates high enough to raise local standards of living. Moreover, many governments responded to lagging economic conditions by promoting [...]
Higher CO2, More Global Warming, and Less Extinction?
Christopher Lingle is a professor of economics at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala and adjunct scholar at the Centre for Civil Society in New Delhi.
It is widely believed that humans exert a harmful impact on the natural environment, especially when it comes to releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. And so there is some [...]
Global Warming: Extreme Weather or Extreme Prejudice?
Christopher Lingle is professor of economics at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala and global strategist for eConoLytics.com.
Extreme weather is making headlines. Record summer temperatures in Europe and a large number of heat-related deaths in India joined news about severe flooding in Bangladesh, China, and Sri Lanka. And an unusual number of tornados in the [...]
Does Prosperity Depend on Education?
Christopher Lingle is professor of economics at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala and global strategist for eConoLytics.com.
New Delhi, India—It has become an article of faith that economic progress depends on having an educated citizenry. A corollary is often attached, requiring governments to provide resources to meet this end. However, like so many self-evident truths, there [...]
Indian Socialism Breeds Sectarianism
In a classic case of deflecting blame for their own shortcomings, politicians in India have identified the size of the population as the country’s biggest problem. This disingenuous position was stated in a unanimous resolution issued by the Indian parliament in 1997 on the 50th anniversary of independence.
It is hard to imagine a more cynical [...]
The Inhumanity of Population Control
Once again the Bush administration has come under fire for a decision that runs counter to conventional wisdom. Undeterred by widespread denunciations after opposing the Kyoto Protocol, it announced that funds appropriated by Congress to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) would be cut back. With all the hue and cry about the dangers of [...]
1Aug2002 | Christopher Lingle | 0 comments | ContinuedChinas Peasants Suffer Under Apartheid
China operates an apartheid system that divides its citizens into separate worlds according to whether they were born in rural or urban areas. After reforms in South Africa and the collapse of the Soviet Union, few other countries have residency controls.
While world opinion rightly denounced apartheid in South Africa, few complaints were registered against [...]
The Perils of Populism
Populist policies that promote divisions between rich and poor sow the seeds of social instability and economic destruction. Zimbabwe’s economic crisis and recent demonstrations can be traced directly to the rhetoric of populism used by the current government.
In the first instance, basing public policy on populism creates false expectations among the poor that cannot be [...]
Why Are Golden Arches Lightning Rods?
It is obvious that anti-globalization forces suffer from a myopic fixation on symbols rather than offering arguments based on substance. The clearest evidence of this is the widespread attacks on McDonald’s outlets and other iconic symbols of Americana.
Perhaps these protesters have poor powers of observation or simply lack fertile imaginations to seek [...]
Beijing Erodes Hong Kong’s Laissez Faire
While the rest of the world is debating the terms under which they might engage China, authorities in Beijing are busy trampling on its agreement with the British over Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty. In the handover agreement, both parties agreed on Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, as a document that provided assurances [...]
1Mar2002 | Christopher Lingle | 0 comments | ContinuedPutting a Human Face on Globalization
Globalization is a much-maligned phenomenon. Environmentalists portray increased global economic growth as anathema to their goals. and their anti-capitalist allies assail multinational corporations for plundering less-developed regions of the world and exploiting workers.
Ironically, these same issues have been raised in similar debates that raged over the past several decades. Neither evidence nor the overwhelming [...]
Consumption Can Drive Economic Growth? ~ It Just Aint So!
Perhaps one of the biggest misconceptions about America’s recent period of high growth is that consumption was the principal driver behind it. Embodied as the notion of a so-called wealth effect, the misconception is so deeply entrenched that its internal contradictions are overlooked and alternative views are simply ignored. As it is, this misguided thinking [...]
1Nov2001 | Christopher Lingle | 0 comments | ContinuedBeijing’s Cruel Choice
Christopher Lingle is visiting professor of economics in ESEADE at Universidad Francisco Marroquín.
China, like other countries undergoing radical transition, must resolve the political and economic issues that determine its pattern of future development. The search for a workable model has often led to the conclusion that authoritarian rule may be a “necessary evil” [...]
The Steps to Economic Freedom
Christopher Lingle is a visiting professor of economics, ESEADE at Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala.
Many Latin American countries suffered for decades under a form of homegrown despotism. The accompanying repression of political liberties left a legacy of far-reaching state intervention, widespread corruption, persistently high rates of poverty, and slow economic growth.
Emerging market economies [...]
Environmentalism as Though People and Facts Really Mattered
Christopher Lingle is a visiting professor of economics, ESEADE at Universidad Francisco Marroquín.
One of the most compelling political issues of the new millennium is to discover ways to arrest and reverse the debilitation of our natural environment. To many observers, no less than a revolution is necessary to change public opinion and to [...]
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The End of Prosperity: How Higher Taxes Will Doom the Economy–If We Let it Happen
By Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Peter J. Tanous
