Sebastian Edwars, "Why Brazil Is Not Mexico—Yet," Wall St. J., 26 July 1996, p.
A-13.
CHAPTER 29
On the negatives and "excesses" of technology, see Salomon, Le destin tech
nologique.
See Holton, Einstein, History.
Islamoglu-Inan, "Introduction," p. 222. In a witty, understated excursion on the
subject, Khoo Khay Jin suggests that among the sources of this preeminendy Western
crise de conscience is "the collapse of the socialist project in thought and reality."
H-World @ h-net.msu.edu, 31 October 1996.
Cf. Hall, "A Theory of the Rise of the West," p. 231.
On the proliferation of what Ferdinand Mount calls "Endist" books, see his review
"No End in Sight," TLS, 3 May 1996, p. 30. He writes: "One thing is common to this
grand cacophony of prophecy and prescription: the refusal to pause and consider, with
even the appearance of care, any arguments of their opponents or any weaknesses in
their own."
B. Biggs, chairman, Morgan Stanley Asset Management, cited in Kaplan, Ends of
the Earth, p. 297.
Cf. Dasgupta, "Natural Resources." This speaks of a third stage, the "Age of Sub-
stitutability": "In this final Age, economic activities will be based almost exclusively on
materials that are virtually inexhaustible, with relatively litde loss in living standards"
(p. 1128).
Cf. Edward A. Gargan, "A Year from Chinese Rule, Dread Grows in Hong Kong,"
N.T. Times, 1 July 1996, p. A-l; and Peter Stein, "China Is Slow to Handle Issues on
Hong Kong," Wall St. J., p. B7D.
Compare the precautions of Russian firms, setting up headquarters in Cyprus to
get away from the crime and potential chaos at home. Mark M. Nelson, "Economic
Fugitives," Wall St. J., 9 May 1996, p. 1.
Krugman, Pop Internationalism, p. 70.
Wealth of Nations, Book II, ch. 3.
N.T. Times, 19 June 1996, p. D-5: "Moulinex [French maker of household ap
pliances] Is Shifting Production to Mexico." Not all: four of eleven plants, 2,600 of
11,300 jobs. The firm had suffered a loss of 702 m. francs for the year ended 3/31,
after a loss of 213 m. a year earlier.
Pop Internationalism, p. 50.
Cf. ibid., pp. 112-13, which says that even a successful "strategic trade policy"
would add no more than 1/15 of 1 percent to American national income. This puts
such policy "as an issue in the same league as pricing policies for ranchers and miners
operating on federal land." I disagree. Insofar as government can promote competi
tiveness, it should, on the principle that more knowledge and better performance are
contagious. And insofar as government is leasing federal land for less than market
value, it should stop, on the principle that successful rent seeking is a bad habit and also
contagious. The only real argument against government intervention is that it often
botches the job. And that's also contagious.
Cf. Uchitelle, "Like Oil and Water." This article is a comparison of the econom
ics—content and tone—of Lester Thurow and Paul Krugman.
Among the more recent contributions are the essays in Krugman, Pop Interna
tionalism, which denounce protectionism and other efforts to manage trade. Krugman
