The Stupid Rays!! It Burnses Us!! It Burnses!!

Jphn Cochrane's pushback against those University of Chicago faculty who are suddenly shocked, shocked to discover that they have an Economics Department now that it looks like they might be able to poach some money out of it reminds me that I never posted this from--Dan Drezner, upon reading something truly awful:

danieldrezner.com: In the Chronicle of Higher Education, Mathew H. Gendle engages in one of the more useless acts of self-flagellation about globalization I've seen in quite a while...

The truly scary thing is that Mathew H. Gendle seems to genuinely believe that it would be a good thing to diminish demand for products made in developing countries, and genuinely believes that most clothes he buys are made by exploited child- or slave-labor. Yet he keeps buying them anyway because he has "a mortgage and child-care expenses." A stupid little Nietzschean wannabe who eagerly indulges in what he believes to be grave moral turpitude in order to save a few bucks.

But the stupidity rayses--they are too much for us. We--Daniel and I--and the Precious of course--must hide from the stupidity rayses that burnes. We must hide deep beneath the rootses of the mountains, and eat raw fishses...

Comments

[jerry]

"Yet he keeps buying them anyway because he has "a mortgage and child-care expenses." A stupid little Nietzschean wannabe who eagerly indulges in what he believes to be grave moral turpitude in order to save a few bucks."

Isn't this what many people who dislike Walmart say?

Give up the tenure Brad, and you'll find that you engage in grave moral turpitude as well. We don't like the child labor that free traders tell us will go away only if we don't mandate that as part of the free trade agreement, and yet, rising prices, and rising amounts of our money captured by the Walmarts and the State mean that if we don't buy at Walmart it will be harder to put food on the table.

"While some children do work in circumstances so hideous as to command immediate attention, development is the best overall cure for child labor." Development is the best cure? What about fair trade and laws?

Doesn't development in this context just mean, "buy more from the child labor exploiting countries?" Is this the right incentive? How about creating a better incentive? Fair trade that will expand their markets and thus lead to more development.

This could be a good start for you Brad. Put down the tenure and slowly walk away. It's been a vicious crutch and has kept you from grasping reality.

[Punditus Maximus]

Enh. There's a difference between "putting food on the table," and "having the nice TV." The latter can be gone without, and those proceeds can be spent elsewhere.

My problem is that I don't know which goods are produced reasonably close to my ethical standards and which ones are produced in a foul fashion.

[Blissex]

«genuinely believes that most clothes he buys are made by exploited child- or slave-labor. Yet he keeps buying them anyway because he has "a mortgage and child-care expenses." A stupid little Nietzschean wannabe who eagerly indulges in what he believes to be grave moral turpitude in order to save a few bucks.» Well, as this article from BusinessWeek (and even more so the comments on it) shows, it can be pretty hard to make ends meet on $300k a year, what with the cost of the mortage for the $1-2m McMansion, and childcare or private schooling fees: http://lanekenworthy.net/2008/06/24/making-ends-meet-on-300000-a-year/ http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_24/b4088081624555.htm «Many of America's affluent, squeezed already, worry they will be burdened with higher taxes»