Aug 25, 2011

Four interesting links

Capitalist economies should be understood as mixed economies
The ideology of how economic activity is organized in capitalist economies is sharp and simple — markets. However, in reality, economic activities in capitalist economies are organized in a variety of different ways, market organization prominent among them but not totally dominating. The basic argument of this paper is that capitalist economies should be understood as mixed economies.
Does religion influence epidemics? 
Today, that promise of care is helping to shape the religious makeup in Malawi, Hughes reported. Trinitapoli surveyed 3000 people from 1000 villages across that African country, asking questions about religion and AIDS, which affects one in 14 Malawians and is the leading cause of death in adults there. Some regions were Christian communities, others were Muslim, and some were mixed. About 30% of the Christians regularly visit the sick, whereas only 7% of the Muslims do, Hughes reported. The survey also revealed that the prospect of getting help was enticing. In the past 5 years, about 400 of those responding have shifted religions, many of them moving to Pentecostal or the African Independent Churches, places where the promise of receiving care is greater and the stigma of having AIDS is less, Hughes noted.
Why the state of emergency in Trinidad and Tobago?
Over the past decade, the murder rate in Trinidad and Tobago has increased dramatically, fuelled by the rise of criminal gangs, the illegal drug trade, and the widespread availability of illegal guns. 
Sheckar Kapur: We are the stories we tell ourselves:
We all tell stories, film directors, scientists, etc. Albert Einstein told stories that he transformed into theories, and then into equation. In art and science stories are told to get closer to the truth. Economists also tell stories, those stories are the theories or main arguments of an academic article. It is very common that in presentations of research  the economist presenter is asked, "what is your story?" In this very interesting video the speaker tells, we are the stories that we tell ourselves.  

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