Joakim Book
Research Fellow
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To Decline or Not Decline: Western Civilization’s Endless Nemesis
“Judging by the many failed prophets of the past, neither are we this time doomed, from climate change or corporate takeovers or from cultural values and demographics deteriorating. That’s an explosively optimistic notion in a world otherwise flirting with madness.” ~ Joakim Book
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Yuval Noah Harari’s Terrifying Pandemic Future
“Let’s focus on the ethical obligation that now runs rampant in our broken societies: everyone’s health is everyone else’s business. Your wants, desires, habits, and routines are mine to police; after all, if we’re not careful, your body could be the source of the next global disease. That means I, or some national or global…
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We Can Still Have a Century of Liberty
“Maybe I’m just the victim of an elaborate after-the-fact selection issue: maybe I just remember the precursors to what actually happened, and conveniently forgot the signs that indicated an outcome that didn’t come to pass. Most people who call flourishing futures for the ideas whose times have come are wrong. Still, from where I’m standing,…
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Escape Hatches: Migration, Bitcoin, and the Ability to Get Out
“Keep more mobile assets; have larger buffers, financial and physical; instead of a large house in a nice suburb, perhaps aim for a smaller home coupled with a condo or house in a different jurisdiction? Don’t put all your financial eggs in one portfolio – keep some gold and some bitcoin; keep healthy; update your…
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When Financial Markets Bubble, There’s Something for Everyone
“Whenever something seems bubbly, accusations of tulips and South Sea bubbles are never far away – even though the proportion of people who could actually explain those iconic episodes of our financial past is frighteningly close to zero. Levenson’s account of the South Sea Bubble will not, I daresay, be the last time historians find…
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The Difference Between Copper and Cucumbers
“Most of the raw materials that we ever brought out of the Earth’s crust are still with us, capable of being used and then turned into something else when that better fits our needs and wants. Cucumbers and renewable crops don’t have that quality. If anything, Circular Economy proponents should be horrified by cucumbers, not…
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Voting with Your Feet
“The essence of foot voting, like private-sector decisions, is that you decide. In my mind, this selection point is the strongest indication that foot-voting outperforms ballot-voting: with enough ranges of options available for potential movers, they can choose a package that best suits them.” ~ Joakim Book
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“Sustainability” Misses the Point
“By standard definitions, what we are doing is ‘unsustainable,’ but most human activities are. Over some time period every activity is unsustainable, but that’s not an indictment, practically or morally, of doing them. When the environment is harming humans (the default position of life), we should offer those humans the best available protection against that…
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That Mystical Monetary Theory
“The MMT mistake lies in believing that any alleged shortfall in money or supply of U.S. Treasuries is big enough to finance their entire policy wish list for the foreseeable future. It also assumes that any potential labor or capital goods not currently used can be effortlessly moved to whatever production line politicians desire, without…
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The Only Way To Win Is Not To Play
“Ignoring one another is a peaceful way of coexisting; Not interacting is a viable solution unless we’re forced to do so through a one-size-fits-all political process. Playing the political game makes it worse, and the collapse of personal grand narratives have let politics substitute for every other desire we have.” ~ Joakim Book
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•
To Decline or Not Decline: Western Civilization’s Endless Nemesis
“Judging by the many failed prophets of the past, neither are we this time doomed, from climate change or corporate takeovers or from cultural values and demographics deteriorating. That’s an explosively optimistic notion in a world otherwise flirting with madness.” ~ Joakim Book
-
•
Yuval Noah Harari’s Terrifying Pandemic Future
“Let’s focus on the ethical obligation that now runs rampant in our broken societies: everyone’s health is everyone else’s business. Your wants, desires, habits, and routines are mine to police; after all, if we’re not careful, your body could be the source of the next global disease. That means I, or some national or global…
-
•
We Can Still Have a Century of Liberty
“Maybe I’m just the victim of an elaborate after-the-fact selection issue: maybe I just remember the precursors to what actually happened, and conveniently forgot the signs that indicated an outcome that didn’t come to pass. Most people who call flourishing futures for the ideas whose times have come are wrong. Still, from where I’m standing,…
-
•
Escape Hatches: Migration, Bitcoin, and the Ability to Get Out
“Keep more mobile assets; have larger buffers, financial and physical; instead of a large house in a nice suburb, perhaps aim for a smaller home coupled with a condo or house in a different jurisdiction? Don’t put all your financial eggs in one portfolio – keep some gold and some bitcoin; keep healthy; update your…
-
•
When Financial Markets Bubble, There’s Something for Everyone
“Whenever something seems bubbly, accusations of tulips and South Sea bubbles are never far away – even though the proportion of people who could actually explain those iconic episodes of our financial past is frighteningly close to zero. Levenson’s account of the South Sea Bubble will not, I daresay, be the last time historians find…
-
•
The Difference Between Copper and Cucumbers
“Most of the raw materials that we ever brought out of the Earth’s crust are still with us, capable of being used and then turned into something else when that better fits our needs and wants. Cucumbers and renewable crops don’t have that quality. If anything, Circular Economy proponents should be horrified by cucumbers, not…
-
•
Voting with Your Feet
“The essence of foot voting, like private-sector decisions, is that you decide. In my mind, this selection point is the strongest indication that foot-voting outperforms ballot-voting: with enough ranges of options available for potential movers, they can choose a package that best suits them.” ~ Joakim Book
-
•
“Sustainability” Misses the Point
“By standard definitions, what we are doing is ‘unsustainable,’ but most human activities are. Over some time period every activity is unsustainable, but that’s not an indictment, practically or morally, of doing them. When the environment is harming humans (the default position of life), we should offer those humans the best available protection against that…
-
•
That Mystical Monetary Theory
“The MMT mistake lies in believing that any alleged shortfall in money or supply of U.S. Treasuries is big enough to finance their entire policy wish list for the foreseeable future. It also assumes that any potential labor or capital goods not currently used can be effortlessly moved to whatever production line politicians desire, without…
-
•
The Only Way To Win Is Not To Play
“Ignoring one another is a peaceful way of coexisting; Not interacting is a viable solution unless we’re forced to do so through a one-size-fits-all political process. Playing the political game makes it worse, and the collapse of personal grand narratives have let politics substitute for every other desire we have.” ~ Joakim Book