John Stuart Mill assisted in the triumph of the idea of progress in the 19th Century but he also had concerns about the future that still seem relevant today. Richard Reeves comments: ‘Mill was not a knee-jerk critic of what Ruskin dismissed as the “steam whistle society”, but nor was he a blind advocate of [...]

Over the past few days I have received insane Facebook status updates from a close friend.  The stream that followed has left me with profound respect and caused me to reflect on some lessons that can be learned.
14 January 2009 9:54 a.m. I am packing for Haiti… so many things bring to help. How [...]

Gary Becker (link) and Richard Posner (link) discuss the economic perspective in the empowerment of women and the weigh costs and benefits of public policy aimed at the empowerment of women.

I’ve been rude to a friend of mine (Simon Phipps) on Twitter. On the one hand, why should I be rude to a friend of mine? On the other hand, if I don’t call him out for quoting stupid things (as if he agrees with them), then how much of a friend do [...]

In my last post I gave several reasons why I think the ‘good society’ is a useful concept. There is another reason. The concept of a ‘good society’ may help us to think more clearly about progress.
What is the problem with progress? I am just about old enough to remember the 1950s when the most [...]

Writing an op-ed for NY Times, Nouriel Roubini discusses the role of Ben Bernanke in this year’s recession (link).
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People who are familiar with Ayn Rand’s writings may consider the answer to this question to be obvious. Rand made no secret of the fact that she regarded selfishness as a virtue. So, why ask the question?
Having recently read “Atlas Shrugged” properly for the first time (rather than skimming through it) the heroes, including John [...]

I admit it. Back in the day (the day when I hiked and even did a bit of climbing, that is), I owned a couple of North Face™ shirts. I doubt they’re still around. If they are, I’ll find them and sock them away for a public burning if it comes to that. I sure [...]

This follows on from my last post: Do all well-being indicators tell similar stories about human flourishing? The indicators that I looked at did tend to tell similar stories – countries that have high average income levels also tend to have high rankings on other well-being indicators.
The purpose of this post is to extend the [...]

Human flourishing is about enjoying the things that it is good for humans to have. It is more than economic opportunity; it is more than feeling happy or satisfied with life; it is more than safety and security; it is more than good health and longevity; it is more than educational opportunity; it is more [...]