The Reagan Revolution Isn’t Over Yet
By Donella Meadows
–August 12, 1993–
Well, yes, I guess it’s true what they’re saying, that the just-completed budget battle does reverse, partially, by a hair, the momentum of Reaganomics. Government spending, especially military spending, will go down some. Taxes on the richest one percent of us will rise to about half of what they were in 1980. The gas tax will [...]
Endangered Species, Endangered Ecosystems, Endangered Humanity
By Donella Meadows
–April 22, 1993–
No one actively wants to cause the extinction of a species. Something within us shudders at the enormity of snuffing out forever a unique form of life. Most of us would be ashamed if we knowingly crushed butterflies, bulldozed wildflowers, starved bears. As with other shameful acts, however, some of us, when we’re in the right [...]
The Endangered Species Act is not Working Well for Most Species, Including Humans
By Donella Meadows
–April 15, 1993–
“We have erected a monument to commemorate the funeral of a species,” said Aldo Leopold, dedicating a memorial to the passenger pigeon in 1947. “It symbolizes our sorrow. We grieve because no living man will see again the onrushing phalanx of victorious birds, sweeping a path for spring across the March skies, chasing the defeated winter [...]
Simple Economic Models and the Real World
By Donella Meadows
–March 25, 1993–
They play a game in economics classes that might help illuminate the present debate in Washington about budget-cutting and economy-stimulating. It’s a game about public and private investment. Each player starts off with 10 pennies. For each penny you put in the private investment pool, you get back one cent each round. For each penny you [...]
Beware the Sloshing of Loose Capital
By Donella Meadows
–July 25, 1991–
The fashionable solution to the economic woes of a community, state, bank, or nation, is to open its boundaries. The idea is that somehow a larger system, more capital, bigger markets, the involvement of more parties will solve the problem.
It would be wise, however, to look out the door before opening it, to see what’s outside [...]
