Ch. 10: The Diffusion of Prosperity

[Chris OConnor]

Ch. 10: The Diffusion of Prosperity

[LevV]

I very much enjoyed reading this chapter, especially the bits on Australia's colonization. We're all familiar with the early history of Australia as a penal colony for Britain. What I didn't know was how the convicts in the New South Wales area helped change the course of history in Australia. It seems that there was a high demand for labor in this area and many of the convicts had the required skills and drive. As a result, over time they were hired and given property rights which led to their demanding and getting increased economic and later political rights.

The authors would call this a virtuous circle leading to more and more inclusive institutions in the population as a whole.

[Robert Tulip]

I very much enjoyed reading this chapter, especially the bits on Australia's colonization. We're all familiar with the early history of Australia as a penal colony for Britain. What I didn't know was how the convicts in the New South Wales area helped change the course of history in Australia. It seems that there was a high demand for labor in this area and many of the convicts had the required skills and drive. As a result, over time they were hired and given property rights which led to their demanding and getting increased economic and later political rights.

The authors would call this a virtuous circle leading to more and more inclusive institutions in the population as a whole.

Here we see the scientific principle of the power of initial conditions, in this case the fact that their equality under the law was assumed by the British settlers of Australia, and this has been a defining influence for national governance.

Again, the basic principle here is that rule of law provides a principled basis for all people to be included as equals. Unfortunately, where law is corrupted by money and power the state shifts from inclusion to extraction.

We are seeing such a shift from inclusion to extraction in stark terms with fracking. The Halliburton Law excluding fracking from requirement to comply with existing US law has opened a dangerous path towards tyranny. So frackers can wreck soil, water, heritage sites and property values with impunity. They are above the law, because frackers have bought the government and converted it from an instrument of inclusion into an instrument of extraction.

[Taylor]

Proprietary law exempted underground injection companies from the 2005 extension of the 1974 clean water act. ( the same laws that protect Coke from revealing the recipe of their soda). The FRAC Act should correct that, we'll see how it plays out.