On the Internet: do the poor subsidize the rich?

["Original title: Perverse subsidies". It is Chapter 13 in my book Towards a Political Economy of Information (2004). I reproduce it here because it raises an issue that is taken very much for granted today.] It was appropriate technology advocate E.F. Schumacher, author of the widely-acclaimed book Small is Beautiful, who once said that technologies [...]

An old comment haunts me

It turns out that I wrote two versions of the piece on the financial crisis I posted earlier. The other version, which you’ll find posted here, says basically the same thing but contains the following comment which now haunts me. I had written: “Unfortunately, most economists appear to have little understanding of system design. (When [...]

The world financial crisis: a programmer’s perspective

I wrote the piece below some ten years ago, during the height of the Asian financial crisis. Because of its relevance to the current global crisis, I’m posting the piece here. Globalization: poor design? by Roberto Verzola Most successful designers of complex systems follow basic rules of design. Whether it is a spaceship that will [...]