Links - 26/04/17

A new links post - finally. And a consequent (possibly temporary) return from the hiatus.

Over the past few weeks I've been busy with exams, so some of the links may be slightly dated. Nevertheless, they remain as interesting.

1. There was AirBnb, then Uber: is it now time for the 'kidney sharing economy'?

2. The effects of British colonialism on India: how bad was it really? I found this stat very revealing:

Another way to make the historical comparison is to consider which Southeast Asian economy never fell under colonial rule. That would be Thailand, which has a per capita income in the range of $16,300 by World Bank estimates, compared with India’s $6,100. 

3. Data collection in the 21st century: face scanners placed in public toilets in China to prevent toilet paper theft.  Toilet paper has some monetary value, but because of its social benefit, it is given to the public for 'free' as a common good. When you think about it, the only thing that stops widespread toilet paper theft is probably a fairly fragile belief in the common good. Its a rather unusual, yet widespread,  phenomena that disrupts the theory of the tragedy of the commons - so it's interesting to see what happens when this rather fragile "social belief" is upended by the more understandable individual desire.

4. Belarus has implemented a sort of "reverse-welfare" law (to put it crudely), where the underemployed have to pay a 'compensation tax', to make up for the taxes they aren't paying because they're underemployed. This policy seems self-perpetuating and counter - intuitive to me -- and needless to say, it has been hugely unpopular. This also invokes a pretty interesting discussion about the politics of Belarus, where political discourse has produced the label "the law against social parasites."

5. In Africa, why do women's rights advance so quickly after major conflict? Or, why are changes related to women's rights developing more rapidly in Africa than in Western countries, despite the former's relatively traditionalist and masculine culture:

 How were post-conflict countries able, in a relatively short span of time, to advance women’s status in key areas? They not only accomplished what the Nordic countries had done over the course of 100 years by increasing legislative representation, but, in some cases, even exceeded their rates almost overnight.

 Basically, major conflicts result in disruptions in traditional gender relations and structures - men are called upon during times of war to act as soldiers, etc. -   leaving a supply gap of sorts left behind, which is then filled by women.

This explains why Rwanda, despite have a male-dominated culture, has the highest proportion of females to males in Parliament. This is just another case of Markets in Everything, a.k.a the economics of gender politics in post conflict regions. It doesn't quite ring...


6. Yet another case study of black markets in fishing. Warning: plenty of puns in the link:

Federal prosecutors say a Massachusetts fishing magnate known as Carlos “The Codfather” Rafael has agreed to plead guilty in a scam involving catch quotas and smuggling money to Portugal. 

According to Hakai magazine, the malevolent fishmonger was selling his illegal catch to mob associate Michael Perretti. Perretti — a convicted felon — ran South Street Seafoods in the heavily mob-infiltrated fish market in New York.

I recall that Iceland also had rampant corruption in its catching quotas too. What is it about the fish market that seems to invite the festering of black markets? My closest guess is that its a 'tragedy of the commons': individual market players act according to their self interest, at the cost of the common good of all players, by depleting that resource through collective action. So, seemingly abundant and immeasurable resources such as the sea, and fish, seem limitless - and people fish to their heart's content, without consideration of the gradual erosion of a common good.