{"id":19,"date":"2016-03-10T09:25:29","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T13:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/pickledpencil\/?p=19"},"modified":"2023-01-10T18:49:19","modified_gmt":"2023-01-10T22:49:19","slug":"i-pickled-pencil-the-first-post-plus-some-thoughts-on-complexity-and-economics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pickledpencil\/2016\/03\/i-pickled-pencil-the-first-post-plus-some-thoughts-on-complexity-and-economics\/","title":{"rendered":"I, Pickled Pencil: The First Post! (Plus, Some Thoughts on Connectedness and Economics)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Ah, the first post of a fresh new blog! Welcome to The Pickled Pencil!\"school-93200_960_720\"<\/p>\n

I\u2019d been tossing around a few different ideas on what would be\u00a0a good opening article to set us in the right direction, but the Freakonomics Radio episode<\/a> I stumbled upon the other day\u00a0settled things for me.\u00a0Pencils and economics. How perfect! (and how obvious!)<\/p>\n

The episode (which you must check out) explores Leonard Read\u2019s famous 1958 essay entitled \u201cI, Pencil.\u201d The host, Stephen Dubner, describes it as a\u00a0\u201ccomplex story about how a simple thing comes into being,\u00a0and what a lowly pencil can teach us about solving some of the world\u2019s hardest problems.\u201d<\/strong> Emphasis on the word \u201ccomplex.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an excerpt from \u201cI, Pencil\u201d:<\/em><\/p>\n

I, Pencil, am a complex combination of miracles: a tree, zinc, copper, graphite, and so on. But to these miracles which manifest themselves in Nature an even more extraordinary miracle has been added: the configuration of creative human energies\u2014millions of tiny know-hows configurating naturally and spontaneously in response to human necessity and desire and in the absence of any human masterminding!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The essay is, of course, a defense of the free-market. But it is also a wonderful little\u00a0primer on complex systems, on interdependence, and on how something which can seem\u00a0so simple is, in fact, intimately connected to a multitude of other things, without which it could not exist.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Leonard Read<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Economic Connectedness<\/strong><\/p>\n

Advocates of the free-market are often accused of pushing\u00a0a heartless, individualistic, anti-social\u00a0economics that is decidedly against the vision of Jesus and the Bible. However, I think \u201cI, Pencil\u201d\u00a0offers a reminder that while this criticism\u00a0may apply to some right-wing proponents of capitalism, it doesn\u2019t really tell the whole story or accurately depict what it is many free-market thinkers actually believe.<\/p>\n

From Adam Smith onward,\u00a0free-market economists have not only acknowledged the existence of economic interdependence, but have argued that it makes all of us materially better off.<\/strong>\u00a0Compare this to the 58%\u00a0of Michigan voters<\/a>\u00a0who supported Bernie Sanders and believe free trade hurts the United States (which, as NPR reports<\/a>, has had\u00a0very little to do\u00a0with the 50-plus year decline of Michigan and Detroit). While we\u2019re on the subject, Donald Bourdeaux over at Cafe Hayek makes a great point<\/a>, that celebrating a decline in trade is like celebrating a decline in human knowledge and technological know-how.<\/p>\n

\"images\"<\/a>
F. A. Hayek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it comes to complexity, \u201cI, Pencil\u201d may not go far enough. Now, to be sure, our friend Mr.\u00a0Pencil has a large and varied family tree which no government\u00a0office could ever statistically aggregate, and then\u00a0plan and coordinate. But there\u2019s another\u00a0type of complexity, a deeper part\u00a0of the economic system that isn\u2019t directly concerned\u00a0with physical tools and raw materials but with ever-changing human knowledge, desires, and expectations across time.<\/p>\n

The Big Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why, for example, should the pencil be made of wood and not a thousand alternatives? And why cedar and not oak or birch? And what happens if there\u2019s some sort of disaster and the supply of cedar is choked off? Or if the demand for cedar increases because it becomes suddenly fashionable for home construction or use as living room\u00a0furniture? And how do we communicate this news to everyone who might want to use cedar and make them aware that there are now other, more urgent needs society has for cedar, and then move them to respond? And how do we decide which needs are urgent and which needs are not? And, finally, since all things are connected, how do\u00a0we make sure\u00a0this ever-changing knowledge\/information (some of which can\u2019t really be put into words or numbers, some of which isn\u2019t even realized consciously)\u00a0finds its way to consumers who may not even know they\u2019re in need of it (or aren\u2019t in need of it at the present moment)? F. A. Hayek\u2019s 1945 article \u201cThe Use of Knowledge in Society\u201d tells us how society solves these problems\u00a0(and serves as a useful, though more technical, classroom companion to \u201cI, Pencil\u201d).<\/p>\n

Hayek\u2019s Answer: The Price System<\/strong><\/p>\n

This post is getting a little long for my taste, so let me finish up\u00a0with a quote from Hayek and some comments:<\/p>\n

Fundamentally, in a system in which the knowledge of the relevant facts is dispersed among many people, prices can act to coordinate the separate actions of different people in the same way as subjective values help the individual coordinate the parts of his plan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, the price system allows complex societies to coordinate their use of scarce resources across time in deference to what human beings value in the same way your personal value scale helps you choose pancakes or an omelet for breakfast.\u00a0It\u00a0brings human needs and wants into relationship with the earth\u2019s scarcity and directs human energies accordingly.<\/strong>\u00a0And, as Leonard Read would remind us, the price system can only function in a society where peaceful, voluntary trade is permitted, which, in turn, can only exist if property rights are reasonably secure. Coercion, theft, and fraud; inflation, protectionism, and trade manipulation; whether by government or some private cartel, all interfere in the smooth operation of our most incredible example of economic connectedness and spontaneous social order: the price system. Without it, we\u2019d have no pencils (or at least very bad pencils, perhaps evens pickled ones).<\/p>\n

Thanks for reading!<\/p>\n

P.S. I\u2019d love to hear from anyone who might critique my understanding of Hayek or elaborate a bit on my thoughts.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ah, the first post of a fresh new blog! Welcome to The Pickled Pencil! I\u2019d been tossing around a few different ideas on what would be\u00a0a good opening article to set us in the right direction, but the Freakonomics Radio episode I stumbled upon the other day\u00a0settled things for me.\u00a0Pencils and economics. How perfect! (and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4887,"featured_media":21,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nI, Pickled Pencil: The First Post! (Plus, Some Thoughts on Connectedness and Economics)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ah, the first post of a fresh new blog! Welcome to The Pickled Pencil! 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