Weekend Reading: Low-Tech Economies

SOMETHING ABOUT NEWSPAPERS from Australia is just too hard to resist...when I read about research from the University of Tasmania as in this article, you probably know which cartoon character comes to mind. But if you can put aside the urge to chuckle you'll find a great article arguing that there is substantial value in low-tech economies. Specifically, the value of technology is unlocked when it can be linked to something more basic, like the way the Industrial Revolution could never have been pulled off in Britain if it weren't for the strength of agriculture and coal mining in that country. Australia right now is riding high on extraction of vast natural resources; columnist Ross Gittins of The Sydney Morning Herald sums up the skepticism embraced by conventional wisdom by saying:

"At another level, however, I suspect popular worries about the durability of the resources boom are based on something deeper: a sneaking feeling that there's something insubstantial and unsustainable about a country trying to stay wealthy simply by pulling stuff out of the ground and selling it."

Indeed. Read the full article here to understand the argument that would assuage this concern.