Summary on Alex Tabarrok “How ideas trump crises
Alex Tabarrok is a Canadian American economist and has authored economics blogs called the Marginal Revolution. In his speech on ‘How ideas triumph crises’. Alex Tabarrok argues that globalization and free trade are the major aspects which have and will continue to shape our world which was divided along community idea into a more idea sharing world which is happier, healthier and prosperous than what anyone had ever imagined(Tabarrok, 2009).
Tabarrok introduction, traces back to the historical events which happened the 21st century. these events created a world which is divided along the political walls, trade worlds, communication walls, and transportation walls seen in establishment of the iron curtain during the cold war age. These are the aspects which limited ideas and innovations sharing among the world nations according to Tabarrok. However, he goes on to state that the walls came tumbling down during the second half of the century. The trade walls came down from 80% in the 1940 to 5% in 2000 thorough globalized trade and transnational trade among countries.
Transportation walls from 1950 were reduced through the innovation of bigger ships and high capacity vessels for transportation of goods. Another major step the world took was the breaking down of the communication through the innovation of the World Wide Web. Exportation from the countries such as china to the US has increased. China GDP has tremendously been growing from the international and global trade. The same case also applies to China. In the sub-Saharan Africa, Tabarrok says the challenges such as poverty it faced, but growth and development has be seen from 1995 because of the opening of barriers through globalization(Tabarrok, 2009).
Cutting age today is the new ideas which have facilitated growth through the innovation of amazing property such as efficient cars, and manufacturing of new products. Tabarrok quotes from Thomas Jefferson (1813)that, “he who receives and idea from others receives instructions himself without lessening mine, as he who lights his candle at mine receives light without darkening mine” (Tabarrok, 2009). This means that the main function of human ideas is to drive growth. He gives an example of two diseases; one of them being a rare disease and the other a common disease. Treating a common disease is simpler than the complex disease. This is because of drugs availability for the common diseases. Countries like China and India are growing at a rapid rate. This shows a clear indication of the positive direction our world is going. The development of these countries has led to the development of larger markets which have facilitated new ideas generation through incentives. We maximize the ideas through the globalized ideas, one world, and one market (Tabarrok, 2009).
Idea creators are the creative and innovators. The United States for example has been the leader of ideas. Engineers and scientists in the world today less are than 1/10th in 1%. The trend is changing in that there are more scientists and engineers in various parts of the world. China, India, and Africa are also becoming alive in ideas innovation. This leads to new innovations, wealthier nation, and an optimistic world. This means that globalization is the main tool for the world growth. Tabarrok advice is that countries should not be afraid of each other when they see they are being overtaken with innovation. The growth of world GDP is a clear evident in showing it’s increased in a higher, faster, and stronger way. During the great depression in the United States in 1200, it was hard to predict the challenges of economic down fall. However, the However the U.S managed to recover. Through growth, Tabarrok says “it can wash away great depression” (Tabarrok, 2009). The modern world is well equipped to handle the challenges of today such as increase of oil prices through innovation of alternative energy sources. This makes Tabarrok to be highly optimistic of modern day ideas which would make us a happier and a healthier people.
Reference
Tabarrok, A (2009)How ideas trump crises. Retrieved from
On February 12, 2011
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