My Ode to Modernity ended with an oblique reference to the Tea Party movement. A comment on the post suggested I look into the Coffee Party counter-movement, I think with the implication that I host one.
Obviously, I'm an academic. My first economics book was Hayek's Road to Serfdom, and I identify strongly with the Austrian School of economics. I simply don't believe that any bureaucrat can know enough to successfully manage the economy. Unfortunately, some eighty years of government backed private debt (fan though I am of Sheila Bair) and regulatory capture have created a system that generates wealth a lot faster than a free market ever could.
Now this system is breaking down. The past three years have seen something unprecedented as a financial crisis in a highly indebted nation led to a vast increase in the number of people buying that nation's debt. This is not a sustainable system, the deficits that helpfully created all that debt to buy cannot be sustained. The Navy, whose services many of those foreign investors are effectively buying, is overstretched and does not have a coherent shipbuilding plan. Deficit reduction in the US will require both cutting services and raising taxes, but the political will to do so does not exist. Meanwhile, our recent attempt to stop one sector of the economy from dragging down the rest can be described, at best, as a halting step towards making a bad system slightly less unpalletable (a tee shot, in a previous post).
We are now having an internet-style national philosophy debate. Tea Partiers seem to believe most strongly that our best days were in 2003-2005, when the economy was growing strongly on the back of gov't backed bad mortgages (including pension funds buying non-FHA stuff). The Coffee Parties are generally more "progressive", seeking smarter regulation to tame the business cycle and more equitable wealth distribution. The first have already been captured by the neoconservative wing of the GOP, the second probably host a lot of Howard Dean supporters and may find themselves backing democratic candidates this fall.
As the former head of the Pie Cabinet, I will not host either in my home. Historical irony might inspire me to turn up at a rally with a bundle of sticks tied together, or perhaps a sign warning "Beware the Red Tide!" (oh, so many meanings!). However, I remain committed to asking simply what is the best way to incentivize a sustainable economy that provides at a minimum the capacity for each family to make a pie every week. Come on over, I've got plenty of tea and a brand new coffee grinder.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Growing Stronger STEMs
I'm a frequent critic of appeals for more STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) education. I am also an engineer with a PhD who teaches both grade-school and college students. I don't see this as a contradiction at all because I didn't learn to be a successful engineer in a STEM classroom.
I learned the basics of mechanical and systems engineering under the hood of a dozen or so cars and trucks that my friends and I decided we could fix. My most successful friends learned to program computers, rewire stereos and generally perform all of the "STEM" tasks because they tinkered at home. Our curiosity wasn't awoken by grades, but rather a desire to learn that our parents encouraged and our lax (by modern standards) schedules allowed. We were simply interested in making a change in the world, and as Tycho points out, no-one of any sense has ever bet against the . . . resourcefulness of young men."
An AP Economics class gave me the tools I needed to start forming economic models of the behaviors I read about in the newspaper. This, along with long discussions with my parents, led me to ask "what's the underlying dynamics here?" When confronted with organizational challenges, this education provides me with the tools to navigate them. On technical issues, knowing what the instrument really measures is the difference between a failed experiment and a PhD.
The problem with my path through STEM education is that it does not fit well into an NCLB/TAKS/Iowa Test model. At what grade level should one be able to check oil, inspect a brake pad or replace an intake manifold? Since most diagnoses take several tries, how do you test a student's ability to find "the underlying dynamics?"
In addition, the facilities required for my education spanned several cooperative households, took the time and flexibility of school administrators and a community that felt young people ought to be engaged with their world, not sheltered from potential harm. Today's education debate seems to accept as first principles that learning can only happen in a classroom, is only official if it can be tested and that there is one standard of capability to which all should be trained.
As a STEM educator, and one who holds a PhD in a mechanical field, I'd much rather teach math to studets who know metal than metal to students who know math. It's cheaper to teach and easier to to test algebra, geometry and calculus than auto mechanics, baking and philosophy. Traditionally, the latter subjects have been learned at home, and I don't want to suggest we put more of the education burden on schools. How we encourage stronger STEMs at home that will bear fruit later?
I learned the basics of mechanical and systems engineering under the hood of a dozen or so cars and trucks that my friends and I decided we could fix. My most successful friends learned to program computers, rewire stereos and generally perform all of the "STEM" tasks because they tinkered at home. Our curiosity wasn't awoken by grades, but rather a desire to learn that our parents encouraged and our lax (by modern standards) schedules allowed. We were simply interested in making a change in the world, and as Tycho points out, no-one of any sense has ever bet against the . . . resourcefulness of young men."
An AP Economics class gave me the tools I needed to start forming economic models of the behaviors I read about in the newspaper. This, along with long discussions with my parents, led me to ask "what's the underlying dynamics here?" When confronted with organizational challenges, this education provides me with the tools to navigate them. On technical issues, knowing what the instrument really measures is the difference between a failed experiment and a PhD.
The problem with my path through STEM education is that it does not fit well into an NCLB/TAKS/Iowa Test model. At what grade level should one be able to check oil, inspect a brake pad or replace an intake manifold? Since most diagnoses take several tries, how do you test a student's ability to find "the underlying dynamics?"
In addition, the facilities required for my education spanned several cooperative households, took the time and flexibility of school administrators and a community that felt young people ought to be engaged with their world, not sheltered from potential harm. Today's education debate seems to accept as first principles that learning can only happen in a classroom, is only official if it can be tested and that there is one standard of capability to which all should be trained.
As a STEM educator, and one who holds a PhD in a mechanical field, I'd much rather teach math to studets who know metal than metal to students who know math. It's cheaper to teach and easier to to test algebra, geometry and calculus than auto mechanics, baking and philosophy. Traditionally, the latter subjects have been learned at home, and I don't want to suggest we put more of the education burden on schools. How we encourage stronger STEMs at home that will bear fruit later?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Pie making abroad
We recently took a longish trip to Europe. It was amazing, and I owe special thanks to our wonderful hosts who drove us all over the place. Really, I cannot thank them enough for everything, perhaps most of all giving us a chance to step back from our cluttered lives in the US and give us a chance to soak in a more relaxed culture.
While there, we went to a farmers' market where I bought a couple kilos of apples and a kilo of pears to make a pie. When we got back to the house, I realized how dependent I had become on the array of kitchen gadgets I use to reduce pie-making time. We brought along a dough blender at our hostess' requests, but my apple peeler/slicer, baking mat, multiple sets of measuring tools, giant rolling pin and food processor were an ocean away. Our host's kitchen was beautiful, clean and very well stocked, but I learned my "gadget-neediness" to my own chagrin.
More helpfully, this led me to think about what the real "minimum equipment list" is for making a pie. This list is important because it bears directly on the industrial capacity required of a PMCIN=1 society. I believe it consists of:
(1) A good cleaning cloth and a supply of clean water (~5L/pie)
(2) A very sharp pairing knife
(3) 75cm x 100cm countertop for crust rolling
(4) A large (3-4L) mixing bowl
(5) A measuring cup and spoon (scales also work)
(6) Pie plate
(7) Minimum 50cm x 50cm x 50cm oven.
Sorry for the metric units here, but these reflections happened in Europe, and Google, the generous host of this blog, offers a fantastic unit conversion service.
Interestingly, the largest industrial need, and thus environmental impact, of pie making consists of clean water. The electricity for the oven came, at least in part, from a wind farm about 2km away from the house. The water, on the other hand, had to be pumped from a well, treated, pressurized and piped to the house. After use it had to be piped to another treatment center, cleaned and discharged into a suitable environment. Unlike the wind turbine, knife, dishes and oven, this has to happen with every pie. Nothing like international travel to give you an interesting look at life. Also interestingly, with only a pairing knife, I wound up peeling more apple off the outside. However, I saved considerably more fruit by not throwing away hole cores, as I do at home, instead cutting away only the inedible segments near the seeds.
Also, European fruit, at least in the market we bought it, is much denser than American varieties. It's very important, therefore, to cut it up much smaller than comparable American apples and pears. It may also be necessary to pre-cook some fruit, as Ken suggests in his "French Apple Pie" recipe, which is an adaptation of a French apple tart. Note that this adds a skillet and stove to the list above, but does not substantially change the water requirement.
The next place I need to go is an undeveloped rural community. I will do my best to bring along items 1-6, ovens being a bit hard to transport, but I may have to add "shovel, metal box and charcoal" or "large pot and cooking fire." I wonder if there's a Fulbright for culinary adventures . . .
While there, we went to a farmers' market where I bought a couple kilos of apples and a kilo of pears to make a pie. When we got back to the house, I realized how dependent I had become on the array of kitchen gadgets I use to reduce pie-making time. We brought along a dough blender at our hostess' requests, but my apple peeler/slicer, baking mat, multiple sets of measuring tools, giant rolling pin and food processor were an ocean away. Our host's kitchen was beautiful, clean and very well stocked, but I learned my "gadget-neediness" to my own chagrin.
More helpfully, this led me to think about what the real "minimum equipment list" is for making a pie. This list is important because it bears directly on the industrial capacity required of a PMCIN=1 society. I believe it consists of:
(1) A good cleaning cloth and a supply of clean water (~5L/pie)
(2) A very sharp pairing knife
(3) 75cm x 100cm countertop for crust rolling
(4) A large (3-4L) mixing bowl
(5) A measuring cup and spoon (scales also work)
(6) Pie plate
(7) Minimum 50cm x 50cm x 50cm oven.
Sorry for the metric units here, but these reflections happened in Europe, and Google, the generous host of this blog, offers a fantastic unit conversion service.
Interestingly, the largest industrial need, and thus environmental impact, of pie making consists of clean water. The electricity for the oven came, at least in part, from a wind farm about 2km away from the house. The water, on the other hand, had to be pumped from a well, treated, pressurized and piped to the house. After use it had to be piped to another treatment center, cleaned and discharged into a suitable environment. Unlike the wind turbine, knife, dishes and oven, this has to happen with every pie. Nothing like international travel to give you an interesting look at life. Also interestingly, with only a pairing knife, I wound up peeling more apple off the outside. However, I saved considerably more fruit by not throwing away hole cores, as I do at home, instead cutting away only the inedible segments near the seeds.
Also, European fruit, at least in the market we bought it, is much denser than American varieties. It's very important, therefore, to cut it up much smaller than comparable American apples and pears. It may also be necessary to pre-cook some fruit, as Ken suggests in his "French Apple Pie" recipe, which is an adaptation of a French apple tart. Note that this adds a skillet and stove to the list above, but does not substantially change the water requirement.
The next place I need to go is an undeveloped rural community. I will do my best to bring along items 1-6, ovens being a bit hard to transport, but I may have to add "shovel, metal box and charcoal" or "large pot and cooking fire." I wonder if there's a Fulbright for culinary adventures . . .
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