Where pie and policy meet

I'm a big fan of the Economist, in particular the "Leaders" section, because it contains insightful, well written commentary with clearly stated biases.  Calling itself the "mouthpiece of global capitalism", it's very clear that the editors are center-right social libertarians.  All of their writing has this "spin", because it is impossible for humans to express things both well and blandly.  Anyone who claims to be unbiased or speaking from a "no-spin-zone" is either delusional, dishonest or completely amoral (for instance, how does one have a "fair and balanced" discussion of torturing kittens when the words themselves are repulsive to anyone with a moral compass).   

In that vein, the following must be said now:  The pie recipes in this blog tend to favor a "cooking as resource enhancement" rather than "cooking as high art" approach.  The policy posts reflect my economically libertarian, environmentally cautious, socially liberal and fiscally conservative beliefs.  However, to try and avoid getting into very esoteric discussions of easy credit as regressive taxation or the impact of various tax policies on farm production, this blog will use pies as a rubric to determine whether or not a policy is good.  The central belief of this blog is that all people should have the means and time to make at least one homemade pie per week, all around the world, forever.  

With help from the comments, my goal is to develop a "pie making capacity in nation" (PMCIN, pronounced "pumpkin") index to look at how countries compare and how policy proposals influence the important things in life.  Good pie making requires a confluence of productive fruit, dairy and grain farms; reliable ovens accessible to everyone (i.e. affordable, quality housing); good quality bakeware and spices, and the small businesses to manufacture and sell them; a free and open press to promote the publication of recipes, even bad ones; and a populace with at least 2-4 hours per week of leisure time and the desire to be moving during it.  These in turn require a clean environment so that the farms can produce.  They are helped by marriages (or at least couples, or more, since we're equal opportunity here) that stay together, increasing the household PMCIN.  Labor laws that limit worker hours and improve safety increase PMCIN, but going too far with these and making it difficult to fire people hurts small businesses, reducing PMCIN.  Global warming is very destructive to fruit and grain production, particularly in the leading industrialized nations (negative Gr8-PMCIN?) and so anything that can help reduce it is good.  Easy consumer credit is bad, as it almost always in people having to work longer hours and have less disposable income, in addition to the fact that it is typically spent on anti-pie things like large televisions or cars.  Education leads to greater understanding of chemistry and history, and thus higher quality pies.  Starting families, businesses and farms requires the kind of stability that can only be ensured by an effective military, as anyone in Iraq or Georgia would be happy to tell you.  

Over the next few weeks I'd like to work on this half baked idea.  If you live close by, come on over, since I'm researching the requirements of an average PMCIN of 1pie/week by 1st hand experience, and the result is more than I should eat myself.  Ideas for pie-charts are also welcome.

-tba