"Notice the conflict between efficiency and resilience in your last paragraph? The standard maize-soybean-fallow rotation is highly efficient. But if some day a maize blight gets one step ahead of Monsanto and other scientists, and hits the Midwest,…"

"Andrew, most U.S. farming is done by agribusiness--"corporate farms". Some own farms outright; most have longstanding leasing agreements with farmers. For example, an Arkansas chicken farmer might "own" his own farm, raising…"

"Irrigation itself is not the cause of salt sterilization...  The ultimate cause is water evaporation from the upper surface of the soil.  Sub surface irrigation largely mitigates this issue, as the top inch or so remains mostly dry, so the…"

"I don't know the exact number, but I recall that agricultural subsidies are the single largest item in the EU's budget. So I don't think the subsidization (market distortions) per se is the determining factor. The way they are…"

"I fully agree and I think that equivalency - credit, tax break etc. - is common and well understood in the economics literature. Part of, but not uniquely, the strong towns message. Relating this back to the broader thread, and as I said at the top,…"

"LOL Her blog is even named Dizzynomics."

"In which case you're using the money for different things, but I mean there isn't a difference between the city saying "here's $300,000 to buy yourself a yacht" and "if you buy a yacht, we'll give you a $300,000…"

"Two inconsistencies I hear. 1. Either the average American is a saver, and so would benefit from deflation; or she is a debtor, and would suffer from deflation. -> I say we are looking at deflation (because there's less money than we think,…"

"Ooh, since we're linking to Tyler, here he is summarising Isabella Kaminska (where lots of my loony ideas come from) and here she is clarifying."

"Sorry, my 'no' was obviously a quick response to a an off-topic distraction. Without context, the terms aren't equivalent. Instead of donating to avoid tax, I could buy a yacht, or employ someone or spend the money in a million…"

"Chuck, thanks for the call out and the big "ugh". haha more here about bubbles from Tyler Cowen.  nothttp://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/05/are-we-living-in-a-time-of-asset-bubbles.html  "