Tag Archives: economics

Constant Donations, 2011

economics, , , , ,

In 2008, I decided that I would donate $25 every year to the Cornell Chimes Fund, in 2008 inflation-adjusted dollars.

In 2009, thanks to deflation, I actually donated only $24.68, but last year in 2010, the economy had recovered slightly, and I donated $25.18. Huzzah jobless recovery!

Anyway, it is that time of the year again, so without further ado, here is my 2011 Cornell contribution:

$25.18 in 2010 dollars * 225.964 (May ’11 CPI-U, all items) / 218.178 (May ’10 CPI-U) = $26.01 in 2011 dollars

Can’t wait to get my letter in the mail thanking me for my donation of $26.01.

What the Hell is Gastronomy, Anyway?

academics, , , , , , , ,

May 2010

It’s the million-dollar question that everyone in my program has faced, yet no one seems to have a definitive answer. I have certainly given my 30-second elevator rendition of what gastronomy is (“Well er, it’s not cooking school, it’s sort of about the analysis of food’s role in the world…”), but I still have niggling doubts over whether I am simply talking out of my ass. Which is why I was secretly relieved when we had a seminar on gastronomy and its meaning.

Where do we begin? The English Wikipedia article on gastronomy begins with a broad definition, stating simply that “gastronomy is the study of the relationship between culture and food.” This begs the question of what is culture, but at least it provides a viable starting point for analyzing the breadth of gastronomy. On the other hand, the French Wikipedia article on gastronomy begins with the definition established by the Académie Française, which suggests that gastronomy is the set of social rules that define l’art de faire bonne chère, or the art of giving good cheer. Hmm, that isn’t nearly as engaging a subject.

Then, we launched into a discussion of food porn. Everyone in the class had heard of the phrase, but no one was brave enough to offer a definition. So, we paused to consider the characteristics of sexual pornography. This is definitely a subject befitting serious schoolars, because after all, even the Supreme Court has ruminated over the difference between obscene pornography and art. After some discussion, we decided that porn has many facets, but is generally in some way exploitative, features an idealized representation, and allows for distanced or vicarious enjoyment of the subject. In the same fashion, food porn offers an idealized portrayal of food held at a distance from the viewer. Though perhaps the tomato is not being exploited in the same way that actors in a porn film are.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZVAqNuFXIQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

Hmm, I’m not sure if I am any more enlightened than when I started, so I’m just going to sit on this for the next year or so…
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The Slow Evolution of Fast Money

academics, , , , , ,

[gigya src=”http://prezi.com/bin/preziloader.swf” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowscriptaccess=”always” width=”550″ height=”400″ bgcolor=”#ffffff” flashvars=”prezi_id=lyqatakeqlkv&lock_to_path=0&color=ffffff&autoplay=no&autohide_ctrls=0″]

Shamefully, it has been a month since I last posted, but at least the thesis brouhaha is over. I spent much of this weekend preparing slides for the presentation next week, and graduation for our class of gastronomes is set for Friday the 13th. Apparently, 13 is not an inauspicious number in Italian culture, however 17 is.

If you are interested in seeing the slides and some dizzying spatial effects, you can check out the presentation in Prezi.

Thesis, or Reasons to Stay Late at the Office on Friday Night

academics, writing, , , , ,

Lately, all my writing energy has been devoted to working on this damn thesis, due on May 6th. I just want to get the thing written and turned in, so that I can move on with other projects.

Already, I’ve had to trim lots of interesting material that isn’t entirely relevant out of fear that this will turn into a book. Only a select few of you will find this topic totally absorbing, but I’ll post a tentative abstract here to ward off the inevitable questions.

Title: The Slow Evolution of Fast Money: A Fresh Approach to Sustainable Investment

Abstract: The Industrial Revolution heralded an age of unprecedented environmental damage and social tolls driven by commercial activity. We can move toward a restorative economy through careful placement of investment funds in socially responsible businesses that focus on more than bottom line profits. The microfinance industry in developing countries and the Slow Money movement in the U.S. are two examples of business models that aspire to move away from the traditional profit-driven financial paradigm. However, they are relatively unproven and are prone to the pitfalls of commercialist mission-drift. Study of these experiments provides lessons to be learned for future models of sustainable finance.

In case you’re wondering, what does this have to do with food or gastronomy, the answer is: it doesn’t. I simply felt like dipping back into the econ fold for a while.

The Story of Stuff

environment, , , , , ,

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM]

This is the Story of Stuff. It is a project from Annie Leonard centered on telling how you got the stuff in your hands, who paid for it (hint: it wasn’t you) and what happens when you throw it away. It is the story of how we’re destroying our planet (but mostly just ourselves), while becoming less and less happy all the time.

Yes, it’s 20 minutes and most of you will just think “tl;dw” (too long; didn’t watch), but I hit play and couldn’t stop watching. It’s a chunk of time well-spent for anyone interested in connecting the dots between many of our environmental, economic and social problems. Certainly, some of the information was played up for dramatic effect, but overall, I found the film to be clear, concise and informative for the intelligent layperson.

Check it out.

Lunch

life, , , , , ,

Excerpt from the consistently excellent webcomic Pictures for Sad Children

One of the best parts about my job is that the people I work with tend to be smart, funny and generally likable (when they’re not purposely being assholes). In particular, it’s nice that there is a large contingent of other AEs, who each have a broad array of quirky interests and backgrounds. This translates into fairly entertaining lunchtime discussions, which leap from Hegel to how to escape from a locked trunk in a matter of seconds. I’m not sure what everyone else talks about at lunch, but we jokingly call ourselves the “Witty Banter Table,” and I’m pretty sure we’re the most hilarious lunch table EVER.

Over the past few months, I’ve been taking notes on topics of conversation at lunch, which have been loosely grouped into categories. I make no claims that this is a fully representative sampling, but I am a little bit surprised that economics isn’t a more frequent topic of discussion. Only a little. Without further ado:

Science/Technology
  • Merits of Kindles vs books: shelf-life, eyestrain, DRM
  • Physics of cycling: drafting, relationship between weight and momentum
  • Question: Is it possible to shoot a projectile and have it land >100 miles away? You must take into account the earth’s curvature, cannot move to outer space, and must use materials that would not be incinerated. Answer: Yes, you just need to move the earth backwards.
  • Case history of the serial killer whale, whether it can be rehabilitated into the wild
  • Sexbots
  • Potatoes: should they be considered a vegetable given their nutritional profile?
  • Organic clawed spider farming
  • Cell phone radiation: are fears about cancer are founded? Followed by declarations that cell phones are so safe, one should wear a cellphone codpiece.
  • Mechanics and ease of generating electricity: could it be done by a group of AEs who happened to land in Somalia
  • Distillation of liquor
  • iPad suckitude and general Apple paternalism
  • Offshore oil drilling

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