David McElroy

An Alien Sent to Observe the Human Race

paul romer

Can you spot the change in this video? Most can’t — and most don’t notice the world changing, either

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We all trust our senses to keep us aware of what’s going on around us, but sometimes things happen gradually enough that we can’t even tell major change has happened until it’s too late. Watch this video and see whether you can see the change happening right in front of your eyes. I didn’t notice until at the end when the change is made obvious. Of course, when I watched it the second time, I knew what to look for.

That’s the way change in the world works, too. When you’re looking to the future, you almost never see what’s really coming. But when you’re looking back at what’s already happened, it’s easy to spot the change and to believe you would have known what was going on if you’d been there.

It’s easy to think the German people in 1932 must have known what Adolph Hitler was going to represent. It’s easy to think that the U.S. president who made the early decisions to commit the United States in Vietnam must have known what it would lead to. It’s easy to think that the intellectuals and liberal-minded people who supported Fidel Castro in Cuba must have known the kind of brutal dictator he would be.

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Free cities or charter cities: What’s the difference? Does it matter?

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In talking here recently of the idea of autonomous (or at least semi-autonomous) cities within larger jurisdictions, I’ve intentionally ignored the differences between the ideas of “free cities” and “charter cities.” Zach Caceres reminded me Sunday that it would be a good idea to explain the similarities and differences between the two. (Watch Zach’s seven-minute TED talk about free cities here.)

Charter cities are the better-known concept, so let’s start with that. Economist Paul Romer originated the idea. He’s no starry-eyed libertarian dreamer. In fact, he’s much more in the mainstream of the modern social/economic/political structure than I am. Regardless, I believe his concept can be a springboard for something much bigger than what he has in mind.

You can see Romer’s original TED talk proposing charter cities here. (That’s Romer in the photo above.) More recently, he’s given another TED talk specifically talking about the progress of setting up such cities in Honduras. (If you missed it, I had a brief item over the weekend with news and links about the Honduras project, too.) Economist Russ Roberts interviewed Romer on the charter cities concept for the EconTalk podcast. (To subscribe to the EconTalk podcast — which I highly recommend — click here to get it free on iTunes.)

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Will Honduras establish the first modern free city? It’s possible

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Where would you expect to see the first free city of the modern era? When people turn to economic freedom, it’s usually because there’s great need — and there’s great economic need in Honduras.

Economist Paul Romer has been talking about “charter cities” for some time now, and Honduras is taking tentative steps toward allowing the establishment of one or more of them. The country’s constitution has recently been changed to allow charter cities. There’s a lot that still has to happen before it becomes reality, but it’s a huge first step. (Here’s another Wall Street Journal story about it.)

For some background, read this page at Romer’s CharterCities.org website: A New City in Honduras

I learned about this project from Michael Strong, who’s been a passionate advocate for the idea of free cities. I strongly recommend watching his 18-minute talk at a recent conference in Honduras about free cities as an excellent introduction to the subject. Strong believes that free cities are a key to dealing with global poverty, and I agree. (The rest of the video from the conference is full of interesting ideas about the future of free zones around the world.)

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