Articles of note

Progressives against progress, City Journal, by Fritz Siegel. How American liberals have turned against progress since 1970.

Genome breakthrough heralds dawn of new era for agriculture, Independent, by Steve Connor. The isolation of the genome of the wheat plant could have hugely positive implications for agriculture.

Growth in a Buddhist economy, Project Syndicate, by Jeffrey Sachs. Another leading public intellectual romanticises Bhutan and its goal of gross national happiness.

Ecological footprints – a good idea gone bad, whatsupwiththat, by Willis Eschenbach.

We’re not wreckers. We just think the Spirit Level is bad social science, Guardian, by Peter Saunders and Christopher Snowdon.

Reasons for food price war thin on the ground, Fund Strategy, by Will Jackson. An interview with Robert Paarlberg, the author of food Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press).