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One of the things I like about Marginal Revolution is that it frequently contains "Well-Duh" arguments that you have for some reason, never thought of before.

Case in point this The Economist quotation:

Perhaps the most eminent critic of organic farming is Norman Borlaug, the
father of the “green revolution”, winner of the Nobel peace prize and an
outspoken advocate of the use of synthetic fertilisers to increase crop
yields. He claims the idea that organic farming is better for the
environment is “ridiculous” because organic farming produces lower yields and
therefore requires more land under cultivation to produce the same amount of
food. Thanks to synthetic fertilisers, Mr Borlaug points out, global
cereal production tripled between 1950 and 2000, but the amount of land used
increased by only 10%. Using traditional techniques such as crop rotation,
compost and manure to supply the soil with nitrogen and other minerals would
have required a tripling of the area under cultivation. The more
intensively you farm, Mr Borlaug contends, the more room you have left for
rainforest.

It is a good point, and I have, for some reason never heard it made before. I'm going to run it by some environmentalist friends to see if any holes can be poked.

On another note the new link (North Eastern Delight) is the estimable Luke, who

1) is a terribly smart guy

2)lives in Sunderland

3) has a bit of knack with the digital camera

4) was one of the Ziboys, toughing it out in a town that was considered polluted even by Chinese standards

5) has quite the dorky stockpile of music knowledge, although he seems to refrain from blogging that

6) is quite capable, when prodded, of committing peace time atrocities with a buffet platter of shrimp. Zenmeyang, ge menr?

Lastly, my public note to Johnny Logic, I've started posting again. Now it's your turn.