One of the better discussions of the uncertainty about global warming, its implications, and the common misinterpretations of it, deliberate and otherwise:
Uncertainty cuts both ways
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Land Clearances, 21st Century Style
The film Our Generation, currently being launched around Australia, gives voice to the people targeted by the Northern Territory Intervention. The Intervention, begun by Prime Minister John Howard and continued by Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, has resulted in little discernible benefit to indigenous people. It is arguably doing substantial harm, it has stigmatised and demonised people on the basis of race, it is blatantly violating the human rights and dignity of the people and is deeply resented by them.
So much may be fairly widely, if vaguely, appreciated. What was less obvious to me, until I saw the film, was the pattern in the political sallies that preceeded and accompany the Intervention.
Markets versus “Capitalism”
[I have been focussing on developing some models of how money works, after the manner of Steve Keen in The Roving Cavaliers of Debt. Until I get through that, here’s a vignette.]
One John Poole has been conducting a personal defence of “capitalism” in the Letters section of the Canberra Times. His argument is basically that markets always sort things out, that a system with markets is, necessarily, “capitalism”, and that anyone who disagrees is a socialist. Here is my own letter in response.
Gillard Doesn’t Get Global Warming
Newly-installed minority Prime Minister Julia Gillard doesn’t get global warming.
Her chosen minister for “Climate Change” – the sanitised term for global warming – is Greg Combet, a former coal engineer, union official and MP with coal workers in his NSW electorate. He said in an interview with The Australian newspaper, referring to employees of the coal industry,
“I’ve got a responsibility to support those people’s jobs. The coal industry is a very vibrant industry with a strong future. What you’ve got to do is look to how we can achieve in the longer term things like carbon capture and storage for coal-fired power stations.”
So there it is. The Gillard government will continue the fantasy that Australia can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while preserving the coal industry.
Give me feedback
I have two manuscripts in the works. See the image in the left column, or the menu tag Books and Downloads at the top of the site.
Also you will notice I have changed the visual Theme of the site, and rejigged some things. Is it readable, pleasant, clear?
Australian Election: Democracy’s Problems Run Deeper Than Spin
[Published by On Line Opinion, 2 Sept.]
The big winners in this election are the Greens and Informal. The informal vote rose by more than the Liberal vote, and between a fifth and a quarter of first preferences (counting informals) did not go to the major parties. Clearly the message from many voters to the major parties is a pox on both your houses.
The reasons for this alienation run much deeper than deposed leaders, poor communication, shallow spin, backroom boys, misleading and mendacious claims and stilted performances. These are all symptomatic, but the real problems are the ossification, lack of principle and systemic corruption of both major parties.
Evidence firms: we are causing dangerous global warming
[Published by On Line Opinion, 24 August.]
As the national election campaign approaches its climax, with global warming all but ignored by the major parties, the Australian Academy of Sciences has issued a report summarising the current state of climate change science. Its conclusions are clear and concerning. Global warming continues to occur, and the evidence is now strong that human emissions of greenhouse gases are the main cause. The evidence supporting supporting climate sceptics is melting like the Arctic snow.
The Nature of the Beast (Post)
[This post is addressed to fringe economists and others who have broken with ever-more dysfunctional mainstream neoclassical economics, but who still search for a replacement paradigm.]
[2 Aug: Posted on Real-World Economics Review Blog.]
The need for a new conception of economics is widely acknowledged in the wake of the global financial crisis[1], at least outside of diehard neoclassical circles. However a common perception seems to be that no adequate and coherent general conception is in sight, though many loosely related or unrelated heterodoxies vie for attention, as noted by the Editor of Real World Economic Review blog. I argue here that when the subject is approached from the point of view of dynamical systems a broad new framework becomes evident. Furthermore, once the nature of the beast is identified, some fundamental conclusions can immediately be drawn.
“Global Cooling” Over, Hottest Year to Date So Far
[Updated 21 July 10.] One of the most frequently and loudly repeated claims of climate sceptics is that the Earth has cooled since 1998. What the data have actually been showing is a pause similar to pauses in the 1980s and 1990s. The likely cause of the recent pause has been the El-Niño-La-Niña cycle. So far 2010 has been the hottest year on record, so the pause is over. Let’s see if false claims of global cooling also cease.
The Real Obstacles to Greenhouse Action
[A related article was posted on On Line Opinion 2 Aug 2010.]
The smoke screen obscuring the real obstacles to reducing Australias greenhouse gas emissions is unlikely to be dissipated by the imminent election campaign, whatever the global warming policies the Gillard Government.
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