All Entries in the "Economics" Category
Where is the green worker?
Perhaps the most pernicious and pervasive gimmick of recent years is that of “green growth.” “We need not renounce our worldly goods,” we are told, “green is also good for business and millions of jobs will be created by putting technology at the service of a better environment.”
Tremendous news: but where are the jobs and [...]
Create Prosperity – Not Hypocrisy
by Einar Du Rietz
Investing your money and savings for your pension in funds that advertise themselves as more “ethical” than others? Maybe it’s time to think again.
Environmental watchdogs are increasingly pointing out funds as dubious, because of investments in different energy companies. In a recent – undercover – study (Swedish) non of the four checked [...]
Allègre con brio: last stance at the OK Corral
Former government minister Claude Allègre is once more to be hailed for fighting the “consensus”, as his recent book is high on the best-seller lists.
Yes, discussion is possible; no, scientific progress is not a matter of international voting to find the truth. (This would be comparable to letting the dictatorship countries vote on human [...]
I Didn’t Do It I Was Not Even There
by Einar Du Rietz
On March 21, incidentally my birthday, a friend from Iceland called me and said she had organized some fireworks for me. What a pity she could not set off the second eruption one week ago. With all airline traffic closed down in most of Europe, as today, the Climate conference in Bonn would have been more [...]
For Lucy (should I find her)
The recent decision by the French government to scrap the CO2 tax was welcome news: it was from the outset mostly a complicated design to satisfy two major interests, quite removed from any environmental concern.
Happy Easter, Mr President
by Einar Du Rietz
The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez is a most innovative man. With his peculiar combination of home made socialism, populist nationalism and impulsive despotism, you never can tell what the next brilliant idea will be.
He decided to change his country’s time zone with half an hour, presumably just for fun. He managed [...]
Allègre vivace!
Claude Allègre is a courageous man, besides being a former government minister and a scientist. And unlike most public figures in France, he is not afraid to speak his mind on the climate issue.
His new book, L’imposture climatique is a more than welcome diatribe against the ecologically correct and constructivist establishment.
Don’t Get Mad About the Weather – Get Even
by Einar Du Rietz
Two of the more intriguing accusations I got thrown at me in Copenhagen were: “Climate Hater” and “Weather Denier”.
Funny, but strange. I’m convinced that cursing along, hating the ever changing climate is about as constructive as trying to steer a sailing boat by shouting orders to the winds. Either one would just [...]
You ain’t seen nothin yet
If you thought that the Copenhagen jamboree moderated the ambient hysteria, the following items may reassure you that worse is yet to come.
JACOB ARFWEDSON (Paris)
According to researchers at King’s College (London) future natural disasters are bound to increase strongly stress levels and anxiety among our fellow citizens. The authors did demand that these concerns be [...]
Activists without concern: how to use the climate for your own purposes
As Noël Coward put it in a song, “Why do the wrong people travel?” It should not come as a surprise, yet the cheerful way in which some groups exploit international events to hijack the agenda is quite astounding (just imagine for a second free-market groups doing the same thing, and the reaction that would [...]
Pascal’s Wager, Gore’s Wages
“- Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?
- Supposing it didn’t, said Pooh after careful thought.”
(The House at Pooh Corner)
The Economist in its special report argued that the world needs a new climate treaty as an “insurance policy against a catastrophe that may never happen”. A curious statement, especially in [...]
Monsanto, mon amour
In truth, there is no such thing as absolute safety; but this fundamental human need may explain the excessive search for certainty in particular as the world seems awash with a constant flow of disconcerting events.
It seems obvious then to assume that risk is the opposite of safety. But it isn’t: as inaction also entails [...]
The Hypocritical Oath – Save Yourself – Blame the Media
The leading energy company Vattenfall and it’s owner has been under attack recently. Einar Du Rietz tries to sort out the mess.
One of the largest energy companies in Europe, Swedish state owned Vattenfall has come under heavy media attack recently, and so has the responsible minister for industry, Maud Olofsson. The main reason is [...]
Reversing the burden of spoof
by Jacob Arfwedson
One of the less endearing features of government supporters is their general disdain for democracy when eventually popular vote goes against their designs. The legitimacy of consent suddenly becomes irrelevant and a downright nuisance. In Europe, we experienced this in the constitutional negotiations: first with the Maastricht Treaty, and more recently with [...]
It’s Real Money – Your Money
By Einar Du Rietz
Maybe because most other topics seem to be covered and debated intensely in the media, finally some focus now start to fall upon the costs. The estimated and real costs for what the politicians will discuss in Copenhagen. And if media does this, chances are the general public will start to realize that [...]
