economics

Prosperity without growth

by Bryan Walker April 29, 2010

I paused for a while wondering whether a review of a book on sustainable economics had a place in a website devoted to climate change. But only briefly. One can’t worry about climate change for long without considering the economies which have given rise to it and wondering how they will survive under the low-carbon [...]

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Muddled economics ignore reality

by Bryan Walker November 4, 2009

“The analysis of the NZIER in their latest report is muddled and superficial” Exactly. I was relieved to see this response from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Jan Wright, to the report the NZ Institute for Economic Research has just published on sustainable development priorities. The report’s findings on climate change are a [...]

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Lies, damned lies, and the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern)

by Gareth August 12, 2009

Amongst the many responses to the 2020 emissions “target range” at Scoop I stumbled upon this cracker from Alasdair Thompson, chief executive of the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern). It’s such a blatant misuse of statistics that I can’t let it pass unnoticed. Thompson describes the modest target as… …a challenge for New Zealand is [...]

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Right and wrong

by Gareth February 23, 2009

Estimating the economic impact of climate change and climate policy is controversial — not least in New Zealand, where some economists have been happy to generate specious forecasts to serve political purposes — so it’s a relief to read an article about climate change by a leading NZ economist that gets the issue “right”. Infometrics [...]

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Serendipity-doo-dah

by Gareth February 22, 2009

I get emails from several Oxfords, but this week’s best came from the nearest and contained a link to “a lecture you’ll find worth looking at — coffee/keyboard interface warning.” The warning was heeded and needed. The lecture, by Dmitry Orlov, given to the Long Now Foundation in San Francisco on Feb 13 as a [...]

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Unlike markets, climate won’t bounce back soon

by Gareth December 9, 2008

It’s my pleasure to welcome another guest writer to Hot Topic — Peter Barrett, professor of geology at Victoria University, deputy director of the Climate Change Research Institute and former director of VUW’s Antarctic Research Centre. He is also convener of the ANDRILL science advisory panel. Last week, the Dominion Post carried this challenging article [...]

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Epistles, too dippy

by Gareth November 14, 2008

From the wilder shores of crankdom (mainly the “dissenting voices” side of Climate “Debate” Daily ), I offer a few choice selections of current thinking on the sceptic front to brighten (or dampen) your weekend. From the perceptive political analysis of Swindler Martin Durkin to the verbosity of a “potty peer”, all agree on one [...]

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Things are gonna change (the morning after)

by Gareth November 10, 2008

On the morning after I was more interested in the rugby than agonising over the entrails of Saturday night’s election result, but today it’s worth traversing what new Zealand’s new political landscape might bring for climate policy. For the wider picture, I recommend Russell Brown’s take at Hard News and Gordon Campbell’s at Scoop; they [...]

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For the benefit of mankind

by Gareth October 26, 2008

Last weekend I drew attention to Monbiot’s musings on financial and ecological crises. This weekend it’s ecological economist Herman Daly explaining in simple terms why economic growth has become uneconomic growth: we’re getting less wealth and more illth (hat tip: Things Break). That leads nicely to New Scientist’s special issue on The Folly of Growth [...]

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Take the money and run

by Gareth October 12, 2008

A little Sunday education: John Bird and John Fortune explain the background to the global financial crisis. While some in Europe argue that carbon targets should be relaxed, others point out that natural losses dwarf the financial, and Mark Lynas argues that any New Deal should be green. [Hat tip: Scoop Review of Books] [Title [...]

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