Juggling Dynamite

Nicholas Stern was commissioned to head the Stern Review on The Economics of Climate Change in 2006 (here is the report).  The conclusions urged the world to take immediate action and we are far behind in implementing the recommendations made. While the Stern Commission was criticized for being alarmist in its assessments in 2006, ironically they were too conservative:  climate impacts have compounded faster than predicted.  Fortunately technological advancements are also moving faster than most thought possible, and the ‘good growth’ prospects for transitioning the world to sustainable systems is too compelling for thinking people to deny.

Nicholas Stern chair at LSE Grantham Research Institute, discusses the state of the Paris agreement on climate change and the importance of the United States staying in the agreement. Here is a direct video link.

The 2008 debt crisis continues to plague the world economy. The next wave is likely to break along the fault lines of highly levered households in China, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and others. Collectively these countries represent the economic weight of the US.  As in 2008, the cash crunch will be contagious.

Kingston University Economics Professor Steve Keen discusses the shortfalls of the European Union, why globalization must fail, and warns of major economies at risk of crisis. He speaks on “Bloomberg Surveillance. Here is a direct video link.

Present political antics in the Trump cabinet remind of the childhood chant, “I am rubber you are glue, words bounce off me and stick to you.”  The result is a cartoon-like spectacle of nut jobs running the asylum.  Time for adults to step in and enforce some rules here.  The only hope is to demand transparency and public hearings of all evidence.  Everyone sane, knows this.  Allowing figureheads to keep hiding information and quashing due process is anarchy.  Dear America, please get a grip.  The world is watching.  See After Comey, Justice must be served:

Firing Comey without recognizing the obvious conflict-of-interest inherent in the decision reflects Trump’s modus operandi: refusing to release his tax returns, refusing to sufficiently distance himself from his business interests, refusing to rein in family members who are profiting from the Trump name and connections. When elected officials refuse to be bound by the ethical practices and norms that we have come to expect of them, it’s up to the public — and their representatives — to hold them accountable. This is only the beginning.