Juggling Dynamite

Thirty years into my own marriage and 22 years as a parent, I thought this talk made some valid points.  Wishing you happy holidays.

Choosing to marry and share your life with someone is one of the most important decisions you can make in life. But with divorce rates approaching fifty percent in some parts of the world, it’s clear we could use some help picking a partner. In an actionable, eye-opening talk, psychiatrist George Blair-West shares three keys to preventing divorce — and spotting potential problems while you’re still dating.  Here is a direct video link.

This segment should be called “why is it hard to buy electric vehicles”.  The technology is superior to internal combustion engines (ICE) and at least 80% cheaper to run.  Moving present policy incentives from antiquated old tech to electric vehicles and renewable energy has an important role to play in making a needed transition here.  In a world of falling sales and weak demand, EVs and their infrastructure are an obvious growth area.  Best to skate where the puck is going.

Or as former Bank of Canada and outgoing Bank of England head Mark Carney warned in July: “The most important thing is to move capital from where it is today to where it needs to be tomorrow. Companies that don’t adapt – including companies in the financial system – will go bankrupt without question.”

The long-standing myths about electric vehicles one reason they aren’t everywhere and subject to months-long waits. David Common looks at why and some incentives that could boost supply of electric vehicles. Here is a direct video link.

As chairman of the Financial Stability Board from 2011 to 2018, former Bank of Canada head Mark Carney led escalating requirements for companies to include detailed climate change-related disclosures in their financial reporting to enable better business and investment decisions. Leaving the Bank of England in January, Carney is continuing the push for financial accounting reforms in a new role as the UN special envoy on climate action, as he explained on December 1st at the opening of the COP 25 climate change conference in Madrid:

“This provides a platform to bring the risks from climate change and the opportunities from the transition to a net-zero economy into the heart of financial decision-making.”

Growing up in the Canadian north, Carney has a unique understanding of Canada’s economy and vulnerability in this transition, and he pulls no punches on the business case urgency at hand, explaining in a speech last July:

“The most important thing is to move capital from where it is today to where it needs to be tomorrow.  Companies that don’t adapt – including companies in the financial system – will go bankrupt without question.”

Carney has international stature and his new UN role continues that, but it’s his Canadian roots and insider knowledge of financial markets that make him such an important resource for Canada.  Not to help maintain the status quo, but to help us manage the massive evolution urgently needed in our economy, public and private policies.  See The challenges facing former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney:

He is in a position to make a forthright case for a far-sighted, planned transition away from fossil fuels, including a strategy to support laid-off Alberta oil-patch workers as they shift to new livelihoods.