Climate policy has almost nothing to do anymore with environmental protection, says the German economist and IPCC official Ottmar Edenhofer. The next world climate summit in Cancun is actually an economy summit during which the distribution of the world’s resources will be negotiated. – Ottmar Edenhofer
Ottmar Edenhofer is the co-chair of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Working Group III.
The recession has hit jobs hard. With no knowledge of policy, just looking at this chart shows that we will have high unemployment for quite some time.
Source: CR4RE.COM
From an historic prospective…this is the deepest recession and the recovery is the flattest. At this point in most recessions (even the deep ones), the economy has recovered the lost jobs. Only two recessions had job losses extending 12 months past the lowest point and those recessions had very shallow job loss curves, never dipping below 2%.
This recession is unique (in a bad way) in the fact that it has a steep downward curve followed by a flat recovery.
I have led a decent live. I have kept fit and stayed healthy. I have put away money for my kid’s college education. I have not led a life of materialistic indulgence. I purchased a home that I could afford and I pay the mortgage. I buy a “new” vehicle (only new to me) once ever 10 to 12 years. I have stayed relatively debt free.
Where has this led me?
The Fed has monetized the debt. Sudden and extreme inflation seem like a very real danger. I made a wise investment decision and pulled my money out of equities before the housing market crashed. That money was converted to cash and it now is in jeopardy due to millions of other Americans, union thugs and politicians who could not live within their budgets. My savings could be reduced to a pittance if inflation kicks in (as I suspect it will).
The government is all-in when it comes to student loans. The flood of money has made tuition unattainable for most without a loan…and you can only get that loan from the government. My step-father paid for my college and I was not saddled with debt upon graduation. I hoped to do the same for my children, but that hope seems to be fading fast.
The government has regulated the health insurance industry to the point that health insurance is outrageously expensive. With the mandate that you can not be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition, those with good intentions have fundamentally changed “health insurance” to something else. It has become a pool were we all share expenses. Making healthy choices will not reduce my medical insurance because medical insurance no longer exists. The cost of shared health care threatens my ability to save money in the future.
I have supported politicians who claimed to be conservative. I volunteer to support candidates at election time and I have been elected as a minor minion in the Republican party. Some candidates have turned out to be bitter disappointments. Others have been ineffective. Scandal, broken promise and an un-engaged population have let the high-tax, anti-freedom people into the Washington barn. My small efforts have been in vane. Washington now mandates what I can eat, what kind of light bulbs I have and what I drive…and they are not done. The latest election offers some hope for the future, but so much liberty has been lost. I don’t even know if Americans understand what liberty means anymore.
The struggles between good and evil, between right and left, between individuals and the common purpose will never end. It just seems like I have chosen a moral path my whole life and yet I must am falling behind in a tide that is dragging me into a see of national (collective) debt and lost liberty.
A Republican has won a close election in Illinois.
George Soros says that China has a better functioning government than the United States.
Today China has not only a more vigorous economy, but actually a better functioning government than the United States
Ewww…is this a slap in President Obama’s face?
Let’s think about this for a second.
So what does George Soros find so appealing about China?
What has the tea party done for the Republicans? They have helped to move them away from the label of “pro-business” to “pro-market”…the former not being very desirable to most Americans.
James Pethokoukis of the Wall Street Journal says that Wall Street should fear the pro-market populism being expressed by Sarah Palin.
Palinomics, embryonic as it is, seems to be rooted in “free-market populism,” a version of conservative thinking that is pro-market rather than pro-business. It says the role of government is to help markets function more fairly and efficiently for everyone, encouraging competition and “creative destruction” (which Palin specifically mentioned in her book). Pro-business policies, by contrast, can end up subsidizing favored companies, raising barriers to entry and otherwise entrenching the status quo…read more
You can count me in Sarah Palin’s camp on this issue.
Electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids just got some bad public relations from a garage fire a Neil Young’s.
The three-alarm blaze that caused $1.1 million in damage to a warehouse filled with rock legend Neil Young’s music equipment and memorabilia appears to have started in a one-of-a-kind hybrid car stored at the site, a fire official said Monday…read more
Charles Rangel was found to be in violations of 12 out the 13 ethics charges brought against him. I hope they give him harsher treatment than they did to Tim Geitner. I bet Timmy’s slap on the hand stung for a full minute.
What happens when the cult of personality falls apart for someone who places great importance on his own self.
His publisher thought he was writing about race relations. His employer (the University of Chicago) thought he was writing about voting rights law. But Obama seems to have never seriously considered either subject. Instead, he decided that his subject would be himself. The 32-year-old was writing a memoir.
I have written about the dangers of sequestering CO2 before. Now there is a new warning from a scientist a Duke University. Slow leaks from CO2 pumped into the ground could effect the water we drink.
After a year’s exposure to the CO2, analysis of the samples showed that “there are a number of potential sites where CO2 leaks drive contaminants up tenfold or more, in some cases to levels above the maximum contaminant loads set by the EPA for potable water…read mor
Those who are judged in the market place of ideas are hurting.
Those who take from others and produce nothing are doing just fine.
Source: carpediem.com
Listen to this guy. I guess this passes for either entertainment or intelligence on the left. I really can’t tell which one.
He says the right wants the government to become insolvent. The Tea Party backers have been complaining about the debt since the stimulus passed, yet Mike Who-ever-the-hell-this-guy-is thinks we want the government to go bankrupt.
Our reason is simply racism (eyes rolling). Is that all they have? Who gave this guy a radio show? Does anyone even listen to him?
You might think Google is so big and powerful that they can’t be touched, but Google didn’t even exist 20 years ago. They rose to the top of the search engine market and raked in billions. Who could possibly tough them now?
Facebook!
Would a monopoly do this:
Google Offers Staff Engineer $3.5 Million To Turn Down Facebook Offer…read more
The market (which is not a free market) is still adjusting.
National home prices fell 5% for the three months ending in October…read more
Google has honored our veterans today with a special graphic. This has not always been the case with them. We should applaud them for doing the right thing even if they had to be shamed into it.
Now there are only about 999,999 problems to go.
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