Turbine country versus fracking country
31 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, law and economics, property rights Tags: Big Wind, cracking, green hypocrisy, visual pollution, wind power
It’s a worry when James Hansen is talking sense on energy policy
30 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of media and culture, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: Big Solar, green rent seeking, James Hansen, renewable energy, solar energy, solar power
James Hansen just totally destroyed Hillary Clinton's climate plan. goo.gl/N8n9Cz http://t.co/ef8bElDBBn—
Steve Milloy (@JunkScience) July 29, 2015
Jane Kelsey opposes handcuffs on the democratic choices of future governments! Does she oppose labour and environmental standards in trade agreements too?
30 Jul 2015 6 Comments
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economics of regulation, environmental economics, health economics, industrial organisation, international economic law, international economics, International law, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice Tags: climate treaties, copyrights, customs unions, environmental standards, free trade agreements, free trade zones, intellectual property law, ISDS, Jane Kelsey, Labour standards, Left-wing hypocrisy, neocolonialism, patents, preferential trading agreeents, regional trade agreements, regulatory harmonisation, TPA, TPPA, WTO
Jane Kelsey in a television interview said she opposes the reductions in sovereignty in trade agreements that result from investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions because they limit the democratic choices of future governments.
If so, she must oppose environmental and labour standards in trade agreements and, more importantly, binding the hands of future governments with climate treaties. All international treaties are about restrictions on sovereignty.
Environmental and labour clauses in trade agreements and climate treaties all limit the powers of governments to legislate on environmental and employment law in accordance with the will of the people as expressed in the most recent election and change of government. Power to the people.
https://twitter.com/rorymccourt/status/625540621457960960
Jane Kelsey would do better focusing on those parts of the TPPA deal that lowers the net value of the deal such as those extending the term of patents over the drugs. All international treaties are about trade-offs.
The most important reason for focusing on intellectual property law in trade agreements is Kelsey is likely to actually win people over that are not on the far left, including many on the right of politics over to her cause. Kelsey is too busy rounding up the usual suspects.
Ranting about big corporate conspiracies and the investor state dispute settlement clauses puts people off.
As copyright duration's at play in #TPPA, a reminder of the costs when copyright's too long.
offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.co.nz/2014/03/orphan… http://t.co/tOtihpDmSU—
Eric Crampton (@EricCrampton) July 29, 2015
These gusts of paranoia lose support on issues where there is common ground to be suspicious about the growing scope of trade agreements and their reach behind borders.
Regulatory harmonisation is advisable only when there are compelling reasons such as the prevention of hazards or technical compatibility of products – do the plugs fit into each other? As Sykes argues:
as a normative matter, harmonization is inferior to a legal system that tolerates regulatory differences subject to legal constraints, and that relies on mutual recognition where appropriate (the exception to this claim being matters of technical compatibility between products).
Related, as a positive manner, harmonization will often lack any political constituency and thus instances of true harmonization will be rare.
#TPPA The first Paul Krugman on trade agreements that level the playing field behind the border
29 Jul 2015 2 Comments
The essence of the antiscience Left
26 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, energy economics, environmental economics, health economics Tags: anti-GMOs movement, anti-vaccination movement, antimarket bias, antiscience left, cranks, GMOs, Leftover Left, precautionary principle, quackery
Murray Rothbard on the falling popularity of Pope Francis
25 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, constitutional political economy, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of regulation, economics of religion, energy economics, environmental economics, income redistribution, industrial organisation, international economics, Murray Rothbard, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking, survivor principle Tags: antiforeign bias, antimarket bias, Catholic social thought, climate alarmism, expressive voting, global warming, makework bias, Pope Francis, rational ignorance, rational irrationality, voter demographics
Call off the bee-pocalypse: U.S. honeybee colonies hit a 20-year high
24 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in economic history, economics of media and culture, environmental economics, health economics Tags: agricultural economics, bees, doomsday prophets, environmental scare tactics, environmental scares
The price of 100% wind power in Denmark
24 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, politics - Australia, politics - New Zealand Tags: at nuclear power, Big Wind, Denmark, renewable energy
#ISDS is saving the planet from global warming!
22 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming Tags: carbon emissions, Euroland, expressive voting, Germany, global warming, investor state dispute settlement, nuclear energy, tradeoffs
Do environmentalists oppose all energy subsidies?
22 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in applied welfare economics, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: antimarket bias, Big Solar, Big Wind, expressive voting, green rent seeking, rational ignorance, rational irrationality, renewable energy, solar power, wind power
There are 620 million people in Africa without electricity
22 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, growth disasters, growth miracles Tags: Africa, climate alarmists, energy poverty, extreme poverty, global poverty, global warming
There are 620 million people in Africa without electricity. Here's where they live. vox.com/2014/10/13/697… (via @iea) http://t.co/bhK5CVmtpZ—
Vox Maps (@VoxMaps) June 09, 2015
Thomas Macaulay (1830) on the green movement
19 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, economics of media and culture, environmental economics, environmentalism, growth disasters, growth miracles Tags: doomsday prophecies, doomsday prophets, Leftover Left, Thomas Macaulay
“…we see nothing but improvement behind us [yet] expect nothing but deterioration before us” buff.ly/1HscRBL http://t.co/cKILhkKWvr—
HumanProgress.org (@humanprogress) June 30, 2015
World’s top climate scientists confess: Global warming just 1/4 what we thought – and computers got the effects of greenhouse gases wrong
18 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in environmental economics, global warming Tags: climate alarmism, forecasting errors, global warming
Why is Danish electric power more expensive than anywhere else?
17 Jul 2015 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming Tags: Big Wind, climate alarmists, Denmark, expressive voting, green rent seeking, power prices, rational ignorance, rational irrationality, renewable energy, The pretence to knowledge, wind power
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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