Utopia, you are standing in it!

Last month Eric Basmajian published “Why Demographics Matter More Than Anything (For The Long Term)” on the financial site Seeking Alpha. He predicts that that the developed world plus China face a future of low economic growth (regardless of policy machinations) due simply to demographics. His key points:

Demographics are the most important factor for long-term analysis.

The young and old age cohorts negatively impact economic growth.

The prime-age population (25-64) drives the bulk of economic activity.

The world’s major economies are suffering from lower population growth and an older population.

Over the long run, the world’s major economies will have worse economic growth, which will negatively impact pro-cyclical asset prices (like stocks).

I will paste in some of his supporting charts. First, the labor force is more or less proportional to the 25-64 age cohort (U.S. data shown) :

…and GDP growth trends with labor force growth:

If climate change is a problem, then wind turbines and solar panels aren’t a solution: heavily subsidised and unreliable wind and solar are an economic and environmental disaster.

When climate alarmists managed to hijack energy (and with it economic) policy it was a case of lunatics taking over the asylum. In every breath, they exhort us that immediate action must be taken to prevent runaway climate change. Where “action” means – and only ever means – more (indeed endless) subsidies for wind turbines and solar panels to generate chaotically intermittent electricity at exorbitant cost.

In the veritable blink of an eye, hysterical claims about cataclysmic global warming and imminent catastrophe managed to capture the imagination of the anxious, fretful and foolish. Sadly, while a few sought to throw a bucket on the more ludicrous claims made by furtive doomsdayers, plenty of otherwise sensible characters went along with the herd.

STT…

Edward VII (Albert Edward; November 9, 1841 – May 6, 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from January 22, 1901 until his death in 1910.

The eldest son of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and nicknamed “Bertie”, Edward was related to royalty throughout Europe. He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years.

During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes, but despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince…

Olivia Newton-John has died:

Born in Cambridge in 1948, Newton-John and her two siblings – the grandchildren of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Max Born – moved to Australia with their parents when she was just 5. It was there that she won a trip to London on television talent contest. The appearance would lead to numerous spots on local Australian programs before she redeemed her prize and traveled back to the U.K.

In London, Newton-John began touring as one-half of Pat & Olivia – her act with Pat Farrar. By 1971 though, Newton-John’s solo career had kicked off. Two albums – If Not For You and Olivia – followed in quick succession, before 1973’s Let Me Be There certified her star status in the U.K. and the U.S. The title track won Newton-John her first Grammy, for best female country vocal performance.

The next year, Newton-John collected two more Grammys…

One of the foundational principles of the Holy Roman Empire is that the Emperor was the preeminent Monarch throughout Europe and that the Empire itself was a genuine extension of the ancient Roman Empire as proclaimed by the Roman Catholic popes.

Not only did the Holy Roman Emperors hold to the contention that they were the preeminent Monarch throughout Europe, they firmly asserted that they were the only Emperor’s entitled to hold the title of Emperor within Europe.

The problem with this view was the fact that throughout the history of the Empire other Emperors began to rise within Europe. Eventually they were formally recognized as Emperors by the Holy Roman Empire. The first was in 1606 when Sultan Ahmed I was recognized as Emperor in the Peace of Zsitvatörök which concluded a long war with Austria.

When Czar Peter I the Great of Russia was created Emperor…

August 05,2022

Denmark’s government is being criticised for its plans to eradicate disadvantaged neighbourhoods. A set of laws, controversially called the ‘ghetto package’, was introduced in 2018. It aims to transform areas with high rates of crime and unemployment. But rights groups say immigrant communities are being unfairly singled out. Denmark has been tightening its rules for immigrants and asylum seekers, including revoking the resident permits of some Syrian refugees. But are accusations of racism justified?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom Guests: Muhammad Aslam – Chairman, Mjolnerparken Residents’ Association. Fatma Tounsi – Co-founder of Almen Modstand, an organisation campaigning against the ‘anti-ghetto laws’.

Bill Barr’s latest stop on his redemption tour as he seeks to justify himself. Not impressed by Peter Robinson in this episode. Some elements of self justification were nauseating.

Update: see this re Dana Milbank article in WaPo debunking Barr

Recorded May 17, 2022

William P. Barr is one of only two people to have served as attorney general of the United States under two presidents and the only one to have done it in two different centuries (under George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993 and under Donald Trump from 2019 to 2020). In his new book, One Damn Thing after Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General, Barr goes into great detail about the chaos, the troubles, and the triumph that occurred during the time of his service under President Trump. This wide-ranging interview covers Russiagate, the COVID outbreak, civil unrest, the impeachment, and the 2020 election…

The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire occurred de facto on August 6, 1806, when the last Holy Roman Emperor, Franz II of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, abdicated his title and released all imperial states and officials from their oaths and obligations to the empire.

Since the Middle Ages, the Holy Roman Empire had been recognized by Western Europeans as the legitimate continuation of the ancient Roman Empire due to its emperors having been proclaimed as Roman emperors by the papacy. Through this Roman legacy, the Holy Roman Emperors claimed to be universal monarchs whose jurisdiction extended beyond their empire’s formal borders to all of Christian Europe and beyond.

The decline of the Holy Roman Empire was a long and drawn-out process lasting centuries. The formation of the first modern sovereign territorial states in the 16th and 17th centuries, which brought with it the idea that jurisdiction corresponded to actual…

During July we welcomed year 12 student Thomas O’Donoghue to the History of Parliament office, to carry out a work experience placement with our research and outreach teams. During his time, Thomas worked with Dr Robin Eagles, editor of our Lords 1715-1790 project, to explore an attempt in 1741 to topple Sir Robert Walpole from power.Here Thomas writes about the impact of two key speeches given in the Houseduring this year…

On 13 February 1741, Sir Robert Walpole’s enemies made their most daring assault on the man who had dominated British politics for two decades: they proposed a motion in the House of Lords calling for a “Humble Address” to King George II. This address suggested that Walpole should be removed “from His Majesty’s Presence and Councils for ever.” While this motion was ultimately handily defeated – sources agree it was by at least 40 votes – it…

Plenty start out as fans of wind and solar power and turn against it, but it’s hard to find opponents who later become supporters.

Present the facts to reasonable people, and they’ll want to know how the wind and solar scam got started in the first place and why it hasn’t been stopped in its tracks already?

On that score, there has been plenty of ‘road to Damascus conversions’ amongst environmentalists, originally hoodwinked by the allure of energy sources designed to run on nothing but sunshine and breezes, and meant to save the planet from every possible threat, not least a (naturally) changing climate.

Michael Shellenberger – who started out as a passionate eco-warrior – has since become one of the wind and solar scam’s loudest critics, and the most forceful advocate for nuclear power, there is. He has slammed intermittent renewables as worse than useless – and has gone…

Since I went to the archives for a video yesterday, let’s do the same thing today. Here’s my 2009 video about the close link between the size of government and the level of corruption.

I’m recycling this video because President Biden and his allies in Congress are poised to enact a revised version of the “Build Back Better” plan to expand the burden of government.

The legislation has all sorts of awful provisions, such as shoveling more money at a corrupt IRS, hurting jobs with higher taxes on “book income,” price controls on prescription drugs, and green-energy pork.

But today’s column will focus on process rather than policy.

To be more specific, I want to emphasize the video’s message about bigger government leading to more corruption.

And I’m going to cite an unexpected source – a left-leaning news outlet – to make my point.

In an article