President Obama’s plea for reduced dependence on foreign oil last week was, of course, nicely timed in light of Libya and $4 gasoline. Yet, while much of the (responsible) criticism of the speech focused on the of practicality of the White House’s targeted reductions in imports, Daniel Ahn, an economist at Louis Capital Markets and a new adjunct fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, wonders whether reduced dependence really matters much in a global market. As he notes, even Norway, which is self-sufficient in energy, feels the shocks of oil price volatility.
|
|||||
Independence Chimera |
Professor Dieter Helm (Oxford) is a very fine fly fisherman, and an even better economist. If you haven’t done so, take a look at his new book “The Carbon Crunch: How We Are Getting Climate Change Wrong — and How to Fix It” for a bit of unconventional wisdom. He argues that politicians and the general public have not shown any real interest in addressing climate change. Helm argues that places like Europe should focus on setting a price for carbon that would cover consumption (and not just production), and that fracking could be a good “bridge” technology for reducing consumption of coal. The book is readable and insightful for those interested in the inside track on climate policy. 
   |
||||
|
Copyright © 2013 regulation2point0 - All Rights Reserved |
|||||
