Most people in Regina assume they’ll be able to park a vehicle, or two, or three, for free outside of their home. Street parking is technically 24 hours in most residential neighbourhoods away from downtown and the university. Downtown is free two hour parking on Saturdays at meters, and the UofR is free on weekends […]

It’s no secret that money rules our lives.

I think what we’re now seeing is really the final and most ruthless stage of the integration of art and creativity into the capitalist market or, in other words, the final stages of art’s subordination to money.

But I think that almost all other ways of justifying art’s value are crumbling. When art was an elite commodity, say in the 19th century, artists and arts advocates used to be able to express art’s value in terms of some sort of transcendent humanism: art was the key to enlightenment, to compassion and sympathy, (Read more…)

The Sask Party is putting all of the province’s health related laundry into one laundry basket, in Regina. If you don’t know Saskatchewan geography, this borders on insanity. We’re going to be trucking bed sheets 1000km round trip in some cases. Besides costing jobs for the existing employees, a single laundry plant failure in the […]

Our energy system is evolving due to depletion of cheap fossil fuels and the need for carbon emission constraints. Government and business are under pressure to tackle the energy challenges of rising energy costs, energy security, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We witness rapid changes across countries as this evolution takes place, steered both by markets (investment decisions) and government (policy decisions).

It is essential for energy professionals to stay well informed with the latest insights in this evolving world. For this reason, Euan Mearns of The Oil Drum, myself and several others, are organizing the first three-day Global Energy Systems conference, which will take place in Edinburgh, United Kingdom from June 26 – 28 2013. The conference is meant to deliver key updates on the most pressing energy issues and challenges facing our energy system, as well as providing a forum for exchange of substantially different viewpoints. It is supported by several universities and research institutes including University of Aberdeen, University of Edinburgh, Oxford Research Group, Chatham House and others.

The scope is deliberately very broad, covering most primary energy sources, so that a global view of the current energy system can be presented. Session topics include “the limits to easily accessible fossil fuels”, “frontier fossil fuel technologies and basins”, “the viability of nuclear power”, “the costs and benefits of fossil versus renewable electricity”, and “the economics and policy of energy systems”. A few of our confirmed speakers include Michael Kumhof (IMF), Sir David King (former Head Smith School Oxford University), Friedrich Schulte (Head of Technologies RWE), Dr. William Blyth (Director Oxford Energy Associates) , Peter Jackson (IHS CERA), Lord Ron Oxburgh (House of Lords UK Parliament), Richard Stainsby (Chief Technologiest UK National Nuclear Laboratories), Alexander Naumov (Group Economics BP), Guy de Kort (Shell Vice President GTL), and Tatiana Mitrova (Head Oil & Gas Energy Research Institute Russian Academy of Sciences).

Read below the fold for an overview of the conference programme and confirmed speakers to date.

General information
1st Global Energy Systems Conference

Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Wednesday June 26 to Friday June 28, 2013

Registration open – early bird deadline passed

General interest, media and sponsorship enquiries
The conference is organized on a non-profit basis by a group of energy professionals concerned about the challenges that we face. Any expressions of interest, suggestions for content and analysis, and contributions of sponsorship, are most welcome. Your content, media, and sponsorship related communication can be directed to: alexr at scenetwork.co.uk

Conference Programme

Day 1 | Wednesday 26 June | Fossil Fuels: Can we turn Unconventional into Conventional?

Day 2 | Thursday 27 June | The Future of the Electricity System

Day 3 | Friday 28 June | The Economics and Policy of Energy Systems

May 8, 2013

antifragile.jpg

Your name is Damocles. The king of the realm has forced you to sit at an elegant table in his castle and consu…

I just saw that today, May 5, is the birthday of Karl Heinrich Marx (1818-1883), the German economist, historian, journalist and philosopher. I post this video in honour of the occasion. It’s a bit silly, and I’m not sure of the intentions of the creators, but I’ve been waiting for an appropriate occasion to share it.

I haven’t read any Marx in a very long time, other than passages that other people quote, but his writings are certainly still relevant today, especially in this era of economic collapse, ongoing exploitation of workers, growing inequality and top-down austerity measures.

Marx wasn’t (Read more…)

The Bank of Canada, like all central banks, is supposed to be independent from the government. That, as the Globe & Mail put it this morning, is sacrosanct.

When a governor resigns, the BoC’s board of directors is supposed to recommend a candidate to the finance minister. However, we learned this week that Stephen Harper decided to make the Governor of the Bank of Canada a political appointment, so Jim Flaherty did not involve the board of directors at all. This is a disturbing repeat of the way Harper changed the appointment of judges a few years ago.

We learned (Read more…)

……..

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20…..

Do you know what this is?

It is a count of the amount of days since my last job interview. A count that is used to monitor a continued hope that employment in my field or a career of some sort will be attainable under the current economy. As I have mentioned in previous entries, my current dilemma is the result of a University education. Look how I capitalize University, making it seem like this important, distinguished and enlightening experience. Well, the capitalization will now end, university is how it will remain forever.

I do not expect my university (Read more…)

Photo: Agathe B/Flickr

Clearly the entire economics establishment, with about a million people on the planet involved in some aspect of economic analysis, planning, risk management, and forecasting, turned out to be turkeys owing to the simple mistake of not understanding the structure of Extremistan, complex systems, and hidden risks, while relying on idiotic measures and forecasts — all this in spite of past experience, as these things have never worked before.

- Nassim Nicholas Taleb

read more

By Frank Moraes

When I was doing research in global warming, it was very annoying. The theory was all laid out. And that was most of what we had. At that time, the evidence for global warming was weak. So an iconoclast like me naturally looked for ways that the theory was wrong: negative feedbacks and stuff like that. Because here’s the thing: the basic theory was right. It is simple energy transfer, and thus about as controversial gravitation theory. If it was wrong, it was because there was some other energy forcing that we just didn’t see.

Over time, the data got better. Now, the data alone indicate that the earth is warming, although you need some theory to explain that humans are causing it. But note what the global warming deniers do: they attack the data and the data alone. They can do that because there is a lot of data. But the process is clear: first they decide global warming is bunk, then they search the data trying to disprove it.

The situation is little different when it comes to economics. Mike Konczal wrote an excellent article over at Wonk Blog today, Reinhart/Rogoff-Gate Isn’t the First Time Austerians Have Used Bad Data. In it, he provided a history of conservative efforts to justify the idea of expansionary austerity. This is the idea that if the government cuts its budget to the bone, the private sector will have “confidence” that will get the economy booming. If this sounds like magical thinking, you’re right.


The story Konczal tells is of economists running from data set to data set looking for something that would reinforce their kooky theory. And in each case, the data they seized on turned out to be wrong. But that isn’t because they had bad luck. It is because only bad data would have made the case for expansionary austerity because expansionary austerity is wrong.

In any scientific pursuit, you have to start with a theory. But it can’t just be any old theory; you need to start with the basics of your field. In global warming you need to start with energy transfer and so on. In expansionary austerity you need to start with demand and all that jazz. But in each case (global warming denial and expansionary austerity advocacy), those involved didn’t start with a theory. They just rejected the default, sensible, traditional theory. Then they went out in search of data to confirm—data that didn’t exist because their “theories” were wrong. And that’s not science, it’s politics.

People involved in these pseudo-scientific political campaigns are not honest brokers. They use one of the best aspects of science against itself: the ability of a new theory to destroy an existing paradigm. So they point to Einstein and note how he, for example, revolutionized Galilean relativity. But they never mention that Einsteinian relativity is Galilean relativity at slow speeds. They never mention that Einstein was solving problems that were well known at the time. They never mention that Einstein had a theory whereas they have only “not what everyone in the field believes.”

Whether in global warming or economics, it is shameful.

Photo: Gerard Van der Leun/Flickr

If a turkey had philosophical ability, it might argue that life just gets better and better. The steadily fattening fowl would have evidence for this point of view because each day would bring with it more and more delicious fare. Every night it would go to bed feeling sated and eager for the next morning when the pleasures of the previous day would be repeated or even heightened. The reflective bird could confirm its optimism via the inductive method: empirical study would demonstrate an increase in nourishment, from which would follow the logical generalization that life was a process of ever-expanding fulfillment.

read more

Fiscal record of Canadian political parties, Toby Sanger, The Progressive Economics Forum:

“With all the recent news stories — as well as alarm raised by other leaders — about the fiscal and economic impact and record of NDP governments, I decided to take a look at and review the fiscal record of all federal and provincial governments in Canada for the past three decades.

“These results may be surprising to some: they show that NDP governments have the best fiscal record of all political parties that have formed federal or provincial government in Canada.

“Of the 52 years the has formed governments in Canada since 1980, they’ve run balanced budgets for exactly half of those years and deficits the other half. This is a better record than both the Conservatives (balanced budgets 37% of years in government) and the Liberals (only 27%), as well as both Social Credit and . . . → Read More: Northern Insight: Not told by Canada’s corporate media

It is essential for energy professionals to stay well informed with the latest insights in this evolving world. For this reason, Euan Mearns of The Oil Drum, myself and several others, are organizing the first three-day Global Energy Systems conference, which will take place in Edinburgh, United Kingdom from June 26 – 28, 2013. This is the last week for Early Bird Registrations which are only available until April 5th.

The conference is meant to deliver key updates on the most pressing energy issues and challenges facing our energy system, as well as providing a forum for exchange of substantially different viewpoints. It is supported by several universities and research institutes including University of Aberdeen, University of Uppsala, University of Bristol, University of Edinburgh, Oxford Research Group, Chatham House and others. The scope is deliberately very broad, covering most primary energy sources, so that a global view of the current energy system can be presented. Session topics include “the limits to easily accessible fossil fuels”, “frontier fossil fuel technologies and basins”, “the viability of nuclear power”, “the costs and benefits of fossil versus renewable electricity”, and “the economics and policy of energy systems”.

A few of our confirmed speakers include Michael Kumhof (IMF), Tatiana Mitrova (Energy Research Institute Russian Academy of Sciences), Dr. Richard Stainsby, (UK National Nuclear Laboratories), Peter Jackson (IHS CERA), Alex Kemp (University of Aberdeen), David Shropshire (IAEA), Dr. Alexander Naumov (Group Economics BP), Guy de Kort (Shell Vice President GTL), Friedrich Schulte (RWE).

Read below the fold for an overview of the complete conference program.

General information

1st Global Energy Systems Conference

Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Wednesday June 26 to Friday June 28, 2013

Registration open – early bird rates available until April 5th

General interest, media and sponsorship enquiries
The conference is organized on a non-profit basis by a group of energy professionals concerned about the challenges that we face. Any expressions of interest, suggestions for content and analysis, and contributions of sponsorship, are most welcome. Your content, media, and sponsorship related communication can be directed to: alexr at scenetwork.co.uk

Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, 26th-28th June – Register Here!

A Review by Mel Watkins

March 29th 2013

The Making Of Global Capitalism: The Political Economy Of American Empire
Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin
Verso Books, October 2012

The authors tell us this book has been “a long time in the making.” It has been well worth the wait.

The dust jacket bears endorsements, fulsome even by the necessities of the medium, from four distinguished scholars and writers, David Harvey among them. Living next door to the United States, bearing the fullness of its embrace, can be an advantage in understanding global capitalism. Panitch and Gindin have understood the early intrusion of the American-based multinational corporation into the Canadian economy and polity as being the quintessence of subsequent American imperialism world-wide — American Manifest Destiny results in the Canadianization of the globe, which may or may not make you feel proud — and made of that insight, and all it contains, this excellent book.

In the latter part of the 19th century, the then dominant British Empire was of a dual nature: the traditional imperialism of conquest and the novel imperialism of free trade. The rising American Empire toyed with conquest among the remnants of the Spanish Empire, but triumphed with free trade as it morphed into freedom to invest abroad for the multinational corporations which the Americans were creating faster than in the rest of the world. We know all this to our peril from today’s so-called free trade agreements, which are really Charters of Rights and Freedoms for corporations.

The consequences for global political economy have been deep and pervasive. To invest abroad requires guarantees of that investment, which have to be given by the “host” state. The terminology is revealing: the receiving country must be a good host, treating the guest with due deference, and even cleaning up after any mess that is made. The internationalization of the corporation compels the spread of those policies, pioneered within the United States, namely, the internationalization of the state— a fuller integration, a deeper, more pervasive intimacy than that required by the free trade of yore.

Still, as Panitch and Gindin are at pains to demonstrate — it takes up many good pages in this book — in the nature of imperialism the bottom line is the role of the “home” state, of Washington, where actual ownership and control resides, to practice and to push pro-corporate policies. The American state must demonstrate its capacity and willingness to maintain what passes for order while restructuring the world in America’s image, managing crises, particularly financial, and containing labour and the left.

So it is that Panitch and Gindin properly insist that today’s neoliberalism is not about the withering away of the state, but about its active role in the care and feeding of the corporation. Unions must be kept in their place, or the class struggle inherent to capitalism could get out of hand. National liberation movements, even chatter about economic nationalism, must be stifled. (Environmentalists likewise: this we certainly know in Canada in the age of Harper.) Not only are multinational corporations persons, as is regularly ruled by the US Supreme Court, they are huge, giant persons lobbying your government and mine, making these their government.

The other major part of the story told in truly impressive detail is that of the American-led management of international finance. If the corporations are yours, it makes sense to be the world’s banker and the American dollar the world’s currency, and making that happen is hard work. The London-led system of finance had been radically undermined by the Great Depression and the Second World War. It was necessarily rebuilt under American auspices. It was not without its problems, even its crises, but American leadership proved sufficient to their resolution and none toppled American dominance.

We are taken up to and through the crisis of 2007/8. It’s the kind of crisis that left activists are wont to insist is a clear sign of the weakness of capitalism, the better to rally for the struggle. Panitch and Gindin are rather inclined to be impressed by the ability of Washington to contain the damage and put things back on an even keel.

What does surprise this reviewer is the authors’ willingness to describe “new financial instruments” like those infamous derivatives as “crucial to globalization,” the better to hedge against the escalation of risk. There is some truth to this, but overall it runs counter to much of the commentary by progressive economists about manic exuberance, about how risk is increased rather than decreased. It imagines that what is inherently uncertain about the future (Donald Rumsfeld’s “unknown unknowns”) can be dealt with by pretending it is assessable risk that can be insured. We were told by the great Keynes himself, who our authors otherwise treat with great respect, that there is genuine uncertainty that can only be dealt with by greater caution.

In a book that already packs so much into its more than 400 pages, it may seem ungracious to point out what is missing but it is odd, to say the least, that there are no more than passing references to the Pentagon and the CIA and the role they play in making the globe safe for the American corporation. Isn’t all that arms spending helpful in keeping the doors open for American corporations, and has it not at some points, like the Cuban missile crisis, even put the whole project and the lives of millions — and the very existence of the American empire and hence of this book — at risk?

Our authors are dismissive of the challenge from China. There is some merit in that position. There is still a lot of fight left in that old dog of Western imperialism. Yet the role of China in the past has been consistently underestimated in the West. Perhaps we should bear that in mind when judging its future.

A review of such a stimulating book as this one must end on a positive note. Unlike too many of the academic scribbles in the social sciences these days, this book is refreshingly light on theory into which the facts must be crammed, and laws to which they must therefore conform. It is a demonstration of how far a historical materialist framework rooted in Marx can take us once the search for immutable laws and certain truths is abandoned. It deserves a wide readership, inside and outside the academy.

Download: earthgauge-podcast-march28-2013.mp3

We love covering local stories on Earthgauge and this week, we get just about as local as we can, focusing on some compelling environmental research taking place at Carleton University in Ottawa. We also take a look at the environmental provisions of last week’s federal Budget 2013. We have 3 interviews on today’s show:

Glennys Egan on the environmental and human impacts of urbanization in Kenya Brendan Haley on the tar sands “staples trap” Andrew Van Iterson on the environmental measures in Budget 2013

We also have our usual update from Kathy of Ecology Ottawa on local events and campaigns.

Click the audio player above to stream the show or right click here to download.

Part 1 – Budget 2013

To kick off the program this week, I speak with Andrew Van Iterson who is the manager of the . . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: EG Radio March 28: Federal Budget 2013, urbanization in Kenya and the tar sands “staples” trap

We love covering local stories on Earthgauge and this week, we’re getting just about as local as we possibly can, focusing on some compelling environmental research taking place at Carleton University in Ottawa. Earthgauge contributor Juanita Bawagan will be speaking with Glennys Egan who is a Masters student whose research is based on issues of urbanization in Kenya. She has spent a significant amount of time living and working in that country and she’ll join Juanita to talk about her work there with Street Kids International and the environmental and human impacts of urbanization.

In our second half hour, I’ll with Brendan Haley who is a PhD student at Carleton’s School of Public Policy and Administration. He co-authored a recent study that warns of the potential perils to the Canadian economy if we rely too much on oil exports from the Alberta tar sands. Called ‘The Bitumen . . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: Tomorrow on EG Radio: Budget 2013, urbanization in Kenya and the tar sands “staples trap”

We love covering local stories on Earthgauge and this week, we’re getting just about as local as we possibly can, focusing on some compelling environmental research taking place at Carleton University in Ottawa. Earthgauge contributor Juanita Bawagan will be speaking with Glennys Egan who is a Masters student whose research is based on issues of urbanization in Kenya. She has spent a significant amount of time living and working in that country and she’ll join Juanita to talk about her work there with Street Kids International and the environmental and human impacts of urbanization.

In our second half hour, I’ll with Brendan Haley who is a PhD student at Carleton’s School of Public Policy and Administration. He co-authored a recent study that warns of the potential perils to the Canadian economy if we rely too much on oil exports from the Alberta tar sands. Called ‘The Bitumen . . . → Read More: Earthgauge Radio: Tomorrow on EG Radio: Budget 2013, urbanization in Kenya and the tar sands “staples trap”

#neoliberalism Since 2006 #Cdnecon under Flaherty has been a debt-fuelled financialized one only with little real production, productivity, or significantly increased employment to drive demand. Credit card debt has gone from $35.6 billion in February 2006 to $77.4 in February 2012, a staggering 117% increase. Mortgage debt has gone from $672.5 billion to $1111.8 billion in February 2012, an eye-popping 65.3%. And these figures do not account for the past 12 month period, in which we already know personal debt has substantially increased even more.  The personal debt to income ratio is 165% – which to be an embarrassment to all Canadians not just the so-called Finance Minister.  Why has Flaherty remained credible to the mainstream media? We know why he has to the financial community, especially since all his private sector consultants are from the banking community, and of course it is these same consultants to whom the press turns for its . . . → Read More: Politics and Entertainment: Inform your “fiscally conservative” friends please of this astounding failure

By Richard K. BarryConservative economist Milton Friedman said it first, though Richard Nixon, who actually said in 1971 “I am now a Keynesian in economics,” is often credited with the comment.No matter. It seem like an awful lot of Americans think the…