Amid the election victory of the intensely pro-coal, global warming denier Donald Trump, the UN’s annual Climate Change Conference is underway in Marrakech, Morocco, and is aiming to build on last year’s Paris Agreement. The conference began on November 7 and will run until the 18th. Trump aside, getting any far-reaching climate deal done willContinue reading “The Day After Tomorrow, in Morocco”
In Politics, the Triple Crown is Even More Elusive
Last year, the horse American Pharaoh became the first since 1978 to achieve the Triple Crown, winning in the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes. Having a single political party win all three branches in Washington — controlling the White House and Congress and having a majority of Supreme Court justices nominated by aContinue reading “In Politics, the Triple Crown is Even More Elusive”
The Blessings of St Catharines
If extremely high taxes on greenhouse gas emissions were to be enacted worldwide, which part of Ontario would be poised to lead in terms of population growth and economic development as a result? My guess would be St Catharines-Niagara, which at the moment is Canada’s 12th most populous census metropolitan area (just ahead of Halifax-Dartmouth),Continue reading “The Blessings of St Catharines”
Night Moves: The Future of Charging Electric Cars in Ontario
The Ontario government recently announced a plan to subsidize electric cars by up to $14,000 per vehicle and pay for them to be charged at night, among other things. Night-time charging is a key factor in electric vehicle ownership, as in most cases it takes several hours to charge an electric car. This begs theContinue reading “Night Moves: The Future of Charging Electric Cars in Ontario”
Guest Post: Babbit, by Sinclair Lewis
This is a guest post from the blog Occasional Mumblings. You can read the original here: “I wish I could have written Babbitt” – H.G. Wells Babbitt is an oddity for me: not only because it’s literary fiction, and social realism at that, but also because it doesn’t really need a review. It’s one of the iconicContinue reading “Guest Post: Babbit, by Sinclair Lewis”
Ontario: The Borderland Economy
With the economy of Western Canada hit hard by the fall in oil and other commodity prices that began last year, Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, has begun to account for quite a large share of the country’s economic growth. Many Canadian economists – most of whom live in Ontario, as I do – assumeContinue reading “Ontario: The Borderland Economy”
Robots and the Middle East
It used to be, roughly speaking, that labour + energy = industrial output = military power. This made Iran the natural power in the Middle East. Iran had far more energy than countries like Turkey, Egypt, Israel or Pakistan, and far more labour than the Gulf Arab countries or Libya: The Gulf Arab monarchiesContinue reading “Robots and the Middle East “
The Geopolitics of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has an estimated population of 32 million, the 40th largest in the world and 6th largest in the Arab world. It is barely more than a third of the size of Egypt’s population. Territorially, however, Saudi Arabia is massive. It is the 12th largest country in the world, and the largest country inContinue reading “The Geopolitics of Saudi Arabia”
Morocco the Outlier
As a result of the conflicts in Syria and Libya, Morocco has become the only state in the Middle East/North African region that is not or does not border a failed or semi-failed state. Morocco’s next-door neighbour Algeria, in contrast, borders two or three such states, namely Libya, Mali, and Niger. Algeria might also beContinue reading “Morocco the Outlier”
Political Dynasties and their Discontents
Political dynasties have always been a big part of human civilization, and today is no exception. In the United States, the rise of Donald Trump was at least partially a reaction to the dynastic, Clinton-vs-Bush election that only last year most Americans were expecting to get. It was, after all, Jeb Bush’s candidacy that split theContinue reading “Political Dynasties and their Discontents”
Future Economics 