Category Archives: Economics
Risky business for insurers as climate crunch bites
As extreme weather ratchets ever upwards, it seems inevitable that more and more locations will become uninsurable over time, whether as a result of coastal inundation, sea level rise or supercharged storms and flooding events. I took a look this … Continue reading
Carbon offsetting a cynical cop-out on climate action
In the late Middle Ages, there was a roaring trade within the Catholic Church in the sale of indulgences, as handy way for the sinful to wipe the slate clean by purchasing redemption. The abuse of this system is often … Continue reading
How financial sector fails to grasp climate risks
It has been described as a classic case of saying the quiet bit out loud, but jaws dropped when a senior banker (and former FT financial journalist) let his guard down and shared with his audience everything we’ve feared about … Continue reading
The magic porridge pot is finally running out
To mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of the landmark ‘Limits to Growth’ book, I contributed the below article to the Business Post. We are now precisely half way through the century modelled by the Club of Rome, and … Continue reading
Can we reimagine a better, safer world?
It sometimes feels like our collective inability to respond to the global climate and ecological emergency is first and foremost a failure of imagination. We are conditioned to see the world the way it is, and can easily assume there … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Economics, Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Sustainability
Tagged Antonio Guterres, food security, IPCC, Irish Examiner, Ukraine
1 Comment
Food and energy insecurity mean double trouble
The long-banished spectre of food insecurity has returned to Europe for the first time since the 1940s. I wrote the below piece for the Business Post in late March which looked at the intersection of energy and food security in … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Economics, Energy, Global Warming, Irish Focus
Tagged ESRI, Horticulture, John FitzGerald, Mark Mellett, Ukraine
1 Comment
Confronting consumerism for a safer future
Among the many challenges we face this decade is how to achieve radical decarbonisation in a way that does not entirely alienate the public. This is no mean challenge. After all, we are all bombarded with constant advertising and promotional … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Irish Focus, Media, Psychology
Tagged Climate Action Plan, consumerism, COP26, Kantar, RTE
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Dangerous myth of infinite economic growth exposed
Regular ThinkOrSwim readers will know that your correspondent is not a noted fan of mainstream economics, or most of its practitioners, for that matter. They have, in my view, done untold damage in impeding societal and political understanding of and … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Amazon, Business Post, consumerism, European Environment Agency, marketing, Steve Keen
1 Comment
Billionaires to the rescue? No thanks
With our billionaire overlords queueing up to be the first into space or to colonise some real estate on Mars, I thought it was an opportune moment to file a piece in the Business Post taking a cold look at … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Media
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Investors running for cover as allure of fossil fuels fades
The below piece was published in the Business Post in late February. By my usual standards, this probably ranks as quite optimistic, in pitching the argument that fossil fuel, the world’s most dangerous industry, is in the process of losing … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Energy, Global Warming, Pollution
Tagged Biden, BlackRock, Business Post, divestment, fossil fuels
1 Comment
Agri emissions plan a roadmap to nowhere
In the absence of action, the next best thing is to look busy, and Ireland’s agri-industrial sector and its many boosters in politics and the civil and public service have elevated this frenzy of inaction to something of a performance … Continue reading
Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture, Economics, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Irish Focus
Tagged AgClimatise, Dairy emissions, Teagasc
1 Comment
Sweden points way towards a lower carbon future
My debut contribution to The Business Post was published in early July on the paper’s Comment page. In the last year or two the Business Post has significantly upped its coverage and focus on environmental topics (reporter, Daniel Murray did … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Energy, Global Warming, Sustainability
Tagged Business Post, carbon tax, Kevin Anderson, nuclear, Sweden
1 Comment
In climate emergency, BAU is the road to unmitigated ruin
In early May, my first post appeared on The Currency, a business-oriented subscriber-only website launched by journalists Tom Lyons and Ian Kehoe and specialising in in-depth reportage. It’s not where you might typically expect to find a fairly downbeat assessment … Continue reading
Posted in Biodiversity, Economics, Global Warming
Tagged Coronavirus, economics, extinction, Insectageddon, Living Planet Report
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Pinker serves up a Panglossian three-card trick
“Things can only get better”, went the lyrics to the hit by D:Ream which became the anthem of the incoming New Labour government in 1997, fronted by the relentlessly upbeat Tony Blair. Six years later, Blair joined the US in … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Habitat/Species, Psychology
Tagged Bill Gates, Steven Pinker
3 Comments
Sinking ever deeper into ecological debt and climate denial
Eschatology, or the study of the end of times, is at least as old as the written word. The concept spans many of the world’s major religions, usually referring to some future day of judgement or reckoning. Beyond the realms … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Global Warming, Sceptics, Sustainability
Tagged climate denial, Doomsday Clock, ICSF, WWF
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