Yearly Archives: 2011

Energy Efficiency Doesn’t Work

By Cameron Murray, a professional economist with a background in property development, environmental economics research and economic regulation. Cross posted from MacroBusiness

The word efficiency carries a meaning immersed in all things positive – you never hear that being more efficient could possibly be detrimental. In fact, if you can bear the evangelical fervour, you may have read about achieving ‘Factor Four’ or ‘Factor Five’ gains in energy efficiency, as part of a ‘Natural Capital’ revolution comprising a ‘decoupling’ economic growth from a growth in the consumption of exhaustible resources – also known as ‘sustainability’. You may even have heard about the equation I=PAT or I = P x A x T, where environmental impact (I) is a function of population (P), affluence (A) and technology (T), and that becoming more efficient will enable a desired level of affluence with far less environmental cost.

Historical experience shows that these claims are untrue.

Links 10/17/11

Rob Parenteau: Blinded by Faith – Sinking the Eurozone

By Rob Parenteau, CFA, sole proprietor of MacroStrategy Edge, editor of The Richebacher Letter, and a research associate of The Levy Economics Institute

Wolfgang Munchau has raised a very important point in his current Financial Times article, “Why Europe’s officials lose sight of the big picture.” The eurozone, Wolfgang points out, is more like a large closed economy than a collection of small open economies, and this has implications for fiscal policy outcomes, yet these implications remain largely unrecognized by policy makers within the region. Wolfgang noted:

Steve Rattner, Card Carrying Member of Top 1%, Tells Us We Should Lie Back and Enjoy Much Lower Wages Resulting From Globalization

A corollary to Upton Sinclair’s famous saying, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends on his not understanding it” is “People promote ideas that help them secure or preserve a privileged position on the totem pole.”

A glaring example of these observations came in an op ed in the Sunday New York Times by Steve Rattner, former Lazard mergers & acquisition partner, later head of the private equity firm, Quadrangle Partners. He is best known as the chief negotiator in the auto bailouts (and he was criticized for not involving any auto industry experts). He paid $10 million to settle a kickbacks investigation and agreed not to work for a public pension fund in any role for five years. I happened to see Rattner on a panel at a Financial Times conference earlier this week and he elaborated on some of the themes in this piece, “Let’s Admit It: Globalization Has Losers,” which reader Brett asked me to debunk line by line. I’ll spare you and focus just on the most critical and bald-facedly dishonest bits.

From QE to Communism

By Zarathustra, who is the founder of Hong Kong blog Also sprach Analyst. He was educated at the London School of Economics and the Chinese University of Hong Kong and was once a Hong Kong-based equity research analyst focusing on Hong Kong real estate (which he did not really like), with a secondary coverage on China real estate sector (which he actually hated). Cross posted from MacroBusiness

Zero interest rate policy and quantitative easing is not working to stimulate the real economy. No country has succeeded. The pioneer of quantitative easing, the Bank of Japan, failed (and Japanese yen is uber-strong). The Federal Reserve has failed, and the Bank of England has failed.

Links 10/16/11

Alleged Iran Assassination Plot Court Documents Suggest A Set Up

We’ve been astonished that anyone is treating the alleged Iranian assassination plot seriously after it has been debunked by Glenn Greenwald and others. Even the New York Times, which usually falls into line, ran an article which made clear that there were pretty large gaps in the official narrative, and CNN was skeptical as well. Yet the NPR is feeding the story (hat tip reader furzy mouse) and one of my sources with good Democratic party contacts says all the faux leftie and even some real leftie groups are supporting the saber-rattling against Iran.

Real News Network has been giving good coverage, and has found yet more chinks in the Administration’s narrative. Please take the time to view both segments of their coverage to date:

#oct15

By lambert strether. Cross-posted from Corrente.

10:09AM Sunday. Update on OccupyLSX:

St Paul’s deacon happy for assemblies to happen during mass. The word used was “co-existence” #occupylsx #occupylondon

Unfortunately, St. Paul’s won’t sell the Occupiers electricity, so they’ve got to keep using their generator. Isn’t that covered by Luke 10:25-37?

Anyhow, two of the financial centers in the Western world now have Occupations in their midst. Tents are set up, General Assemblies have been held, and media center[re]s, complete with generator and WiFi, have been established. I believe that the average winter temperature in London is around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. So. A state of affairs that is not without interest. Read on for coverage of Saturday’s events.

* * *

8:50AM Saturday Oddly, or not, a google* news search on #oct15 yields no useful hits at all (nifty promotional video for same). Read on for continued updates!

Links 10/15/11

“Zombie Mortgages” Mean Delay of Housing and Economic Recovery Well Past 2014

A new research piece from Barclays raises some far reaching implications.

Many economic pundits forecast the housing market will bottom in 2012 and start recovering thereafter. I’d like to know exactly how that happens when the odds of a Eurobanking crisis is the next six months look high, and it’s bound to blow back to the US.

But even the more realistic pundits (meaning those not in the employ of financial firms) may be unduly optimistic.

Guest Post: Police Punch Protester In the Face

Police Punch Woman Protester In Face

#OWS: Reprieve and aftermath

By lambert strether. Cross-posted from Corrente. The key tweet from the Guardian’s @AdamGabbatt on the ground: BREAK: Brookfield properties have told NYPD they are postponing plans to clean it! Summary from the New York Daily News, which (like the Guardian) had reporters on the ground in Zuccotti Park overnight. Unlike Pinch Sulzberger’s Izvestia, I might add. In […]

Links 10/14/11