The World's Wealth
Myron had some time spare to do an interview on the BBC this morning.
My favourite part of it was when he said:
"The US consumes about 25% of the energy in the world, and we produce between 25 and 30% of the wealth created in the world, so, in fact, the answer for the world is not to assume that by cutting back on American production and productivity, that you're going to get richer, the answer is the emulate the institutions and the policies that the United States has pursued to become as wealthy and as productive as we are."
This is undoubtedly true, if you count missiles, bombs, and aircraft carriers as wealth. However, if you measure wealth of a nation in terms of mineral reserves (eg oil), and functioning infrastructure (trains, hospitals, and sewerage systems), then the United States is very poor indeed.
One thing missiles are good for is bombing the infrastructure in other countries so that they become as poor as you. Then go in and steal their oil.
As an aside, Myron stated that every edit Philip Cooney did to the government climate change reports was scientifically defensible-- at least in the opinion of one so-called scientist. Also, he claimed that the US stayed out of the Kyoto process because it wouldn't work. You only need to substitute the word "because" with "so".
And finally, he criticised Tony Blair for publically announcing his desire to get a deal with Bush on Climate Change. Apparently, Bush always stands firm against public ridicule and pressure, so the correct strategy is always to keep these matters polite and discrete, because this makes Myron's job of going in and burying it so much easier.
My favourite part of it was when he said:
"The US consumes about 25% of the energy in the world, and we produce between 25 and 30% of the wealth created in the world, so, in fact, the answer for the world is not to assume that by cutting back on American production and productivity, that you're going to get richer, the answer is the emulate the institutions and the policies that the United States has pursued to become as wealthy and as productive as we are."
This is undoubtedly true, if you count missiles, bombs, and aircraft carriers as wealth. However, if you measure wealth of a nation in terms of mineral reserves (eg oil), and functioning infrastructure (trains, hospitals, and sewerage systems), then the United States is very poor indeed.
One thing missiles are good for is bombing the infrastructure in other countries so that they become as poor as you. Then go in and steal their oil.
As an aside, Myron stated that every edit Philip Cooney did to the government climate change reports was scientifically defensible-- at least in the opinion of one so-called scientist. Also, he claimed that the US stayed out of the Kyoto process because it wouldn't work. You only need to substitute the word "because" with "so".
And finally, he criticised Tony Blair for publically announcing his desire to get a deal with Bush on Climate Change. Apparently, Bush always stands firm against public ridicule and pressure, so the correct strategy is always to keep these matters polite and discrete, because this makes Myron's job of going in and burying it so much easier.
posted by goatchurch Perma-link
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home