Adair Turner, “Climate Change, Markets, and Marxism”
(Project Syndicate, 22 November 2018)
At a time when some prominent world leaders are hampering progress toward a low-carbon economy, the chairman of INET explains why combating climate change threatens neither prosperity nor private enterprise. In fact, market competition is essential for a zero-carbon economy: once carbon prices and appropriate regulation provide the required incentives, it is the competition among profit-motivated firms that will ensure decarbonization is achieved at the lowest possible cost. The new report published by the Energy Transitions Commission makes this very clear. And it is uplifting! (reads in 6-7 min).
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Patrick Wintour, “Hillary Clinton: Europe must curb immigration to stop rightwing populists”
(The Guardian, 22 November 2018)
The Guardian is launching a six-month investigative series to explore populism. In this interview that will surely prove controversial, Hillary Clinton argues that Europe must get a handle on immigration to combat a growing threat from right-wing populists. She calls on European leaders to send out a stronger signal showing they are “not going to be able to continue to provide refuge and support”. As we have proffered on many occasions in the Monthly Barometer, migration is going to be one of the defining political issues for the rich world in the years to come (reads in 7-8 min).
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Simeon Djankov and Federica Saliola, “The changing nature of work”
(VoXeu, 22 November 2018)
This is an interesting contribution to the endless debate about whether technology destroys or creates jobs. The two economists state that, over the last century, technology has created more jobs than it has displaced. They present an overview of how it is changing the nature of work, leading to demand for advanced cognitive skills and greater adaptability among workers and explain why the rise of platform marketplaces requires a rethinking of social protection systems (reads in 7-8 min).
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Mark Jannot, “From Gene Editing to AI – How Will Technology Transform Humanity?”
(The New York Times Magazine – metered paywall, 18 November 2018)
This is a fascinating article in which a geneticist, an oncologist, a roboticist, a novelist, and an A.I. researcher puzzle over the future of the future. Maybe a bit long (more than 20 min.), but the most fundamental questions (Will we engineer our children and ourselves? Will AI transform medicine? Will we know too much? Will we live longer and happier?) are addressed from a rich variety of perspectives. A must-read!
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Gretchen Reynolds, “Regular Exercise May Keep Your Body 30 Years ‘Younger’”
(The New York Times – metered paywall, 21 November 2018)
The evidence that exercise is good for us and has virtually no downside is by now incontrovertible. But it gets better and better! According to new research, the muscles of older men and women who have exercised for decades are indistinguishable in many ways from those of healthy 25-year-olds. The findings from another experiment suggest that exercise could help us “to build a reserve” of good health now that might enable us to slow or evade physical frailty later (reads in 4-5 min).
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