Far too much of the global economy is still going in the wrong direction in terms of net zero. We are in an era of global geopolitical reckoning. Why retirement is being pensioned-off. What price our attention? And whose is it to sell? Be inclusive not exclusive with your invitations.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Jess Shankleman and John Ainger, EVs Are the Only Bright Spot in Climate Fight, Study Shows
(Bloomberg, 14 November 2023)
Sobering. A broad new study covering electricity, industry, transport and land as well as the need to scale up nascent carbon-removal technologies and climate finance prepared for COP28 shows that global efforts to reach net-zero carbon emissions are failing in almost every way. Electric vehicles are the only exception. The study shows that six areas of the global economy are going in completely the wrong direction (including the need to phase out government financing of fossil fuels, making steel production greener and reducing the share of passenger car journeys) while others (like reforestation and curbing beef output) are heading the right way but much too slowly (gifted article, reads in 5 min).
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Brahma Chellaney, The Wars of the New World Order
(Project Syndicate, 10 November 2023)
The Indian think-tanker asserts that the most recent trends and developments – from the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to the US-China competition – are proof of a fundamental global geopolitical reckoning. He thinks that the spectre of a sustained clash between the West and its rivals – especially China, Russia, and the Islamic world – looms large. It is in this context that Joe Biden, who understands the stakes, is now seeking to defuse tensions with China (metered paywall that requires prior registration, reads in 5-6 min).
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Cathrin Bradbury, The End of Retirement
(The Walrus, December 2023)
Canada-focused but equally valid in the developed world and soon, much of the developing world. People reaching their sixties are now in a very different situation than that of their parents: they can’t assume that work has come to an end. Stagnating revenues (or pensions), higher life expectancy, and rising healthcare costs are all leading to the postponement of retirement. The reason is obvious: if you retire at 64 in a rich country and if you are a woman, you could have fifty more years ahead of you to save for (metered paywall, reads in about 10 min).
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Bradford DeLong, Google and attention economy go to court
(The Asset, 10 November 2023)
The Google antitrust trial just has brought to the fore critical questions such as: how does human attention (one of our scarcest resources) work? Who should have the right to capture it? And harvest it for the sake of profit or future investments in value-generating innovations? Many different responses to these questions can be plausibly argued, but the bottom line is this: in 2021, Google, the world’s dominant search engine, paid USD18bn to Apple to be the default search engine on its smartphones and other devices. This is what the attention economy is all about: Apple sells products like the iPhone, but it also sells iPhone users’ attention to companies that are willing to pay for it, like Google (free access, reads in 5 min).
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Hannah Seo, The case for inviting everyone to everything
(VOX, 12 November 2023)
The case is incontrovertible: in a time when loneliness is more pervasive than ever, why not extend an invitation to people you don’t know or people you see less? Research suggests that a reluctance to reach out and connect is unwise because we underestimate others’ interest in connecting, and the power of new connections. Tons of studies also prove that belonging to multiple groups is strongly associated with health and happiness. It also leads to higher self-esteem and lower rates of depression (free access, reads in 6-8 min).
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