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#1346 19 Dec Page 2
The Report
Prologue
The abacus, printing press, flying shuttle, steam engine, mechanized farm machinery, telegraphy, the Wright Brothers’ flying machine, television, satellite, space shuttle, have all contributed to the nations of the world competing for financial and political world dominance while maintaining a balance between the preservation of national and ethnic culture and success in attaining a dominant position on the world scene. Unfortunately, there remain nations in which ethnicity takes precedence over contribution to the evolutionary process, as well as those in which greed dominates over the well-being of its own citizens. The pace from the time of the hunters and gatherers to the present cultural and economic competition between Asia, Europe, Middle East and America is so rapid that the balance between as yet unimaginable human success and total disintegration should be of great concern to the citizens of all nations. The routes to financial success without selling national birthright are varied as has been the human ingenuity required to achieve an acceptable balance.
Dubai
The evolution of the United Arab Emirates is particularly striking in its compromise between ethnic tradition and western liberalism. Dubai, the largest of the Emirates is the fourth or fifth city in the world in terms of growth and wealth. Much of its success is attributable to the vision of the Royal Family. As a secular Muslim area, Dubai attracts many Arabs along with citizens of many other countries, notably wealthy Indians and British - 85% of the residents are expats and, with no taxes to pay, many if not most are there for the money to be made. (As housing is extremely expensive, it is usually included as part of the package offered by employers to foreign employees.) It is “New York without the culture”, whereas neighbouring Abu Dhabi is attempting to compete by offering cultural development including branches of The Louvre and the Guggenheim on Saadiyat Island. There is some concern that it may be a bubble, but in the opinion of one recent visitor, the fundamentals are there. Dubai lacks oil, but is a major trading port, world-class financial centre, and tourism is a major industry, with great beaches (along with an indoor ski hill and skating rink where Canadians play hockey), fantastic shopping, excellent food. The Palms are the world’s largest man-made islands with breathtaking beaches, residences, hotels and entertainment centres.
In order to establish a business in Dubai, it is necessary to have an Emirati partner. This creates a situation in which most natives are extremely affluent, at the top of the economic and social pyramid, and more importantly, there is a sense of entitlement - that they are more important than any non-Emirati. Expats in professional and managerial positions accept this condition and are delighted to be living in this exciting region, however, there is a majority subculture (domestic and construction workers, etc.) that lives in horrendous conditions and earns miserable wages. These predominantly Indian, Pakistani and Filipino workers, having paid for their flight and visa, find that most of their income is required to repay these expenses for the better part of a year. If they demonstrate any dissatisfaction with their working conditions, they are immediately shipped back home; only if they were sufficiently organized to protest en masse would things improve, but most recognize that they are still better off than in their home country.
Donald Trump’s [not so excellent] Scottish adventure
Scotland has historically gone to great lengths to retain its culture and tradition, so it might be surprising to some that it is seriously considering that culture and tradition may be ceding their traditional place to what has been qualified as public or national interest, but might possibly be interpreted as economic interest. Donald Trump’s proposed development of a billion dollar golf resort in Scotland , which would require changes to the hitherto protected landscape, was narrowly voted down by the local Council (See Comment #1). In the past, the protection of the dunes probably would have been non-negotiable, but the prospect of North Sea Oil running out within the next half century may soon outweigh patrimony concerns. This project might well be proven to be in the long-term public interest, but here as elsewhere , that interest has seen a shift from the historical situations under which eminent domain might be invoked towards more recent broader definition of the concept.
The return of Wednesday Nighter Chantal Beaubien Cambodia for her swearing-in as a member of the Québec Bar prompted a discussion of the Cambodian legal system, which like Québec is based on a Civil Code. One of the more interesting aspects of Cambodian law is that no decisions are published, so there is no reference to precedents. Litigation, which often does not go to court, tends to be decided on the basis of which party offers the most financial reward to the poorly paid judges - a situation similar to that in China.
The government is expropriating farms at a low price to be re-sold at a relatively high profit to industrial developers, largely from China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the U.S. People do not technically own the land on which they live (thus issues of eminent domain are not relevant) because the Khmer Rouge forcibly removed the landowners and abolished private property. After the regime was toppled, people returned to their lands, but very few have purchased the certificate of ownership that would confirm formal ownership, so the government can claim almost any lands and the people have no recourse. This is one of the biggest human rights issues in Cambodia. While publicly traded companies often will not take advantage of the land grabs, companies/investors from nations such as China and Korea are happy to do so and the concentration of power in the hands of the Prime Minister tends to preclude any organized resistance by the people.
The new U.S. Energy Bill
Following the public relations disaster for the U.S. and Canada in Bali, President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act today. While the proposed measures have been welcomed, they are deemed incomplete with one major objection being the lack of strong restrictions on SUVs and at best, they merely delay the inevitable by very little, with the ultimate development of safe nuclear energy the only realistic solution. more w-n Energy
Alternative sources of energy
Solar panels are dependent on sunlight. Even when the sun shines, it moves around so that a large area of land - a diminishing resource - is required for wind farms, and other energy sources such as fossil fuel backup are required when sunlight is not available. Solar hot water is the exception because it can be stored and retain some of the heat for a short period of time and returned to the desired temperature using less fossil fuel. This is a prevalent practice in newer buildings in China on the outskirts of cities.
Wind power has the similar drawbacks. It requires fossil fuel backup when there is insufficient wind.
The law of unintended consequences as it applies to biofuels has been discussed frequently here and elsewhere including a recent OECD report, using grain for fuel or arable land for non-edible crops for fuel merely solves fuel problems by creating food problems and shortages for humans.
Using the heat of the earth’s core to produce geothermal energy provides a good means of producing usable energy but is not feasible everywhere, requires a certain amount of land, is expensive and requires electricity to operate, providing five kilowatts of output per kilowatt of input. Certainly, as a supplemental energy source it is a very acceptable way to go.
Just as many of us have converted - or are gradually converting - our lighting from incandescent to fluorescent bulbs, [well ahead of government regulation targets], we are now encouraged to move on to the brighter, even-more efficient LED (light-emitting diode), which emits a very bright white light (other colours also available) . Some may remember that over four years ago Vithal Rajan spoke enthusiastically about the work of the Light Up The World (LUTW) Foundation which applies LED technology in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka to light up an entire village with less energy than that used by a single, conventional 100-watt light bulb.
Cycles and climate change
Some Wednesday Nighters have been consistently insistent that recent climate change has been the result of the historic cycles of nature that moves from desert to floods to glaciers, while others point to the recent historic sharp rise in world temperature. It appears that both may very well be right. A recent visitor to the Arctic who had the opportunity to speak with older Russian scientists who have been observing the ice melts and water temperatures for decades quoted them as saying that this appears to have been the longest (11,000 years) interglacial warming period (’sweet spot’) and world climate is overdue to get colder, with unforeseeable effects on humans. Is it possible that the rise in CO2 emissions (the ‘hockey stick effect’) since the 1970s, concurrent with increased temperatures, is merely circumstantial? Are human emissions overriding the trend to colder temperatures?
As the Wednesday Night debate continues over the cyclical nature of climate change, the anthropomorphic effects on global warming, the achievability of the Kyoto targets and the wisdom of the Harper government stance that India and China must sign on before Canada will do anything, there is nonetheless a sense that we cannot contemplate with equanimity the possibility of millions of deaths from the effects of global warming because we have done nothing to avert disaster.
Bombardier Inc.
The recent news that Pierre Beaudoin will replace his father, Laurent, as President & CEO of Bombardier Inc has been generally welcomed. He has a reputation of being a hands-on executive who, after over 20 years with the company, knows every aspect of its operations. Karl Moore reiterated what he told The Star at the time of the announcement: “Replacing the elder Beaudoin is someone who has earned the respect of his peers and who has been in training for the position almost since birth …Regardless of his last name, he’s a real executive and deserves a job like this.” The decision not to launch the C-Series of planes during Robert Brown’s tenure is still debated, but appears to have been prudent, given the risks that the company ran of bankruptcy. Thanks to design developments since that decision was taken, and with the agreement with China Aviation Industry Corporation in place, the program will be better and more competitive on world markets
The AECL Chalk River generator problems and their effect on world supply of radioactive isotopes has become major news. The government’s decision to countermand the decision to close down the reactor and the lack of public outcry of possible disaster from that decision leads one to ask whether the entire drama was not more politically than safety related. In either case, Canadians’ confidence and pride in our Chalk River facility has surely been shaken, if only minimally.
Thursday 25 Apr 2007 To day NYT Podcast | Menu
Radio
Like the report of Mark Twain's death, reports of the death of radio –at least FM – are greatly exaggerated.
Real estate
Canadian dollar is expected to decline against its U.S. counterpart.
The economy
See also JACQUES CLEMENT: Pages ON THE ECONOMY
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2007 Notes for #1346
Several of you have remarked on Jacques' unusually prolonged absence from Wednesday Night and we thought you would want to know that, thanks to the efforts of his friend Colette Birks, we have learned that Jacques was suffering very severe headaches and was in a state of "confusion". We are not sure exactly when this occurred. He was hospitalized, but is now in recovery at an undisclosed location. Colette was assured by a member of his family that he is "bien entouré" and recovering slowly, but is not yet up to talking on the telephone. At this stage we have no way of communicating with him, but as soon as we have further news, we will let you know. We know that your thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery will be with him.
Diana & David
Rex Murphy's
Point of View index
Diana and David:
That was a most interesting discussion last
night.
It was interesting to meet Alex Shoumatoff.
Here are a few more comments and thoughts about
the new US energy policy:
1. Mandating more fuel
efficient cars is a good move. It may or may not reduce gasoline consumption.
With more fuel efficient cars, people may well drive more, and more people may
drive. Up until now, and maybe not even now, the rising price of oil has not
reduced gasoline consumption anywhere.
We need all of the energy efficiency we can get.
Realistically, it does not solve the problem of supply of liquid fuels, or of
fossil fuels in general, but it extends the time that oil is
available.
2. The portion of US energy
policy that has moved into the realm of Fairy Tale Land is the part that tries
to replace liquid fuels for road and air transport with ethanol from grains
and/or switchgrass and wood chips.
The reality is that to produce 100 units of fuel
as ethanol from corn requires at least 90 units of fossil fuels. The large
quantities of corn produced today would be impossible to grow without fossil
fuels. Burning food for fuel is already causing hardship to the poor of the
world.
Wood is the best of the biomass fuels because it
can be stored in place on the tree until used. In 1850 the US was using its
forest resources for fuel at an unsustainable rate. Today, US fuel consumption
is 35 to 40 times that of 1850. I have not run the numbers, but it is likely
that the energy content of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel is on the order of
ten times the energy content of wood used for fuel in 1850.
The US has more forest today than in 1850. This
reserve of energy will be used up quickly if wood becomes a significant source
of fuel for road and air transport.
Switchgrass has the disadvantage that it has to
be harvested annually. I don't know how much fossil fuel is required to grow,
harvest and process switchgrass, but it is not insignificant.
The real test of fuel from biomass, is to say to
the proponents, "We will give you all of the fossil fuel you need to grow corn
and switchgrass and convert it into liquid fuel for two years. After
that, you can only use the fuel produced by your process to provide energy for
further production." These schemes will rapidly fall apart.
The problem is more serious than the US wishes to
admit even to itself. The most powerful nation on earth gets its power from
the consumption of energy by all of its people. Now that the energy supply is
threatened, the solutions should be based on reality. Instead, the solutions
proposed lack the focus of reality. This can only lead to disaster. This
is especially important to Canadians, because the reality is that we depend on
the US for the defense of our country. Its a dangerous world out there and it
will become more dangerous if the US does not have the energy supplies to
defend itself.
3. There are some scientists in
the US who are promoting a $30 billion "Apollo" or "Manhattan" scale project
to find solutions to the US energy problem. It is an unfocussed proposal and
does not recognize the important role that nuclear fission energy
must play. It would be better if their proposal were directed
specifically towards finding a solution to adequate road and air transport
energy supply.
4. It is interesting that the
US House of Representatives is presenting a bill that would require all
US naval ships to be powered by nuclear. They are catching up to Nobody's
Fuel.
Thank you again for an interesting
evening.
Regards,
Doug
Altria to spin off international unit
August 29, 2007 03:56 PM ET
 |
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Altria Group Inc is splitting the Marlboro
cigarette business apart, saying Wednesday that it will spin
off its Philip Morris International unit in move seen as unlocking
the value of that faster growing business.
Full
Article |
 Stephen S. Poloz VP EDC Economics Weekly Commentary
Labour Shortages are Global - December 12, 2007
We hear about labour shortages a lot – there are not enough doctors, carpenters, plumbers, or skilled workers in general (except, perhaps, economists). This is becoming a global problem.
Economists will tell you that labour shortages are not supposed to happen. When something is in short supply, excess demand pushes the price up. This reduces demand and increases supply. When it comes to skilled labour, the supply response is by necessity gradual, and may be very difficult, since it requires education and, perhaps re-education of transitioning workers. Past issues | his WN page
Commentary podcast. 
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