Another Halloween has come and gone. But the Malthusian virus of doom-and-gloom toward self-interested, voluntary choice rages on. The neo-Malthusians may now concede that we are not running out of resources, but the new line is that we cannot mine and burn what we know we have because we are running out of climate.
More can be added to this list, but the ‘big three’ of today’s alarmism are climate scientist James Hansen, Obama’s science advisor John Holdren, and deep ecologist and founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben. Some quotations follow:
“We have at most ten years—not ten years to decide upon action, but ten years to alter fundamentally the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions.”
-James Hansen, 2006. “The Threat to the Planet.” New York Times Review of Books
… Continue Reading“We cannot afford to put off [climate policy] change any longer.
Editor Note: Back in 1992, the founder and president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), Fred Smith, reviewed Al Gore’s new book, Earth in the Balance. More than two decades later, Smith’s review is still on target and good reading. (One cannot say the same of Malthusian-school writing of the same period.) The review follows:
Al Gore has written, “When giving us dominion over the earth, did God choose an appropriate technology?” And then: “One is tempted to answer, the jury is still out.” Much the same can be said about Governor Bill Clinton’s wisdom in selecting Sen. Gore to be his running mate.
While Mr. Clinton has spent months (if not years) attempting to fashion himself as a moderate Democrat unwedded to the Big Government programs that have dominated his party for so long, the selection of Al Gore signals a return to yesteryear’s agenda.
“Most people are ethical. If virtuous capitalists and entrepreneurs had higher social standing, there might be more of them, and fewer rent-seekers. In the long run, everyone would benefit.”
Every year, the federal government distributes more than $100 billion in corporate welfare. The handouts include thousands of subsidies, mandates, bailouts, and grants. Cronyism also includes favorable regulations to keep competitors out and many other types of other special treatment.
“Rent-seeking,” the term economists use to describe seeking these unethical government favors, is clearly a huge industry. But a major question remains: why isn’t there even more of it? I recently co-authored a paper with Fred Smith on this very topic.
The Tullock Paradox
Lobbying is a $3.5 billion industry resulting in $100 billion annually to its beneficiaries. That’s a 30-fold return.…
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