In October 1992, shortly before his victory over George H. Bush, Bill Clinton declared that trade deals should “require each country to enforce its own environmental and worker standards”. Clinton was trying to distance himself from the NAFTA trade deal that the Republicans had negotiated with Canada and Mexico without denying its expected economic benefits…. (read more)

This blog has, from the beginning, focused on ecology and economics.  These topics are taken up in a recent encyclical by Pope Francis with the extra dimension of how faith informs our decisions in these areas.  Like Al Gore in his book, “The Future” , the pope summarizes some trends in the world around us and… (read more)

When I started this blog, I referred to the similarities between ecosystems and economies.  Here, I will make an ecologist’s observations on the patterns of world trade.  Foodwebs are an important tool in understandng ecosystems.  They are a list of species from which each species draws energy. That is to say, who eats whom. Economists… (read more)

My last blog post was about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.  The scientists shared that award with an individual who won an Oscar  in the same year.  That has to be some kind of record, inspiring peace and artistic acclaim in one effort. This same individual,… (read more)

The 40 page summary published this month by the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change makes some startling statements. The summary is the capstone of three major reports, 6 years of work and 30 years of experience in getting governments and scientists to clarify the likely outcomes of the increasing load of greenhouse gasses in our shared… (read more)

  Canadians are obsessed with health care.  Our publicly-funded system is one of a very few cultural differences (along with the length of our football fields) between ourselves and our great neighbours to the south. As such, medicare is a source of pride and identity.  Jeffrey Simpson has recently pointed out that this pride is… (read more)

Those born between 1910 and 1930 saw fit to raise a generation which could care for them in their old age.  Their children, the “Baby Boomers”, were not so far-sighted. Though the Earth has benefitted from the decrease in population growth in Western countries in the last 50 years and though we boomers have had less burdensome… (read more)

Income inequality can lead to several of the seven deadly sins.  Greed is a natural in a society where some people have much and many have little.  Unequal societies are also susceptible to Envy.  A particularly equal society can  bring about Sloth, the assumption that nothing  is really worth striving for. Today, I would like… (read more)

One of the themes of last year’s Occupy protest was income inequality, focusing especially on how much wealth the top 1% of income earners controlled.  Income inequality has always been of interest in discussing what makes a fair society but economists also refer to income inequality when discussing what makes an efficient society.  An economy… (read more)