Jul 10, 2009
Tell me what I am eating, please
Apparently, according to this poll, people are becoming more concerned about what they are eating; or better, more concerned about what they buy. Being "environmentally" concerned in our decisions is becoming part of our everyday life. There are reasons to be cheerful about this, and reasons to be worried. The fact that there is a higher demand for goods which have lower carbon footprints may be in fact a welcome event, but the risk of a resurrection of protectionism becomes extremely likely. What people are asking for is information, so who' s gonna provide it? It is very likely that this taks is going to be performed by people with vested interests, able to convey their "right" information. As we reported here and here, there are common misperceptions about the environmental impact of what we eat and do. Information is a public good, and I think, even more in this case. Some form of intervention or cooperation here must happen if we want to be serious about climate change.
Jul 9, 2009
Opportunity Cost
Apparently, according to this fundamental study "women spend nearly one year deciding what to wear". Is this because women do not optimize or because their partners are not convincing when they say "honey, you do look beautiful with that"?
Jul 8, 2009
Recession and Health: once again
In a previous post we surveyed some studies which claimed that the effects of recessions on health are positive. The logic behind these results is that people are induced to change their lifestyle during a recession, and this goes often in favour of healthier choices (walking or biking instead of driving their cars).
These results have been re-assessed in a comprehensive study on 26 European countries from
1970 to 2006 and are reported today on the FT and published online on the Lancet Medical Journal (although the version is available only to subscribers).
As the figure to the left reports, a 3% rise in unemployment leads to 28% rise in deaths from alcohol abuse, 6% from homicide and 4% from suicide; it does instead lead to a reduction in transport accidents by 4%. Overall, there is no effect of unemployment on all causes mortality rates.
An interesting picture that emerges from the study is, that the impact of unemployment on death rates vary substantially across countries. For example, suicides rates are substantially mitigated by government-sponsored programmes to keep people employed: if the amount spent on active-labour market participation exceeds 190$ per capita, suicides rates do not rise.
From my understanding, the use of death rates does not allow a full comparison with previous studies, which use more micro data looking at specific habits (like smoking) or health measure (like weight), but it's still informative with regards to the striking policy implications.
These results have been re-assessed in a comprehensive study on 26 European countries from
1970 to 2006 and are reported today on the FT and published online on the Lancet Medical Journal (although the version is available only to subscribers).As the figure to the left reports, a 3% rise in unemployment leads to 28% rise in deaths from alcohol abuse, 6% from homicide and 4% from suicide; it does instead lead to a reduction in transport accidents by 4%. Overall, there is no effect of unemployment on all causes mortality rates.
An interesting picture that emerges from the study is, that the impact of unemployment on death rates vary substantially across countries. For example, suicides rates are substantially mitigated by government-sponsored programmes to keep people employed: if the amount spent on active-labour market participation exceeds 190$ per capita, suicides rates do not rise.
From my understanding, the use of death rates does not allow a full comparison with previous studies, which use more micro data looking at specific habits (like smoking) or health measure (like weight), but it's still informative with regards to the striking policy implications.
Jul 5, 2009
Latin America, the place to be
Another Index of Happiness was released this week, with potential to raise much controversy as developed nations score very badly. In this one, Costa Rica, and not Denmark, tops first.
"That the top 10 in the list of “greenest and happiest” nations is dominated by Latin America might raise a few eyebrows, as the region is better known in the western imagination for its slums, inequality and coups. But the Latin Americans score highly, the report suggests, due to non-material aspirations and strong social capital among friends and relatives. The grim performance of the developed world might also prompt some westerners to cast doubt over the value of the report. Among the rich nations, the highest placed country is the Netherlands – but it manages only 43rd... The challenge for the west, the report says, is not to keep increasing incomes but to aim for more meaningful lives and stronger social ties." (Switzerland, by the way, scores relatively well among developed nations, 52. Maybe because of la fete des voisins!)
Despite all problems with such Indexes, I find it valuable to add measures of social capital and ecological footprint to go beyond gpd pc. Me at least I can definetly see how some people may prefer Costa Rica over Denmark!
On the other hand, I believe violence indicators could enter such an Index more directly than trough Life expectancy only - having good true friends around, nature, some income, relatively high life expectancy etc mean much less when people have to face violence all the time - which is the case of Kingston, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota or San Salvador, whose countries all rank top 10 in this index. Most of them have drug trafficking as background.
Calculate your own score on the Happy Planet Index if you want to find out "how happy you are and at what price to the environment!"
"That the top 10 in the list of “greenest and happiest” nations is dominated by Latin America might raise a few eyebrows, as the region is better known in the western imagination for its slums, inequality and coups. But the Latin Americans score highly, the report suggests, due to non-material aspirations and strong social capital among friends and relatives. The grim performance of the developed world might also prompt some westerners to cast doubt over the value of the report. Among the rich nations, the highest placed country is the Netherlands – but it manages only 43rd... The challenge for the west, the report says, is not to keep increasing incomes but to aim for more meaningful lives and stronger social ties." (Switzerland, by the way, scores relatively well among developed nations, 52. Maybe because of la fete des voisins!)
Despite all problems with such Indexes, I find it valuable to add measures of social capital and ecological footprint to go beyond gpd pc. Me at least I can definetly see how some people may prefer Costa Rica over Denmark!
On the other hand, I believe violence indicators could enter such an Index more directly than trough Life expectancy only - having good true friends around, nature, some income, relatively high life expectancy etc mean much less when people have to face violence all the time - which is the case of Kingston, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota or San Salvador, whose countries all rank top 10 in this index. Most of them have drug trafficking as background.
Calculate your own score on the Happy Planet Index if you want to find out "how happy you are and at what price to the environment!"
Jul 3, 2009
Russia-Nigeria energy linkup
I'm sorry to double post Chris Blattman once again but this one is too funny:
The full Guardian article is here.It probably seemed a good idea at the time. But Russia's attempt to create a joint gas venture with Nigeria is set to become one of the classic branding disasters of all time -- after the new company was named Nigaz.
The new company Nigaz plans to invest at least $2.5bn (£1.5bn) in oil and gas exploration and aims to build refineries, pipelines and gas power stations across Nigeria.
France in Africa - Quotes
Finally some fine comments from Chris:
“Africa without France is a car without a driver,” he said. “France without Africa is a car without petrol.” (Bongo)
“Africa without France is a car without a driver,” he said. “France without Africa is a car without petrol.” (Bongo)
“Elf is not just an oil company but a parallel diplomacy to control certain African states, above all at the key moment of decolonisation. Alongside exploration and production, opaque operations were organised, to keep certain countries stable.”
"Critics of China's (dodgy) Africa resources ventures need not look long into the West's own past to see deeds much worse". (Blattman)
Trade and Climate Change
Last week, the WTO and UNEP released a joint report entitled "Trade and Climate Change".
The Report provides an overview of the key linkages between trade and climate change based on a review of available literature and a survey of relevant national policies. It shows that trade intersects with climate change in a multitude of ways. For example, governments may introduce a variety of policies, such as regulatory measures and economic incentives, to address climate change. This complex web of measures may have an impact on international trade and the multilateral trading system.
While the Report is reminisant of the Stern Review or the IPCC Assessment Report, it's worth having a look at because of its specific focus on trade issues, its detailed examples of national and international policies being adopted, and its overview of the relevant WTO rules. And of course, I can't forget to mention that a couple of Graduate Institute students contributed significant parts of the report.
The Report provides an overview of the key linkages between trade and climate change based on a review of available literature and a survey of relevant national policies. It shows that trade intersects with climate change in a multitude of ways. For example, governments may introduce a variety of policies, such as regulatory measures and economic incentives, to address climate change. This complex web of measures may have an impact on international trade and the multilateral trading system.
While the Report is reminisant of the Stern Review or the IPCC Assessment Report, it's worth having a look at because of its specific focus on trade issues, its detailed examples of national and international policies being adopted, and its overview of the relevant WTO rules. And of course, I can't forget to mention that a couple of Graduate Institute students contributed significant parts of the report.
Corruption: Why fight the roots if addressing the symptoms is so much easier
Here is another example of silly policies to address corruption:
The entire story is on BBC News
"Staff at Nepal's main international airport are to be issued with trousers without pockets, in an attempt to wipe out rampant bribe-taking"
The need to listen
It seems like our school's administration finds it hard to listen to students' recommendations. I was reading the minutes of the Institute's comittee, only to be, once again, exasperated by some kind of stubborness:
- " M. Burrin explique que l'idée est de doter l'Institut d'un texte sur les principes et les valeurs qui devraient lier l'ensemble de ses collaborateurs et être appropriés par tous, comme cela se fait dans de nombreuses institutions universitaires."
- "M. Burrin explique que les professeurs sont payés principalement pour faire de la recherche et que l’Institut ambitionne de développer celle-ci, car c’est grâce à elle qu’une institution rayonne et que les professeurs nourrissent leur enseignement."
- "Mme Komar estime important de trouver un équilibre entre les deux, car l’Institut est également composé d’étudiants."
- "Mme Komar suggère d’ajouter sous « Mission » une référence à la « contribution pratique »
des alumni ayant une position importante dans la société."
- "M. Burrin souligne que le texte sur la mission de l’Institut a été élaboré il y a plus d’un an et qu’il serait probablement formulé en des termes légèrement différents aujourd’hui, mais qu'il ne s'agit pas de le réécrire, l'essentiel de la Charte portant sur les valeurs et principes."
Here's the deal, Komar is a student, and she highlights rightly that teaching is important. The administration seems to want to build a reputation by downgrading teaching. It is obviously completely insane. HEID will have a reputation only when its degress become serious ones, when students finish their degrees with a certain satisfaction and a lot of ambition acquired through influential and motivating professors. This is not the case at all now (with very few execptions) and I don't think the direction has the capacity to grasp this concept.
It's obvious from the minutes above that the director is not willing to take seriously any advice coming from the student body. With this attitude, the school is doomed, with good research output or not.
- " M. Burrin explique que l'idée est de doter l'Institut d'un texte sur les principes et les valeurs qui devraient lier l'ensemble de ses collaborateurs et être appropriés par tous, comme cela se fait dans de nombreuses institutions universitaires."
- "M. Burrin explique que les professeurs sont payés principalement pour faire de la recherche et que l’Institut ambitionne de développer celle-ci, car c’est grâce à elle qu’une institution rayonne et que les professeurs nourrissent leur enseignement."
- "Mme Komar estime important de trouver un équilibre entre les deux, car l’Institut est également composé d’étudiants."
- "Mme Komar suggère d’ajouter sous « Mission » une référence à la « contribution pratique »
des alumni ayant une position importante dans la société."
- "M. Burrin souligne que le texte sur la mission de l’Institut a été élaboré il y a plus d’un an et qu’il serait probablement formulé en des termes légèrement différents aujourd’hui, mais qu'il ne s'agit pas de le réécrire, l'essentiel de la Charte portant sur les valeurs et principes."
Here's the deal, Komar is a student, and she highlights rightly that teaching is important. The administration seems to want to build a reputation by downgrading teaching. It is obviously completely insane. HEID will have a reputation only when its degress become serious ones, when students finish their degrees with a certain satisfaction and a lot of ambition acquired through influential and motivating professors. This is not the case at all now (with very few execptions) and I don't think the direction has the capacity to grasp this concept.
It's obvious from the minutes above that the director is not willing to take seriously any advice coming from the student body. With this attitude, the school is doomed, with good research output or not.
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