Ever dreamed of living like royalty? Count your blessings: If you can afford this magazine (WORLD, where this article was originally published), you're already much better off economically than most kings ever were. Reginald Labbe, an English farmer better off than most in his time, died in the year 1293. His will listed the following possessions: one cow and one calf two sheep and three lambs three hens a bushel and a half (about 90 pounds) of wheat a seam (about 400 pounds) of barley a … [Read more...]
Climate Change’s Great Legacy: International Wealth Redistribution
A $Trillion here, a $Trillion there---pretty soon you're talking real money. No, I'm not talking about the U.S. national debt, now at over $18 trillion. That's a very bad thing that threatens to impoverish our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I'm talking about the $Trillions being demanded by developing-world countries from rich countries (primarily the United States) as the price of their signing onto a global agreement to cut CO2 emissions at COP21 in Paris in … [Read more...]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Gets It: Forget ‘Climate Change’, Energy Empowers the Poor
Speaking September 29 at the UN General Assembly, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it perfectly clear: India will not stop or even slow its people's rise out of poverty to satisfy the global warming elites of the West. Modi told the UN that any climate agreement acceptable to India must function "without affecting our ability to meet the development aspirations of humanity." And India intends to meet those aspirations by providing the abundant, affordable, reliable electricity without … [Read more...]
Ethanol: A Federally Mandated Killer
Terry Scanlon of the Capital Research Center leads his latest email this way: When you gas your car with 10% ethanol, you're dragged into the Renewable Fuel Standard morass run by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). This environmentalist policy is so terrible, even the greens have turned against it. But as a government program, it's immortal. Our latest "Green Watch" documents how this disaster funnels money from consumers to crony capitalists, reduces your car's mileage, raises food … [Read more...]
Dirty Dishes Coming Your Way
First they came after your toilets. Then they came after your light bulbs. Now they’re after your dishwasher. Federal regulators never rest, do they? It’s not enough that they mandated that toilets use so little water per flush that it often takes two, three, or more flushes to get rid of—well, you know. It’s not enough that they mandated compact fluorescent light bulbs that give so little light that it’s difficult, especially for older folks (like me!), to read by it. Now the U.S. … [Read more...]
Global Warming: A Priority for the Rich and Free
Folks like those who stage events like the "Walk Against Warming" illustrated above think fighting climate change is a high priority. President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry say climate change is the greatest threat facing the world. But United Nations-sponsored worldwide polling suggests that how people answer the question, "How high a priority is fighting global warming?" depends significantly on their economic condition. Data for all countries and country groups, ages, education … [Read more...]
Bandow: Papal encyclical forgets the ecological benefits of market economies
Christian economist Doug Bandow, a long-time friend, has published three thoughtful responses to Laudato Si, Pope Francis's encyclical on the environment. One is "In Calling on Government, Laudato Si Underestimates Power of the the Market." It is, as usual, clear and concise. This excerpt is particularly important: ... the Pontiff’s own goals conflict. For instance, he speaks movingly of the dignity of work and its importance for all, including the poor. These jobs—especially better ones, of … [Read more...]
We Pray for Those Working in the Jardim Gramacho Landfill, Brazil
BACKGROUND REPORT by The Rt. Rev. William Mikler The Jardim Gramacho landfill is the largest garbage dump in South America. No longer active, this enormous trash heap is home to 12,000 people who have neither running water nor sewage. Most all live in shacks made of cardboard or tin, and share the dump with wild pigs, vermin, snakes, and buzzards. Many of the inhabitants are children who do not know who their father is. The Life Change Project Rio team that serves in the dump is comprised of … [Read more...]
Oppressing the Poor In the Name of Fighting Global Warming
"No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change." So said President Barack Obama in his State of the Union message last week. That he spent under 5% of the speech on the subject—about one-ninth as much as on the economy, one-fifth as much as on our need to overcome cynicism, and a little less even than on affordable college education—and tucked it away in a section about two-thirds of the way through suggests that the President doesn't really believe it … [Read more...]
Have You Thanked God for the Free Market?
As you reflect on the blessings God has given you this Thanksgiving, I’d like to invite you to thank Him for something many of us take for granted: the free-market economy. Most of the world has never had it, and in countries like ours, it is under siege. From the early twentieth century to about a generation ago, the great threat to it was Communism. That brutal experiment, however, clearly failed. But that didn’t leave our liberties secure. The newer threat is the environmental … [Read more...]
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