Almost any economist who has taught at a Christian college or operates in Christian academic circles has been asked the question, “What about the poor?” Most of the time, people ask the question in the spirit of dismissing any view of economics that favors free markets. Although there are a few Christian colleges where at least the economics faculty might look favorably upon a market economy, the hostility toward free markets is as strong at most Christian colleges as it is in the most left-wing … [Read more...]
So Climate Change Is a Non-Crisis—What about Air & Water Pollution?
A follower writes,My question concerns the legitimate concern with pollution in large urban areas across the globe. I have come to believe that CO2 emissions are not a threat to our climate. But many of the things spewed into the air and water as a result of industrialization are harmful to people. It seems to me it is good to clean up our air and water for the sake of the health of many. Do you have any comments or resources that would help think through these issues?Yes, definitely, it’s good … [Read more...]
UNPREPARED: Covid-19, Locusts, Refugees, Floods, and Climate Change
by G. Cornelis "Kees" van KootenI live on a Pacific Island off the coast of British Columbia (BC), Canada. Vancouver Island is about the same size as the Netherlands, but only has a population of about ¾ million (about 60% of whom live in the Victoria area) compared to 17 million in the Netherlands. As of April 8, 2020, BC had 1,291 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 43 deaths (mainly at long-term care homes), while the Island had 81 confirmed cases. The Netherlands had 20,682 confirmed cases and … [Read more...]
The Poor Take the Hardest Hit from Lockdown: Report from India
I live India. It is not uncommon for me to come across those who live in abject poverty. But the coronavirus pandemic has shown me, and others, how bad the consequences of poverty can be. The nationwide lockdown began in March last week. It is scheduled to end in May. But the damage is already done—not only by the coronavirus, but also by the loss of livelihood for millions. It is estimated that 300 million in India are under the poverty line. Many others are daily wage laborers. Day after day, … [Read more...]
Choosing the Economy over People’s Lives?
The current novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has stimulated all kinds of questions. As more and more people begin to demand that the more extreme measures to curb its spread---those that are shuttering a large part of our economy---come to an end, one of the most common is whether such thinking involves prioritizing the economy over lives. Is it not pro-life to insist that we continue the widespread shutdown of our economy in the name of saving lives?That's what drew this email from one … [Read more...]
How Many Uninfected People Will the “War on the Coronavirus” Kill?
Following is the text of Cornwall Alliance’s first “From the Stacks” livestream program with Founder and National Spokesman E. Calvin Beisner on Facebook, April 7, 2020. We post it here because Internet technical problems made some parts inaudible to viewers. Today, let’s talk about the novel Coronavirus, or COVID-19, and our governments’ responses to it. I’m going to argue that our governing authorities need to expand the sources from whom they seek advice about how to deal with this … [Read more...]
Cornwall Alliance’s Dr. Roy Spencer Speaks to Managers of $25 Trillion in Investments
On February 13, Cornwall Alliance Senior Fellow Dr. Roy W. Spencer made a presentation to about 120 senior asset managers responsible for investments totaling some $25 trillion. The thrust of his message? "NO CLIMATE CRISIS---But the 'Profits of Doom' Will Continue."Dr. Spencer, a principal research scientist in climatology at the University of Alabama, Huntsville who, with his colleague Dr. John Christy, manages NASA's satellite global temperature measuring program and is the U.S. Science Team … [Read more...]
Does Fighting Global Warming Help or Hurt the Poor?
Want to "bring nothing but misery to poor people, especially in the developing world"? Simple: Just follow the advice of the international cabal of UN leaders and their organizations calling for drastic action to fight global warming. The harangue is familiar everywhere by now: Global warming will harm everybody, but it'll harm the poor most of all. Curbing it will help everybody, but it'll help the poor most of all. Is that true? Not according to Dr. Mikko Paunio, an expert on public health … [Read more...]
Why Is the Cornwall Alliance Offering a Booklet on Social Justice?
About a month ago I was among the earliest signers of a public statement that has since gained widespread attention and even stirred up controversy, the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel. Some people wonder why I signed. Their curiosity grows in light of the Cornwall Alliance’s offering my booklet Social Justice vs. Biblical Justice: How Good Intentions Undermine Justice and Gospel, to our friends this month. Why would we do that? I understand the question. It’s not clear at first why … [Read more...]
Keeping People in the Dark is Easy—Just Keep Them in the Dark
It's long been clear that electricity, by putting enormous power at the fingertips of billions of ordinary people, has been crucial to their conquest of poverty. Just now, though, a short article by energy journalist Robert Bryce turned a new light on for me: Electricity is crucial to keeping people free, too. Why? Because information and its rapid, unrestricted sharing feed freedom. And electricity facilitates that rapid sharing of information---through telephones, radio, television, the … [Read more...]
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