Yay, we’re the 15th happiest country in the world! Unsurprisingly, while money makes us happy, it doesn’t really matter once you earn over 15,000 USD/capita. What really matters is trust, tolerance and religion, apparently. Being religious makes you seven percentage points happier on average, which probably explains Saudi Arabia’s unusual happiness in the face of such intolerance.
And now for the big picture(s)! Read more
One thing that does upset me about the constant delays to the emissions trading scheme is the impact it has on the poor old forestry industry.
Forestry has struggled from high shipping costs, strong competition from places like Russia which has driven down prices, a large decrease in demand as building activity collapsed (especially in the US), and uncertainty surrounding the ETS.
Finally the government was clear – the ETS will be introduced and if you cut down trees that were planted before 1990 you owe a liability. As a result, people cut them down before it was introduced – not getting the best price or having to store the timber. Furthermore, companies started to look at planting trees – as a way of making some money off marginal land.
Now the whole scheme is up in the air – so forestry has to put up with more uncertainty, and people that have acted in the belief that the ETS would occur have been screwed over.
At Typealyzer they have they have a tool that finds out the personality type of a blog (ht Greg Mankiw).
Given that this is a mainstream economics blog the result was unsurprising – INTJ – The Scientists. Here is the description:
The long-range thinking and individualistic type. They are especially good at looking at almost anything and figuring out a way of improving it – often with a highly creative and imaginative touch. They are intellectually curious and daring, but might be physically hesitant to try new things.
The Scientists enjoy theoretical work that allows them to use their strong minds and bold creativity. Since they tend to be so abstract and theoretical in their communication they often have a problem communicating their visions to other people and need to learn patience and use concrete examples. Since they are extremely good at concentrating they often have no trouble working alone.
I was amazed to see a recent article by Chris Trotter where he has an “epiphany“. Chris Trotter has always had a strong set of value judgments about what was right policy and the way the world worked – but suddenly he has shown a willingness to evaluate those value-judgments. And for that I have to congratulate him.
It sounds like the possibility of a “carbon tax” is back on the table. We have written on the topic before – but it does not appear that we have laid out what I see as the primary costs and benefits of the different options. As a result, I will do that now. In the comments, feel free to add some costs and benefits:
I get back into the country and everyone is telling me that rates are going down by 100 basis points in the next meeting – however no-one will tell me why!