Economic data often miss capturing the true state of affairs–the things that can’t be measured are called ‘externalities. These externalities are often the things we care about the most. One example is our health. Researchers have found that there is a clear link between austerity programs and bad health–depression, suicides, and the like. If we required such issues to be included in a country’s GDP statistics, we might have a far different idea of what the state of an economy actually is.
There is a report circulating the web right now that Israel has bombed sites in Syria believed to contain chemical weapons. These reports are as yet unconfirmed. I’ll update this post when I get some additional information.
As the world figures out more and innovative ways to tap hydrocarbon resources, many are relieved that there won’t be an energy crisis any time soon. But one also needs to ask the question about whether these new reserves are indeed a good thing. Some would argue that a shortage is precisely what the world needs to move away from an energy system that is both costly and dangerous.
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