Review: Planet of the Humans
The documentary “Planet of the Humans” produced by Michael Moore is not the last word on our human predicament. Still, it starts a conversation we need to have, and it’s a film that deserves to be seen.
Richard Heinberg
Insuring against catastrophe: The coronavirus predicament
For some reason people and governments have chosen not to insure themselves (individually or collectively) against two catastrophes that have been much in the news lately: pandemics and large investment losses.
How much is a barrel of oil worth?
If you were an oil futures trader wanting to unload a May 1 contract on Monday, April 20, a barrel of oil was worth $-37. That’s right, traders were, in effect, willing to pay someone—anyone—to take ownership of a commodity that powers modern industrial society, and has suddenly become too abundant.
The coronavirus scoreboard: The illusion of understanding and control
We are (quite understandably) so focused on the current pandemic that we fail to comprehend that the coronavirus was introduced into a specific social, political and economic context. When we clamor for a vaccine and nothing else, we change nothing that might mitigate the effects and spread of the next novel virus.
The Saudi-Russian oil price war tag team: Are things what they seem?
I believe that the Saudis and the Russians are trying again to destroy the shale oil industry in the United States with their dance of uncertainty. As of this writing, the world has been told that the Saudis’ on-again, off-again fight with the Russians is off-again resulting in a new deal to cut production.
Ben Bernanke: Contrary Indicator
Whether the world returns to some semblance of normal by summer or whether the horror of COVID-19 continues into the fall and winter, the problem is that confidence has already been shattered.
Surviving the Future: Conversations for Our Time
Starting Monday April 6 I will be leading an online course “Surviving the Future: Conversations for Our Time” alongside Sterling College’s delightful Philip Ackerman-Leist, joined by Kate, Rob and further stars of The Sequel, as well as other compelling, internationally-renowned guests including Nate Hagens, Helena Norberg-Hodge and Richard Heinberg.
Covid-19 sucks but it could teach us how to avoid the worst consequences of climate change
Four things we can learn from the response to COVID-19 that are critical for climate change resilience.
Overreacting to coronavirus? The perverse logic of panic during a potential pandemic
Problems which start out small, but have the potential to create systemic ruin, MUST be solved when they are small. Waiting to see if such problems become large is courting the very systemic ruin we seek to avoid.
Coronavirus reveals the true value of the internet
The true value of the internet is being revealed in the public response to the coronavirus pandemic. In bringing people together and keeping them informed, the internet and digital culture in general are doing things few or probably none of their detractors could do.
Spectacularly wrong: Why Wall Street doesn’t understand the corona virus
Large-scale and dramatic rearrangements of our current system worldwide and in the United States are likely to come in the wake of the season of death that is upon us—and in the wake of the economic carnage that results from the breakdown of a system so vulnerable that a tiny virus could topple it at its base.
A modest proposal
An ecosocial modest proposal by cartoonist Miguel Brieva from the coronavirus pandemic. How about if we take advantage of such a complex and extraordinary situation to draw some valuable conclusions?
