Is Minneapolis the coolest town in America?
October 19, 2007 |
Okay, I'm a bit biased because 350 people turned out in the rain for my book talk in Minneapolis -- and they then took me to the New Pornographers show afterwards -- but still. And the local NPR affiliate actually plays rock music. Cool town. Maybe cooler even than Portland. You can hear me getting interviewed in Minneapolis, and then a short piece on the local NPR affiliate. Oh, and a Q&A with me that ran in the local weekly, the Minneapolis Monitor.
Comments
Certainly Levi makes a strong argument for policy over credit - and recent history seems to support his claims. But an issue of the specificity and scale of policy bubbles to the surface when discussing these ideas of global intentions. The development goals of LDCs and the developed giants are rarely well-aligned (but are not necessarily misaligned), and creating policy that is both applicable and mutually desirable is a challenge that Levi seems to push to the back burner. How can we realistically expect the international community at Copenhagen to achieve action-inducing resolutions if the rifts in states' intentions are left unconsidered? And if all participating nations' goals are influential in the decision making process this December, how can policy be implemented at an efficient and economically viable level? Is it really feasible to allow individual governments to determine their own policy at the level of institutions using a blanket set of international requirements?
By Ben mitzner on 2009 09 08
Looks like vestes in the UK laid off more than half it's workforce building wind turbines. This of course is a product that is reliant on government mandates and subsidies.
By seven on 2009 06 03
I appreciated all your point of views. It is so annoying that it would be so hard for every one of us to back to normal. What's happening now is a disaster that can destroy the future of the coming new generation. The incredibly long race format was named after a Greek runner ran from the Battle of Marathon (supposedly, sources conflict) to Athens to announce the Persian defeat and died from exhaustion. Many get short term loans to participate in the Boston Marathon.
By Bryan P. on 2009 04 27
Did you see this study? I found it on Linkedin - Green Techies around the world. Probably something that should be addressed?
http://www.mygreeneducation.com/2009/03/26/is-the-obama-administration-projection-for-millions-of-green-jobs-overstated/
By jsuter on 2009 03 28
There could be no better investment in America than to invest in America becoming energy independent! We need to utilize everything in out power to reduce our dependence on foreign oil including using our own natural resources. Create cheap clean energy, new badly needed green jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.The high cost of fuel this past year seriously damaged our economy and society. The cost of fuel effects every facet of consumer goods from production to shipping costs. It costs the equivalent of 60 cents per gallon to charge and drive an electric car. If all gasoline cars, trucks, and SUV's instead had plug-in electric drive trains the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota.We have so much available to us such as wind and solar. Let's spend some of those bail out billions and get busy harnessing this energy. Create cheap clean energy, badly needed new jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. What a win-win situation that would be for our nation at large! There is a really good new book out by Jeff Wilson called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence Now. http://www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com
By Sherry on 2009 03 24
Obama administration needs to realize that in several months economic crisis and soaring deficit will be solely his administration
By David Dzidzikashvili on 2009 02 01
Obama administration needs to realize that in several months economic crisis and soaring deficit will be solely his administration
By David Dzidzikashvili on 2009 02 01
Well, I guess everyone is affected by the economic crisis that we are experiencing today. But even though we are on this situation we must not lose hope because there are still alternatives that could help us. And it seems like there
By Emergency Cash on 2009 01 12
Another face of Al Gore is the fact that he uses a ridiculous amount of energy every day. His mansion and his flying around the world is, well, I think they call it a hypocri_ !!!!
By Jude Clemente on 2008 11 01
Weisberg doesn't know much about Libertarianism nor does he know much about economics.
First off, Libertarianism, or classical liberalism, is responsible for gigantic strides in human freedom and value since its inception. Weisberg seems incapable of understanding that Libertarian economic principles are a subset of a much larger ideology that has objectively done a lot of good. His false equation of libertarianism, objectively successful, with marxism, which again objectively has led to mass poverty and mass murder, shows a total lack of understanding of political history.
Second, libertarians have been railing against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, enablers of the current crisis, for years. Greenspan has some points about the limitations of libertarian philosophy but the roots of this crisis are in government intervention, not free market thinking.
Finally, libertarians have never held that free markets will make everything good all the time, only that overall they are the best approach. Schumpeter, a very prominent free market economist, thought that free markets were demonstrably best but that they could not survive because people would reject the stress from the economic cycles and 'creative destruction' they caused.
Weisberg also fundamentally misreads the Japanese experience where heavy government intervention to prop up failing banks resulted in a long term recession.
By Robert www.neolibertarian.com on 2008 10 26
The one thing I do not understand, though, is how he could let his wife die be refusing her antibiotics, which would have most definitely saved her life. He was against the idea of being injected with something via a syringe.
Also, in his autobiography, he talks about how he and his friend threw a pair of binoculars into the ocean because of anti-technology views.
I think Gandhi believed technology was too materialistic.
By Mike on 2008 10 19
Robert,
I am glad we can agree that r+d in clean energy technologies is an important investment for the federal government to be making.
However, I disagree with your points that this problem was caused by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--they may have been part of the problem, but that is a vast oversimplification that amounts to a strawman. Without Fannie and Freddie, there would still have been a housing bubble that would have burst, and there still would have been an overconfidence in the credit-swap/derivative market that almost directly led to the liquidity declines of the big financial firms.
I'll admit I am not as well versed in all of the issues as some others, but it is hard to deny that this problem can't just be blamed on Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
Thanks for reading,
Adam
By Adam Zemel on 2008 09 25
The root of the crisis is sub prime problems caused by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, in other words by government intervention into the market.
Because Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were government creations, not market creations, people like George Bush, John McCain, and the Wall Street Journal, among others, have been calling for MORE regulation of Freddie and Fannie for years.
In 2006 John McCain, while co-sponsoring a bill to increase Fannie/Freddie regulation, said 'If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.'
The idea that the melt down was caused by deregulation of private companies is an energizing myth that makes great political theater but is simply incorrect. If Fannie and Freddie had not been created by the government, the sub-prime melt down wouldn't exist. No free market 'dogma' has been refuted, though all the main stream media will say so for years.
I'll make one of my main points again: clean energy Research and Development by the government does not distort the market and should, I believe, have support from across the political spectrum. Worst case, some money is wasted; best case we get a breakthrough with gigantic consequences for decades.
Government funded deployment of new technologies, on the other hand, does distort the market. Government deployment will just be a series of repeats of the ethanol and hydrogen car debacles of the last 20 years.
By Robert L. www.neolibertarian.com on 2008 09 25
Minneapolis was proud to host you. One recommendation for you in order to tap into and interest other groups would be by posting some interviews (ie the fox news interview you talked about) on youtube. It could only create more interest around your work.
By Laura on 2007 10 21