With much of the world bemoaning rising prices and much of the complaint being about the price of fuel, this is bad news indeed. But for the environment, surely, it's the best news. Certainly for those of us who avoid driving it means much less or does it?
Better or Worse?
Bus travel is not particularly cheap in this country. I pay £3.60 for a single 45 minute journey to Oxford! The issue is demand - the buses are full perhaps twice a day. Most of the rest of the day they have perhaps 5 paying customers per trip. The high prices are required to pay for a regular service which not many people use. Higher oil prices should push more people onto buses and reduce prices. Although, of course, the cost of running the service will increase too!
Read the Full Post...
When someone thought of paying farmers not to produce something, people must have thought it was bad idea. Quite so. When people get hold of the idea that farmers get paid to do nothing they tend to become somewhat vexed!
Take Two!
Actually we are paying for the privalege of not having vast over-production and we are paying for farmland to be kept in a good state and to provide sustainable habitats for wildlife. There is a definite grace to killing two birds with one stone. But was the policy really about keeping production down in a time of plenty - and so avoiding bad PR associated with dumping food on world markets or in the North Sea. Or was it about biodiversity and sustainability?
Read the Full Post...
Today the Bank of England joined the race to the bottom on the interest rate scale - a 0.25% rate cut - not quite as dramatic as the Fed but then the BoE doesn't have to care about people - only inflation.
They Sound So Mean!
But what would they have done if their primary goal had been to keep carbon emissions down? Let's rename them the "Carbon Bank of England" and have a think.
Read the Full Post...
Add or View Comments
