Editor’s note: Any comments contrary to my blog entry’s headline will be mocked and the commenter marginalized and castigated to the fullest extent of the law (of PTBC), which I will create on the fly with help from those whose politics I like. Debate over. Science settled. Over and out. Bob’s yer uncle. Peace.
I liked this article from the Wall Street Journal yesterday.
June 7, 2008
[Wall Street Journal online]Even as the U.S. Senate debates a vast new tax and spend regime in the name of fighting climate change, a more instructive argument was taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark. Some of the world’s leading economists met last week to decide how to do the most good in a world of finite resources.
Scarcity is a core economic concept, though politicians and even many economists prefer to ignore it. There isn’t an unlimited amount of money to be spent on every problem, so choices have to be made. The question addressed by the Copenhagen Consensus Center is what investments would do the most good for the most people. The center’s blue-ribbon panel of economists, including five Nobel laureates, weighed more than 40 proposals to improve the world by spending a total of $75 billion over the next four years.
What would do the most good most economically? Supplements of vitamin A and zinc for malnourished children.
Number two? A successful outcome to the Doha Round of global free-trade talks. (Someone please tell Barack Obama.)
[A Different Consensus]Global warming mitigation? It ranked 30th, or last, right behind global warming mitigation research and development. (Someone please tell John McCain.) …
The panel of experts at the Copenhagen Consensus Center has Canadian Content in it, so it will be worthy coverage on the state-owned CBC, all next week. Watch for that. (Also check for upcoming ten-part “Passionate Eye” series on “Wacky Possibly Right-Wing Danish Denier Folks”).
Over two years, more than 50 economists have worked to find the best solutions to ten of the world’s biggest challenges. During the last week of May, an expert panel of 8 top-economists, including 5 Nobel Laureates, sat down to assess the research.
The result: A prioritized list highlighting the potential of 30 specific solutions to combat some of the biggest challenges facing the world.
Combating malnutrition in the 140 million children who are undernourished reached the number one spot, after economist Sue Horton of Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada made her case to the expert panel.
Providing micronutrients for 80% of the 140 million children who lack essential vitamins in the form of vitamin A capsules and a course of zinc supplements would cost just $60 million per year, according to the analysis. More importantly, this action holds yearly benefits of more than $1 billion. …
Additional good reading:
• How to Think About the World’s Problems
By BJORN LOMBORG
Also, from PTBC
• CBC.ca accepts paid ads from “man-made global warming” culprits
—esp “Passionate Eye” reference and other CBC “informational” shows like “The Denial Machine” and more.
Also see :
• Bjorn Lomborg‘s book “Cool It: the Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming”
#30 Coinkidink:
• Canada’s health system ranked #30 in world by World Health Organization
.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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