Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Water, water, nowhere

What do the Arabs do when they run out of water, the Guardian is asking. Good question. One of the problems of autocracies is that they focus on staying in power with short-term policies, where a democratic majority might see the need to take action to save their countries. Oil wealth has allowed the populations to explode and people to survive unemployed in economies with no openings for them. Lack of jobs is one thing. Lack of water is another.

But democracy certainly isn't a cure-all. In our own democratic society, we are on track to eventually spend 100% of the GDP on employing the highest possible technology to extend the lives of our oldest and feeblest citizens by one more year each. We obviously can't get to that point, but we can destroy our economy in the attempt and it's a problem no politician seems prepared to address.

Health care policy in America makes it hard to feel superior to anybody.

Successful Business is never usual

Maersk has announced plans to build the largest container ships ever, and in the process reduce their carbon emissions by 50% per container-mile. This is what business does. High costs are incentives to innovate. The prospect of increasing costs are even stronger spurs.

Businesses, left to themselves, will innovate their way to better energy efficiency. Private enterprise achieves the progress that bureaucracy obstructs.

What do we do with pirates?

Somali pirates have killed four Americans and our armed forces have captured about 15 of them alive. Now what?

This isn't a difficult case. It's obvious piracy. It's obvious murder. And there are fifteen people who are complicit. Who did what doesn't much matter.

What we should do with them now is a problem. What we will do is doubtless bring them back to this country, give them respectable trials, and lock them up for decades at public expense.

This is not the way piracy has traditionally been dealt with on the high seas, and the 15 pirates should accidentally fall overboard. It would send a healthy message to their comrades in Somalia.