Monday, October 17, 2005
Spiralling personal debt is not just a problem in New Zealand. The average US household now has $8,600 of credit card debt.
However, there are ways to get you and your family out of the trap.
New Zealand will not be able to cut greenhouse gases without severe economic hardship, says a report that calls for carbon taxes to be dropped. The report, written by economist Alex Sundakov of consultancy Castalia, says it will be impossible for New Zealand to reduce emissions and expand the economy at the same time. "Almost half of the country's greenhouse gases come from agriculture and 20 per cent from vehicles. The remainder is from industry and manufacturing... Carbon taxes would have to be very high to suppress consumption of energy and that would be economically destructive." Unrealistic greenhouse gas emissions targets could push industries to quit New Zealand for non-Kyoto countries. Steel making, cement production, aluminium production, oil refining, and wood and food processing were likely to do this. That would harm the economy but not lead to any global emissions reductions. Mr Sundakov said present climate change policies recognised the impracticality of reducing agricultural methane emissions. But that meant all other sectors would have to double their reduction in emissions to reach set targets.
Here is a case of a double-edged sword: Faith schools should be shut down unless they agree to engage with pupils from other faiths, the work and pensions minister, Margaret Hodge, will say today. In a strongly worded speech to the Labour thinktank Progress, which Tony Blair will also attend, she will warn that overt racism is on the rise among Britain's white working class. As a result, she argues, tough measures must be taken to prevent race relations deteriorating. Immigrants to the UK must be given the absolute duty to integrate. They must learn to speak English, while cultural practices such as forced marriages that are unacceptable within Britain must be banned. Faith schools should be required to support tolerance and integration. "...We should insist on admissions policies that do not exclude those of other faiths from attending a particular school."
Joost Smiers and Marieke van Schijndel imagine a world without copyright, and believe it will actually increase creativity, not stifle it. "Copyright was once a means to guarantee artists a decent income. Aside from the question as to whether it ever actually functioned as such - most artists never made a penny from the copyright system - we have to admit that copyright serves an altogether different purpose in the contemporary world. It now is the tool that conglomerates in the music, publishing, imaging and movie industries use to control their markets."
However, there are ways to get you and your family out of the trap.
New Zealand will not be able to cut greenhouse gases without severe economic hardship, says a report that calls for carbon taxes to be dropped. The report, written by economist Alex Sundakov of consultancy Castalia, says it will be impossible for New Zealand to reduce emissions and expand the economy at the same time. "Almost half of the country's greenhouse gases come from agriculture and 20 per cent from vehicles. The remainder is from industry and manufacturing... Carbon taxes would have to be very high to suppress consumption of energy and that would be economically destructive." Unrealistic greenhouse gas emissions targets could push industries to quit New Zealand for non-Kyoto countries. Steel making, cement production, aluminium production, oil refining, and wood and food processing were likely to do this. That would harm the economy but not lead to any global emissions reductions. Mr Sundakov said present climate change policies recognised the impracticality of reducing agricultural methane emissions. But that meant all other sectors would have to double their reduction in emissions to reach set targets.
Here is a case of a double-edged sword: Faith schools should be shut down unless they agree to engage with pupils from other faiths, the work and pensions minister, Margaret Hodge, will say today. In a strongly worded speech to the Labour thinktank Progress, which Tony Blair will also attend, she will warn that overt racism is on the rise among Britain's white working class. As a result, she argues, tough measures must be taken to prevent race relations deteriorating. Immigrants to the UK must be given the absolute duty to integrate. They must learn to speak English, while cultural practices such as forced marriages that are unacceptable within Britain must be banned. Faith schools should be required to support tolerance and integration. "...We should insist on admissions policies that do not exclude those of other faiths from attending a particular school."
Joost Smiers and Marieke van Schijndel imagine a world without copyright, and believe it will actually increase creativity, not stifle it. "Copyright was once a means to guarantee artists a decent income. Aside from the question as to whether it ever actually functioned as such - most artists never made a penny from the copyright system - we have to admit that copyright serves an altogether different purpose in the contemporary world. It now is the tool that conglomerates in the music, publishing, imaging and movie industries use to control their markets."
