Think triad, not dichotomy. There is not just a market and a state. Not just cap and trade or carbon tax. Those are not the only options. The third option is restoration of the commons.
On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 2:39 PM, Ben Pope <[email protected]> wrote: > If there is hope for a market solution to climate change it will be from > the insurance/reinsurance industry. But, I don't think there is really any > hope for it. The reason is that markets are inherently reactive, i.e. > people *respond* to the conditions as they exist now. Second, the free > rider problem. Costs are concentrated while benefits are diffuse. > Individually, the cost to do something about global warming is pretty high. > I would have to significantly change my life and spend money on things that > don't give me immediate satisfaction. Even so, my action individually > doesn't amount to anything if everyone else isn't doing it as well. Chances > are that many people will make the calculation that they don't really need > to do anything, that somebody else will fix it. > > There will absolutely be a market for mitigating climate change because > the cost and benefit are borne by the individual payer. Insurers and > contractors know this. However, here will likely not be a market for > stopping climate change; the cost is borne by the individual and the > benefits are spread across the world. There is a possible market solution > through insurance and reinsurance companies, but I don't think their buyers > will be willing to pay the higher costs until they start to see major > effects on their business. The only viable way to ensure that everyone pays > is through taxes and creating a single payer for ending climate change. > > > On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 4:26 PM, Eugene Coyle <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Actually they won't have to pay off on the annuities, and can plan for >> that. Just keep the books locked up and all will be fine. >> >> On May 15, 2013, at 2:15 PM, Max Sawicky wrote: >> >> > Climate change doesn't necessarily seem to be a problem for the >> insurance industry. More like an opportunity. When costs go up, so do >> premiums. Some people get priced out of the market, so they don't get any >> coverage. No problem. The rise in health care spending hasn't hurt health >> insurance companies. >> > >> > Of course, the whole planet may melt, but that is no more a problem for >> the inscos than everybody else. >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 4:43 PM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > Marv Gandall quotes: >> > > The influential British financial columnist Martin Wolf, writing in >> today's Financial Times, is much less sanguine, and offers his reasons why >> he has given up on the prospect of any meaningful >> > action against global warming - either at the top or from below.< >> > >> > didn't Philip K. Dick have a book about a world that is getting >> > steadily hotter, with its main characters living in a shelter? >> > -- >> > Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your >> > own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. >> > _______________________________________________ >> > pen-l mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > pen-l mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pen-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l >> > > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > -- Cheers, Tom Walker (Sandwichman)
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