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Listed below are comments made by observermac between Thursday, 4th December 2008 and Tuesday, 27th October 2009.

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Copenhagen Countdown: 45 days 3:50pm on 27 Oct 2009 One thing seems to be clear from all these posts: the "science" underpinning the concerns about carbon emission based warming is very far from settled. Nonetheless expect the (non scientist) politicians at Copenhagen to behave as if it is.
Why is there so little coverage of the "non warmist" line of thought in the media,(notably the BBC, which seems to take "global warming" as established fact)?
A forest of issues 3:18pm on 27 Oct 2009 The Ecuador rain forest is very special and well worth preserving. However the world needs oil. Why is it not possible to drill for it without creating unacceptable damage? The Amazon basin is huge- even oil platforms and the odd pipeline should only take up a tiny part of it. Strict environmental conditions, including requirements to reinstate land already spoilt by development as a quid pro quo would cost a fraction of what is proposed as a payment to stop the drilling altogether.

I am very suspicious of cash incentives to deter drilling. A future Ecuadorian government could drill anyway, having pocketed payments for many years. As noted , oil not extracted in Ecuador will be taken from somewhere else.

The driver for this massively expensive and probably ineffective scheme is the panic over "carbon emission created warming". This needs keeping a careful eye on but contrary to the current political consensus the underlying science is by no means universally agreed. See the numerous authorities referred to in Christopher Booker's new book "The Real Global Warming Disaster". More careful research needs to be done before steps like this are taken, greatly damaging the world economy.
EU: If DC were PM 2:29pm on 17 Sep 2009 All three parties promised us a referendum on the revised European arrangements when they wanted our votes at the last election. We have been cheated out of it by the present government. An incoming government should not ratify this cheating. It should hold the promised referendum.
The arguments for and against Lisbon are far from all one way. A debate about the merits would be helpful and whatever the outcome of the vote, having one should settle the position of the UK in Europe for some time to come. Until we have the referendum, our relationship with Europe will be a running sore- hardly a desirable state of affairs.
Can we afford the carriers? 12:55pm on 30 Jun 2009 The subject of Defence raises issues outside the realms of economics. E.g. security and doubts about the state of the world in years to come. At the end of the Cold War we took a peace dividend and Defence expenditure shrank dramatically as a share of GDP. Is the world really destined to be a safer place in the future?
Defence is a British national strength in many different ways and should remain so. If we can fund £170 billion plus on social security payments we can fund the carriers, etc.
Eurosceptics triumphant 10:43am on 08 Jun 2009 The integrity of the democratic system depends on parties honouring key manifesto promises. The commitment to hold a referendum on the transfer of further power to Brussels was absolute. It was made because all main parties recognised that this was what the voters wanted at a time when they were seeking votes.
Europe is important and the arguments about the desirablity of the Lisbon Treaty are far from one way. There is a debate to be had and a judgement to be made. This judgement should be made by the electorate, as was promised.
Labour has reneged on a clear commitment. It has paid the price for doing so in the European elections.
Treasury wants to cut pensions tax break 4:31pm on 20 Apr 2009 It is probably a good time for a reform of the pension allowance system all round. Generally there should be encouragement for people to save. High earners are to some extent dealt with by the cap on pension pots.
There should be no retrospective measures. It is unfair to move the goalposts once people have decided to invest in their pensions, or work on the basis that they formed part of their benefits. Index linked pensions for those in the public sector that have been accrued to date should be preserved.
Going forward, however, the private and public sectors should be brought into line (not forgetting MP's). This would mean that public sector workers would have similar treatment to everyone else in respect of benefits attributable to future work. The resultant long term savings in public expenditure should be enormous.
A cuckoo in the stock market? 12:09pm on 06 Apr 2009 Another reason for being a bit upbeat is the non failure of the G20 summit. There are indications that since this group covers most countries that really matter economically, it is able to at least affect confidence. Politicians like the idea of networking with their peers under the admiring gaze of TV cameras. The G20 is likely to meet fairly often and has it within its power to do things which might work. Crucially, the associated PR effort coordinated by governments may increase confidence in markets. I.e. the vital and hard to capture ingredient which could trigger an upturn.
Irish seek new EU deal 12:14pm on 09 Dec 2008 What part of the word "no" do the Eurocrats fail to understand?
Lisbon charm offensive 2:16pm on 04 Dec 2008 At least the Irish have been given the chance to vote on the issue which was promised to UK voters by all three parties at the last election. They did this because they knew that this was what voters wanted.
Rather than have the debate, where there is a lot to be said on both sides, our government reneged on its solemn promise to UK voters. I feel lied to and cheated.

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