Category: economics

$350,000 to shoot a rare black rhino

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, economics, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

Sounds horrendous. The hunter faced death threats from outraged conservationists.

black-rhino-etosha-namibia_wide-40b65374e6f35f56faf85d069d2b72ba87191945-s1500-c85

But the issue is far more complex than it seems at first glance.

The permit came from Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism. Each year it targets several older rhinos that are no longer able to breed but still pose a deadly threat to younger males. The proceeds are meant to go toward anti-poaching and conservation efforts.

NPR

That $350,000 does much to protect black rhino. Many hunters are keen conservationists.

Want to know more?

Back in 2014, Corey Knowlton paid $350,000 for a hunting trip to Namibia to shoot and kill an endangered species. He’s a professional hunter, who guides hunts all around the world, so going to Africa would be nothing new. The target on the other hand would be. And so too, he quickly found, would be the attention.

This episode, producer Simon Adler follows Corey as he dodges death threats and prepares to pull the trigger. Along the way we stop to talk with Namibian hunters and government officials, American activists, and someone who’s been here before – Kenya’s former Director of Wildlife, Richard Leakey. All the while, we try to uncover what conservation really means in the 21st century.

Listen to the story on RadioLab.

prevalence of guns results in more murders / suicides

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, firearms, GOP USA, government, things getting worse4 Comments

If you like guns, fine. Buy them. Use and store them safely.

But don’t tell me the average person is safer at home with a gun than without. They’re not – even if 63% of American believe that NRA lie to be true.

WITH one of the highest murder rates among OECD countries—second only to Mexico—America retains its reputation as a disproportionately dangerous country.

The number of violent assaults in America is comparable to those of other western countries, yet murders are much more common. The prevalence of guns goes a long way toward explaining America’s terrible record—they are used in two-thirds of all murders. Americans are five times as likely to be murdered as Brits but over 40 times as likely to be murdered with a gun. …

Economist 

firearm stats

USA should QUIT the Middle East

On By Rick McIn economics, government, things getting worseLeave a comment

Andrew J. Bacevich:

… Today, three-and-a-half decades after America’s War for the Greater Middle East was launched, that region is less stable than it was when U.S. forces first began making their appearance.

Costs, sustained as well as exacted, have been considerable. Successes have been few and transitory. …

… In our day, it’s not Saudi Arabia and Iraq that the United States should worry about defending, but Canada and Venezuela. Given startling adjustments in estimates of accessible global oil and natural gas reserves, the United States can count on being able to satisfy its energy requirements by drawing entirely on sources within its own hemisphere for many decades to come. We don’t need the Gulf.

So although ISIL is as vile and vicious an organization as humankind has managed to produce in recent memory, it does not pose a particular danger to the United States. …

U.S. policymakers who conclude otherwise — who persist in claiming that it’s incumbent upon the United States to “degrade and defeat” ISIL — are throwing good money after bad. …

Politico – ISIL is a problem, but not America’s problem

Andrew J. Bacevich is writing a military history of America and the Middle East.

American troops should put boots on the ground … in America. Bring the troops home.

US Flag Around the Earth --- Image by © Images.com/Corbis
US Flag Around the Earth — Image by © Images.com/Corbis

related – Why Does the U.S. Have So Many Military Bases Abroad?

the right to die

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, government, things getting betterLeave a comment

Economist – Doctors should be allowed to help the suffering and terminally ill to die when they choose

The argument is over the right to die with a doctor’s help at the time and in the manner of your own choosing. As yet only a handful of European countries, Colombia and five American states allow some form of doctor-assisted dying. But draft bills, ballot initiatives and court cases are progressing in 20 more states and several other countries (see article).

In Canada the Supreme Court recently struck down a ban on helping patients to die; its ruling will take effect next year. In the coming months bills will go before parliaments in Britain and Germany. …

The right to die

candle snuffed

I’d like that right. Voluntary euthanasia is working well everywhere it’s been tried.

Koch Bros – “It’s the evil thing”

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, GOP USA, governmentLeave a comment

The Koch brothers aren’t true evil, I was surprised to learn. But they’ve put together a coalition that intends to spend almost $1 billion in 2016.

I do believe that money is intended to buy election wins for Republican candidates who will be expected to support polices that benefit … the Koch brothers.

This is a business move. Though they lost perhaps half a billion trying to defeat Obama, they hope to get back more than 1.5 billion if the next President is a Republican.

Click PLAY or watch a protest song on YouTube.

If you don’t like billionaires buying elections, campaign against the politicians they support.

contraception reduces abortion

On By Rick McIn economics, education, ethics, GOP USA, governmentLeave a comment

In the United States 98% of women have used birth control at some point in time and 62% of those of reproductive age are currently using birth control …

(I assume the other 2% practice abstinence.)

About a third of American women will have an abortion in their lifetime. It’s a difficult and traumatic decision for most. 😦

Anything we can do to reduce the rates of unwanted pregnancy and abortion should be considered.

A study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology found that the availability to free contraception caused a drop in teen birth rates and cut the rate of abortions for all participants by more than half.

For American teens, the drop in abortion rates may be closer to 75%.

Colorado teen birthrate dropped 40% over a few years when low-cost birth control was made available. An anonymous donor funded the $23 million initiative

old white men deciding what women can do with their bodies
old white men deciding what women can do with their bodies

If you restrict access to sex education and contraception, expect more abortions.

Roman Catholics and (many) evangelicals should expect more abortions because they limit access to contraceptives.

Pope-Francis-AP

The Roman Catholic Church should council women not to have abortions. But then provide help for those additional children they want born. Many are born to young, poor and distressed mothers who don’t have access to abortion.  Those children really need the help of the Church.

___

… Around 44 million abortions occur each year in the world, with a little under half done unsafely.

Abortion rates have changed little between 2003 and 2008, before which they decreased for decades due to better education about family planning and birth control. …

Those who are against abortion largely claim that an embryo or fetus is a human with a right to life and may compare it to murder.

Supporters point to a woman’s right to decide over her own body and to human rights in general. …

The blue and green colours indicate those nations where abortion is mostly legal on request.

Abortion_Laws

“Every Sperm is Sacred” is a Monty Python musical sketch satire of Catholic teachings on reproduction that forbid masturbation and contraception by artificial means.

Obviously 1 egg or 1 sperm is NOT life.

But there is a legitimate argument on when a human life actually begins. I don’t have a strong opinion on this.

A late-term abortion often refers to an induced abortion procedure that occurs after the 20th week of gestation. Those are – obviously – even worse than first trimester abortions.

why some economists oppose minimum wages

On By Rick McIn economics, governmentLeave a comment

In theory it seems a bad move. But in practice moderate increases seem to work quite well.

And it’s good politics for left leaning governments.

The Economist explains

Protesters calling for higher wages for fast-food workers stand outside a McDonald's restaurant in Oakland, California December 5, 2013. The group, which numbered about 200, shut down the store for more than half an hour as part of a daylong nationwide strike demanding a $15 dollar minimum wage. REUTERS/Noah Berger (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS CIVIL UNREST FOOD) - RTX165IS :rel:d:bm:GF2E9C51PJK01
Protesters calling for higher wages for fast-food workers stand outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Oakland, California December 5, 2013. The group, which numbered about 200, shut down the store for more than half an hour as part of a daylong nationwide strike demanding a $15 dollar minimum wage. REUTERS/Noah Berger 

What happened when Portugal decriminalised drugs

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, governmentLeave a comment

For 20 years The Economist has led calls for a rethink on drug prohibition. This film looks at new approaches to drugs policy, from Portugal to Colorado. “Drugs: War or Store?” kicks off our new “Global Compass” series, examining novel approaches to policy problems.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

FOX news bad for America, bad for the GOP

On By Rick McIn economics, ethics, GOP USA, government, product complaintsLeave a comment

JACK SHAFER, Politico’s senior media writer:

Fox News isn’t just bad for America, which is the usual liberal complaint. It’s also bad for the Republican Party, the still-conservative Bartlett holds, because it has stunted the GOP’s growth with a news agenda that ships “misinformation” to the party’s far-right base.

This is the so-called Fox “echo chamber” effect you’ve read so much about …

According to chamber theorists, Fox “breeds extremism” within the Republican Party by convincing viewers to reject other news feeds as biased and to partake only of Fox content and like-minded conservative radio fodder. The echo chamber, so the theory goes, has deluded the party into thinking that support for its radical-right views is greater than it really is. This, in turn, has convinced the party to run radical candidates who aren’t as electable as they seem to be. And all this extremism prevents the GOP’s presidential candidates from reaching centrist voters, who are essential for victory.

… the network is better at employing presidential candidates than electing them. …

… The median age of a Fox viewer is 68 … and its median age is rising. …

What Liberals Still Don’t Understand About Fox News

foxnews-bad-gop