Another Monday Message Board. Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please.
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John Quiggin 
I had hoped to see some decent economic discussion. Not happening so I have unsubscribed
Martin Connolly
Do I recall you commenting on the successive chapters of JQ’s Two Lessons, that he posted here for reader comments over the past year?
Another climate milestone: Governor Jerry Brown has signed SB 100, committing California to 100% zero-carbon electricity by 2045. It’s not his work; in fact he threatened to veto it to secure passage of a more controversial bill he supports for wider regional interconnections, but his bluff was called and he sensibly caved. In fact he doubled down with an even more ambitious executive order aiming for carbon neutrality overall by 2045. That’s a stretch, but so far California has met all its green targets. SB 100 is serious, thought-out, heavily debated, legitimately adopted policymaking in a way that Trump’s destructive shenanigans are not. (*****cbsnews.com/news/california-aims-to-go-100-percent-carbon-neutral/)
It’s worth recalling a few magnitudes.
Population: California 39.5 million, Australia 25.1m.
GDP: California $2.75 trn (gross state product), Australia $1.3 trn (PPP).
The bear is economically twice the size of the roo.
The revelations in the royal commission about the sales tactics by the life insurance industry are eye-catching. Illegal, immoral, reprehensible, unconscionable, all the boxes are ticked. What was ASIC, Scott Morrison’s “tough cop on the beat”, doing about it? SFA, that’s what.
ASIC needs to be thoroughly cleaned out, top to bottom, inside and out, and in every other dimension.
The RC has revealed the venality of every single component of the financial services industry – banking, insurance, financial advice, superannuation, the whole lot – to be venal in a way that not even those who called for the RC suspected.
The many and various quotes from Morrison about how the RC was not needed – a “populist whinge”, he said – should be the centre-piece of the Labor Party’s election campaign.
Hi Martin (@1) You don’t appear to have unsubscribed from the mailing list, or to have subscribed for that matter. Most of the recent posts on the blog have been on economics, and have aroused some discussion, but obviously “decent” is in the eye of the reader. If you don’t find the blog worth reading, you can apply for a full refund of the admission price.
India coal update: additions to coal generating capacity in the April-July quarter (India keeps the antiquated British fiscal year) were minus 214 MW. Coal Plant Tracker still reports 39 GW of coal plant as under construction, but the new capacity figures tell a different story. Much of the 39 GW must now be walking dead: maybe you keep six guys and a digger on the site to stop the banks from declaring your loan in default. The government regulator has issued new guidelines that coal plants over 25 years old should be closed or upgraded to modern regulatory standards – which won’t happen. It’s not clear what the teeth are here.
(*****business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/solar-power-leads-capacity-growth-in-april-july-as-coal-generation-falls-118091400756_1.html).
John, I think you should target the 2 hour record when you finish editing your book:
http://www.espn.com/olympics/trackandfield/story/_/id/24695440/eliud-kipchoge-sets-new-world-record-berlin-marathon-win