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How to Make the Oil Industry Go Bust
Full text linkCan the oil industry afford to clean up its mess? If by ‘mess’ we mean fossil-fuel-induced climate change, the answer is almost certainly ‘no’. But what if we look at a more limited cleanup scenario, restricted to the remediation of conventional oil and gas wells? Even then, it seems that the oil industry may already be bankrupt.
As a case study, this paper estimates the solvency of the (conventional) oilpatch in the Canadian province of Alberta. By law, Albertan oil companies are required to pay for well remediation. To date, however, the oil industry has saved little for this expense. Instead, it has assumed that future oil production will pay for existing cleanup liabilities. But will it?
Using cleanup estimates from the Alberta Liabilities Disclosure Project, I estimate the past, present and future solvency of the (conventional) Alberta oil industry. I find that at present, the oilpatch sits on the precipice of insolvency
Rentiership and Intellectual Monopoly in Contemporary Capitalism: Conceptual Challenges and Empirical Possibilities
Full text linkThe concepts of rentiership and intellectual monopoly have gained increased prominence in discussions about the transformation of global capitalism in recent years. However, there have been few if any attempts to construct measures for rentiership and intellectual monopoly using firm-level financial data. The absence of such work, we argue, is symptomatic of conceptual challenges in delineating what precisely qualifies as rent, intellectual or otherwise. In place of static conceptions of rent and intellectual monopoly, we develop a dynamic framework for analyzing the processes of rentierization and intellectual monopolization and apply this framework to the analysis of the transformation of non-financial firms in the United States since the 1950s. We find that the timing and intensity of rentierization and intellectual monopolization differs significantly across sector and firm size and is heavily mediated by the uneven ramifications of government policy across companies and industries. Overall, our framework illuminates the variegated landscape of corporate power in the US, and offers a useful guide for critically interrogating rentierization and intellectual monopolization in other contexts
Estudiar el precio, olvidar el valor. Una alternativa al pensamiento económico tradicional
Full text linkRESUMEN. Este artículo intenta sentar las bases para una comprensión de los precios radicalmente diferente a como los entiende el pensamiento económico tradicional. Tras revisar algunos aspectos relevantes de la crítica a la teoría del dinero como mercancía, se muestra que el pensamiento tradicional es incapaz de captar las propiedades irreductibles de los precios y la complejidad de los procesos que determinan las magnitudes monetarias. La crítica del pensamiento tradicional desemboca en un llamado a olvidar el concepto de valor y, en su lugar, elaborar estrategias para entender el funcionamiento de los precios. Siguiendo el trabajo de los economistas Jonathan Nitzan y Shimshon Bichler (2002, 2008), se propone que los cambios en la capacidad de control de los grupos sociales resultan en (y se expresan como) cambios en los niveles relativos de precios. Este desplazamiento permite construir una ontología del orden capitalista que no está fundada en las nociones de equivalencia y valor, sino en las diferencias de poder. Y hace posible reconocer al plano monetario como un fenómeno complejo e irreductible.
ABSTRACT. This article aims to lay the foundations for an understanding of prices radically different from the way they are understood by traditional economic thought. After reviewing some relevant aspects of the critique of the commodity theory of money, it is shown that traditional thought is incapable of grasping the irreducible properties of prices and the complexity of the processes that determine monetary magnitudes. The critique of traditional thinking leads to a call to forget the concept of value and, instead, to develop strategies to understand how prices work in reality. Following the work of economists Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler, it is proposed that changes in the level of control of social groups result in (and are expressed as) changes in relative price levels. This shift makes it possible to build an ontology of the capitalist order that is not founded on notions of equivalence and value but on power differentials. And it makes it possible to recognize the monetary plane as a complex and irreducible phenomenon
"על חמישים שנות בדידות: ספרו של אודי אדיב "המהפכה שלא הייתה (Fifty Years of Solitude: Udi Adiv's Book "The Revolution that Never Was")
Full text linkבליל חורף קר של שנת 1972 פרצו כעשרים אנשי שב"כ ומשטרה לדירה בהדר הכרמל בחיפה ועצרו את אודי אדיב וחברתו, לאה לשם. כך נפתח ספר הזיכרונות של אודי אדיב, המהפכה שלא הייתה.
זאת הייתה תחילתה של פרשה מתוקשרת אשר הגיעה לשיאה במשפטים שנערכו לחברי "הרשת היהודית-ערבית", שבסופם אודי אדיב נמצא אשם בין השאר בבגידה ובריגול ונשלח למאסר ממושך של 17 שנה (שהוקלו מאוחר יותר ל-12 שנים).
שרשרת המעצרים ומשפטי הראווה של אודי וחבריו זכו לסיקור יומיומי מנופח מצד כלל אגפי התקשורת הישראלית של אותה תקופה. יש לזכור כי נפלאות התבונה האינטרנטית טרם התגלו, ורשתות המחשבה הלא מגויסת עדיין לא הומצאו. עיקרי התקשורת היו אז עיתונות כתובה, מפלגתית ו"לא מפלגתית", שלוש תחנות רדיו בבעלות ממשלתית ישירה וערוץ טלוויזיה ממלכתי אחד פטריוטי גאה, שנאשם תדיר על ידי מפלגות הליכוד, המתנחלים והחרדים ב"שמאלנות". אבל במקרה זה נוצר לראשונה בישראל קונצנזוס חמים מימין וממה שכינו אז שמאל: אדיב וחבריו הינם סמל ומשל לאויבי העם, אוהבי ערבים, קומוניסטים שונאי ישראל. הם תוצאת החינוך המתקדם כביכול של הקיבוצים השמאלנים. הם "תלושים מערכי היהדות" וסובלים מ"שנאה עצמית". התברר גם שמקור הרעה הוא תנועת "מצפן" הבוגדנית. ממנה צמחו העשבים השוטים.
עד מהרה הפך המשפט למסע הסתה נגד כל דעה המעזה לבקר את עצם מדיניות החוץ והביטחון הישראלית, התוהה אחר מדיניות הכיבוש וההתנחלויות שניהלה אז ממשלת מפלגת העבודה, המטילה ספק בהיסטוריה הציונית הרשמית, או המזכירה חלילה את קיומה של האומה הפלסטינית, שלא לדבר על רמז לניסיון הידברות מדינית עם נציגי התנועות הפוליטיות הפלסטיניות…
Unhealthy Profits
Full text linkFROM THE ARTICLE: At the end of November 2023, the New York Times published an editorial: Why Are Nonprofit Hospitals Focused More on Dollars Than Patients? It is certainly a valid question. Most people might assume that not-for-profit (NFP) organisations focus on providing a public benefit rather than profit. At most, common wisdom suggests that any income derived from providing a service should be reinvested into expanding or improving the service. There is no obvious reason why a NFP should accumulate large profits over years. Yet in the NFP world of large US hospitals, profit, rather than public purpose, seems to have become the guiding light
How Interest Rates Redistribute Income
Full text linkWhen I read about monetary policy, I have a rule of thumb. Every time I see the phrase interest rate, I replace it with the term wage rate. Then I ask myself whether the discussion still makes sense. Often, it does not.
The reason I make this substitution is that in conceptual terms, the interest rate and the wage rate are similar: they are both rates of return. Wages are the return on employment. Interest rates are the return on credit.
Now, the important thing about rates of return is that when we change them, we are toying with the distribution of income. Hike wages and we send more income to workers. Hike the rate of interest and we send more income to creditors. Sure, the specifics of this redistribution are open for inquiry. But by definition, rates of return are ‘distributional variables’ — they determine how the income pie gets divvied up.
Back to my word substitution. When it comes to wages, the issue of distribution is typically front and center. That’s why talk of a minimum-wage hike prompts businesses (and many economists) to complain about reduced profits. But when creditors hike the rate of interest, talk of income distribution is curiously absent. Instead, we get a barrage of macroeconomic jargon — terms like the ‘natural rate of interest’ and the ‘non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment’.
Why the discrepancy?
One possibility is that economists know something that we don’t. Perhaps they’ve looked at the evidence and concluded that interest rates have a ‘neutral’ effect on the distribution of income.
Another possibility is that the macroeconomic jargon is mostly a distraction. In other words, like wages, the rate of interest is a ‘distributional variable’. But it’s one that mainstream economists prefer to ignore.
So which option is true? In this post, I let the evidence speak for itself. Looking at cross-country evidence, I find that interest rates are decidedly non-neutral. As interest rates rise, three things happen:
the interest share of income increases;
the labor share of income decreases;
income inequality increases.
In short, the evidence suggests that interest rates play a key role in the game of class warfare. And that makes sense. Interest, after all, is a rate of return. And when it comes to divvying up the income pie, rates of return are always zero sum
חשבתי שאטוס לדמשק ואעשה שינוי: אודי אדיב והמהפכה שלא היתה (I Thought I Would Fly to Damascus and Bring Change: Udi Adiv and the Revolution that Never Was)
Full text link*** המאמר עבר עיסוי לשוני על ידי העורך: מומלץ לקרוא את הגירסה המקורית ***
בליל חורף קר של שנת 1972 פרצו כעשרים אנשי שב"כ ומשטרה לדירה בהדר הכרמל בחיפה ועצרו את אודי אדיב וחברתו, לאה לשם. כך נפתח ספר הזיכרונות של אודי אדיב, המהפכה שלא הייתה.
זאת הייתה תחילתה של פרשה מתוקשרת אשר הגיעה לשיאה במשפטים שנערכו לחברי "הרשת היהודית-ערבית", שבסופם אודי אדיב נמצא אשם בין השאר בבגידה ובריגול ונשלח למאסר ממושך של 17 שנה (שהוקלו מאוחר יותר ל-12 שנים).
שרשרת המעצרים ומשפטי הראווה של אודי וחבריו זכו לסיקור יומיומי מנופח מצד כלל אגפי התקשורת הישראלית של אותה תקופה. יש לזכור כי נפלאות התבונה האינטרנטית טרם התגלו, ורשתות המחשבה הלא מגויסת עדיין לא הומצאו. עיקרי התקשורת היו אז עיתונות כתובה, מפלגתית ו"לא מפלגתית", שלוש תחנות רדיו בבעלות ממשלתית ישירה וערוץ טלוויזיה ממלכתי אחד פטריוטי גאה, שנאשם תדיר על ידי מפלגות הליכוד, המתנחלים והחרדים ב"שמאלנות". אבל במקרה זה נוצר לראשונה בישראל קונצנזוס חמים מימין וממה שכינו אז שמאל: אדיב וחבריו הינם סמל ומשל לאויבי העם, אוהבי ערבים, קומוניסטים שונאי ישראל. הם תוצאת החינוך המתקדם כביכול של הקיבוצים השמאלנים. הם "תלושים מערכי היהדות" וסובלים מ"שנאה עצמית". התברר גם שמקור הרעה הוא תנועת "מצפן" הבוגדנית. ממנה צמחו העשבים השוטים.
עד מהרה הפך המשפט למסע הסתה נגד כל דעה המעזה לבקר את עצם מדיניות החוץ והביטחון הישראלית, התוהה אחר מדיניות הכיבוש וההתנחלויות שניהלה אז ממשלת מפלגת העבודה, המטילה ספק בהיסטוריה הציונית הרשמית, או המזכירה חלילה את קיומה של האומה הפלסטינית, שלא לדבר על רמז לניסיון הידברות מדינית עם נציגי התנועות הפוליטיות הפלסטיניות…
A Modern Anarchism (Part 1): Anarchist Analysis
Full text linkWe stand now at a turning point, wherein many roads sprawl out in front of us. With unprecedented access to information, the atlas seems to lie within our hands. But, at this crossroads, the popularizers of these many paths shout over one another to persuade new travelers, only to find that most travelers now choose tourism rather than migration; exploration rather than arrival. It is hard to blame them. Having seen many return from a path leading to a dead-end, or worse, having lost those they know to a terrible bramble from which they will never escape, these weary travelers are paralyzed by choice. Confused and discouraged, many simply return home where a tormentor awaits, but wherein there is no longer the stress of uncertainty.
I would like to tell you of a new path: its extent not yet fully explored, but peering through the forestation beyond, a great light emanates forth. Before we proceed, I would like to pose a question: why has this society accumulated so much power, yet somehow fails to meet the most basic needs of humanity? Why has this hierarchical structure changed hands between so many rulers, yet the peace they have promised never lasts? Their hands bloody, their adherents marching behind, a new society of domination always follows in time. Why? Those intent on creating their own societies of domination will offer all manner of empty excuses. But the true answers lie within an ideology which has been suppressed by the power hoarders: anarchism.
This work is not meant to be a brief introduction to the topic. There are plenty of those already in existence. Instead, I want to offer a modern synthesis of anarchist ideas. So, whereas many other books and essays endeavor to give a broad, non-committal overview, here I want to ground you in a particular location within the body of anarchist thought. In doing this, we will not wander down every trail, but we will stop to look at the scenery from time to time. And, for this reason, one might see this work as motivated by the impulse described by Voline in his work On Synthesis :
“The anarchist conception must be synthetic: it must seek to become the great living syn-thesis of the different elements of life, established by scientific analysis and rendered fruitful by the synthesis of our ideas, our aspirations and the bits of truth that we have succeeded in discovering; it must do it if it wishes to be that precursor of truth, that true and undistorted factor, not bankrupting of human liberation and progress, which the dozens of sullen, narrow and fossilized ‘isms’ obviously cannot become.”
Such a process is, of course, a lofty goal for any one person to carry out. To do this, I will go beyond the standard list of European thinkers that one is typically introduced to when they begin an inspection of this subject. These names will certainly feature in our narrative, as they were very important figures in the development of anarchism as a revolutionary movement. But the ideas of the anarchists are not only important to some specific geographic region. Now, more than ever before, anarchism has achieved a state of critical insight, especially as it has been informed by the work of Black, queer, indigenous, feminist, decolonial, and other anarchist thinkers.
All those people who strive to be free of oppression will find their common struggle within its basis. After all, many of these realizations root to the earliest stages of humanity and will likely be at play in any possible human society. Many other anarchist works have failed to take into account these new developments of anarchist theory, to understand where the original struggles have fallen short, and then cooperate alongside this new coalition of thinkers in bringing anarchist principles to their highest culmination.
So let us begin..
Interest Rates and Unemployment: An Underwhelming Relation
Full text linkFor the last few months, I’ve been studying the distributional effects of interest-rate hikes. There’s been no shortage of surprising results.
In this post, I’ll discuss an effect that is surprising because it’s underwhelming. Many economist claim that when interest rates rise, unemployment will increase. The idea is that higher rates make businesses tighten their belts, leading to less hiring and greater unemployment.
Looking at the evidence, I find that this claim is not particularly compelling
How the Rich Get Richer
Full text linkThe rich get richer.
It’s a phrase that packs a lot of punch. It’s potent rhetoric, yet surprisingly accurate at describing how rising inequality plays out.
Of course, there’s nothing inevitable about the rich getting richer. We just happen to live in an age of growing corporate despotism. And our friends at Forbes have been there to document the disease.
Forbes.
Forbes who loves the free market. Forbes who loves obscene wealth. Forbes … the unwitting social scientist?
When Malcolm Forbes started publishing his rich list — the Forbes 400 — back in 1982, he surely wasn’t intending to do social science. By all accounts, Forbes simply loved opulence, and wanted to celebrate those who had the most of it.
It was part of a 1980s trend that fetishized obscene fortunes. For the middle class, there was the saccharine show ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’, which exalted the excesses of elite living. But for the upper class there was something less crass — a list that ignored the material trappings of wealth. It was called the Forbes 400, and it did nothing but report the raw numbers of capitalism — the capitalized wealth of the richest Americans.
In hindsight, Malcolm Forbes’ obsession with wealth seems ominous — kind of like the Sackler’s claim that OxyContin wasn’t addictive. But while Malcolm Forbes certainly cheerled the excesses of modern capitalism, he (and his magazine successors) also left an exquisite record of how US elites enriched themselves.
Sure, the enrichment left a big mess. But for the moment, let’s forget about cleaning it up and instead, investigate how it happened. Come, let’s look at how the American rich got richer