COP28: Climate Catastrophism Wins as the World Loses

A hodgepodge of activism and legalistic negotiations characterized the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC COP28), which concluded Wednesday, December 13, 2023. The resulting agreement, dubbed the “UAE Consensus,” includes the first-ever UN statement in the 27-year history of climate summits to call for the “transition away” from fossil fuels. In fact, it marks the first climate agreement to specifically refer to “fossil fuels” as the culprit behind climate change.

Market Euphoria is Based on Three Dangerous Myths

The world equity markets ended November with their biggest monthly rally in three years. Optimism comes from better-than-expected inflation figures, expectations of central bank rate cuts, and general acceptance that earnings and economic growth will be weak but acceptable in 2024.

The main challenge for investors in 2024 is to confirm these hopes as trends.

The first problem is believing that inflation will drop magically without any significant impact on growth and ignoring monetary aggregates.

Truth Is the Biggest Threat to Democracy in DC

Early this year, Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard member, was arrested and charged with transmission of national defense information and other charges. Teixeira allegedly leaked classified documents on the Ukraine war and other foreign policy issues to a Discord gaming group. The document propagated from there and appeared in many news articles in the following months.

Authorities in Jamaica Endorse Cancel Culture

The trend of punishing people in Jamaica for being disrespectful is becoming troubling. Citizens support penalizing uncouth characters without recognizing that sanctions violate free speech. During the apex of lockdown hysteria, one man was coerced by the police to apologize after daring to criticize the prime minister. This act of overreach by the police was unsurprisingly lauded by a wide cross-section of society.

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