FT : A new direction for the world’s energy system

A new direction for the world’s energy system
From Ira Sohn, Montclair State University, NJ, US

As the dust settles over the latest United Nations annual climate
summit (COP24), whose major takeaway is a promise by China and other big developing countries to accept uniform guidelines for measuring emission levels, Arun Majumdar is on the right track towards solving the pollution problems caused by the world’s dependence on a carbon-based energy system (“ Earth needs a huge investment to solve energy’s pollution problem”, December 24). Almost half a century since the first Earth Day, this system still accounts for 80 to 85 per cent of global energy use.

It would be historically unprecedented — not to mention politically suicidal — for countries’ leaders to adopt voluntarily, during peacetime, an energy policy that reduces current living standards because of a potential threat of reduced living standards 50 years into the future.

Though he doesn’t explicitly spell this out, Mr Majumdar implies, by implementing carbon taxes, that the key to solving the world’s pollution problem is a combination of these well-targeted economic incentives with the ongoing technological advances in extracting and using carbon-based fuels, enhancing the substitution of these fuels with renewables and nuclear energy, and aggressively promoting the “fifth fuel” — Daniel Yergin’s catch-all term for conservation, energy efficiency and energy productivity (The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, 2011).

With enhanced research budgets in both private and public laboratories along with the above mentioned targeted economic incentives, the world’s energy system — over the next 50 to 100 years — can be redirected on to a low- or no-polluting trajectory.

Ira Sohn
Professor of Economics and Finance,
Montclair State University, NJ, US

>>> What to look on the last 3 days - 25th, 26th & 27th of Decem

Nikkei 225 sank 5 percent on Tuesday for the biggest single-day drop since November 2016, taking its cue from U.S. equities, which tumbled during a shortened trading day on Christmas Eve. Nikkei 225 Stock Average plunged below 20,000 and slipped into a bear market, declined 21% decline from a high on Oct. 2.
Yesterday , Asian stocks saw a volatile session Wednesday, with Japanese equities closing higher on a wave of late buying after rising and falling through the session. U.S. stock futures also swung as investors gauge how much selling pressure remains after this month’s rout. Contracts on the S&P 500 Index slumped earlier after CNN reported that President Donald Trump’s frustration with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is rising. Korean shares tumbled after a holiday there, and Shanghai stocks fell for a second day. Markets in Australia and Hong Kong were closed. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index traded near a 22-month low, with a small bounce today doing little to ease the pain of what’s been the most brutal month for global equities since 2008. The dollar was flat, Treasury yields ticked lower. US market Bounced 5% pushed by the technology
Today, Asian stocks climbed after the biggest rally in U.S. equities since 2009 offering relief from this month’s wrenching downturn, though gains were restrained outside of Japan.
Tokyo’s Topix Index closed almost 5 percent higher, leading the region, while Australian shares rallied 1.9 percent. Korean and Hong Kong benchmarks declined and U.S. equity futures fluctuated, showing limited follow-through from the blow-out session on Wall Street. Crude oil prices gave up a slice of the gains of more than 8 percent overnight. Ten-year Treasury yields are holding around 2.80 percent. The dollar surrendered some of yesterday’s advance. The yuan was little changed on the latest news on trade negotiations being scheduled for next month.


Nikkei +3.88% Hang Seng -0.39% CSI +0.07% Shanghai -0.19% Shenzen -0.52%

Eur$ 1.1385 CNH 6.8954 CNy 6.8917 JPY 110.07 GBP 1.2657 CHF 0.9824 RUB 68.72 TRY 5.2896 WTI$46.08 -0.28% (+8% Overrnight)

S&P -0.36% EuroStoxx -0.04% FTSE +0.82% Dax +0.28% SMI +0.34%

Macro :
- Ibovespa Seen at 106,000 in 12 Months by BB Investimentos
- Trump Expresses Confidence in Fed After Reports on Firing Chair
- Trump Urges Buying the Dip After Stocks Sink on D.C. Dysfunction
- China May Cut Alternative Energy Car Susbidy by 30%: SEC. Daily (BMW / DAI)
- Chinese Cities Delay Stricter Auto Emissions Standards as Local Carmakers Struggle to Keep Up
- ETF Investors Hasten Financials Exodus as December Slump Deepens
- Mutual Fund Outflows Surge to $56 Billion, Most Since 2008
- Insider Buying Surges to 8-Year High as Stock Bear Market Nears

Keep an eye on :
- AAPL US : Apple Tipped by Munster to Beat All Other FAANG Stocks in 2019
- AAPL US : Huawei to overtake Apple as world's No. 2 smartphone seller, Shipments in 2018 surpass 200m - Nikkei
- BBVA SM : BBVA Reaches Accord to Sell EU1.49B Mortgage Portfolio to CPPIB
- CASF SM : Spanish CAF Secures EU400m Order for 88 Trains From Dutch NS
- CA FP : Carrefour Belgium, Provera Belux Form Purchasing Alliance
- CNP FP : CNP Assurances Announces the Establishment of A Euro M/T Notes
- FER SM : Ferrovial to Transfer Holding Co. to Holland From UK: Expansion
- HOT GY : Hochtief, Implenia Win Order for Munich Suburban Railway Project
- IMPN SW : Hochtief, Implenia Win Order for Munich Suburban Railway Project
- MAERSKB DC : Maersk Looks for Deals to Boost Its Onshore Logistics: FT
- NOKIA FH : U.K. Defence Sec. Raises Concern Over Huawei 5G Role: Telegraph
- ORA FP : France Signs EU620m Commitment to Deploy High-Speed Networks
- PHOR LI : PhosAgro to Merge Metachem and PhosAgro-Trans with Apatit
- RAYB SS : RaySearch Gets Order for Canadian Treatment Planning System
- RCO FP : Remy Cointreau Bought Back 1.96% of Shares at EU103.60 Avg
- RNO FP : Renault Again Asks Nissan to Hold EGM After Refusal: Nikkei
- RNO FP : New Allegations Against Ghosn Concern Saudi Payments: Reuters
- RNO FP : Nissan Alters Governance Code, Won’t Rule Out Renault Stake Sale --> 7201 -5.07% (26/12)
- RNO FP : Tokyo Court Grants Nissan’s Kelly Bail, Sets 70m Yen Bond: NHK (26/12)
- RNO FP : Prosecutors Appeal Tokyo Court’s Decision on Greg Kelly’s Bail (26/12)
- RNO FP / 4201 JP : Shiga, Possible Successor to Ghosn, Resigns Shiseido Board Role
- ROG SW : Roche Gets FDA Orphan Drug Status for Venetoclax + idasanutlin
- SAN FP : Sanofi Says FDA Approves Vaxelis, Hexavalent Combination Vaccine
- SHP LN : Takeda (4502 JP) -5.08%
- DG FP : Vinci to Buy 50.01% Stake in London Gatwick Airport for GBP2.9b
- VOD LN : Vodafone Ghana Wins High-Speed Internet License for $30 Million