Global Trade Forecast Released

Today, as a bit of a change I thought I’d update my forecast for the global trade deficit for 2013. There was some concern that a deficit might develop in 2012 if I were to start charging for advice. Once I explained that advanced planets have phased out money and I don't charge for advice that concern has now passed. Consequently, the latest forecast for the global trade surplus/deficit for 2013 remains at zero. While there may be some further spacecraft launches none of them yet has any external commercial purpose and so will not generate any surplus and you have not yet entered into any commercial arrangement with another planet that could lead to a deficit

The leisure index, another key economic indicator of those not currently employed, looks likely to remain fairly elevated throughout 2013. Deleveraging and debt restructuring tends to reduce the sustainable market price for labour and this reduction in expected returns, combined with previous anchoring at higher wage levels will probably lead to unhappy unemployment for some time to come. This remains disappointing given the rather sub-standard state of most of your software at present and the major remaining limtiations to your scientific knowledge especially in life sciences. The general state of the planet also remains poor to awful in many areas, so there really is no shortage of things that could be getting worked on.

 



On a more positive note however irrespective of the level of debt or derivative financial instruments in force I can confirm that none of the 2014 harvest or rainfall will be consumed during 2013. Global warming seems likely to continue and this will certainly make habitation in northern latitudes a little easier. It will still be quite a few years before much of Greenland becomes habitable but improvements in crop development should allow cereal production to spread slowly north over time and this should increase global food supply.

 

GDP isn’t a measure I even bother to review however progress on global life expectancy still seems unacceptably slow and rising food prices are exacerbating the problems of poverty for many. If only someone would come up with a global strategy to prioritise the actions required for progress.  There is much work to do to achieve the 2020 vision of global life expectancy at 80 in 8 years time.

Put all the scientists in Jail.. that will really help

Italian Scientists Locked Up

You just couldn't make this up.  How on earth are we going to encourage people into science if we risk locking them up for giving their professional opinion.  It will likely remain extremely challenging for the foreseeable future to prevent natural disasters happening.  So we really do need to encourage people to try and study and understand them to the best of their ability without fearing either jail or mass panic if they get things wrong.

We continue to struggle with investing in science as the benefits are often long term and not adequately rewarded by our current 'free' market economics.  However this example puts a threat of jail over most of the scientific community with no obvious deterrent effect whatsoever.

This is the 21st century and we need to move forward - this sort of behaviour is like being back in the dark ages.  I fully understand what happened is very unfortunate and painful for those involved however this sort of revenge and political action is just unacceptable.

Discrimination against rational children

So the boy scouts now won't allow you to join if your an atheist.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/9627716/The-Scouts-should-be-open-to-atheists-as-well.html#dsq-comments

While many will just go along with the process this really is rather important as the right to choose a religion or atheism is a key part of a free society.  It is also critical to human progress that we resist driving any sort of divisions between children.  Richard Dawkins is generally correct when he states there should be no such thing as religious children, only children of religious parents. 

Forcing young people to pick some sort of irrational view to subscribe to in their formative years is really not helpful to human progress.  As I have stated previously it only makes sense to believe in God if you think he/she exists and you also believe that they are acting rationally.  While their is no evidence of existence, it is simply utterly irrational for something with that much power to be so silent and impotent while we stumble along at our own pace making progress as and where we can.  If God is irrational there is no real basis to consider a lifetime of suffering is the correct period for entry into some wonderful afterlife.