Chapter 26

Pages 603-5 discuss the issue of global warming as one of the negative externalities from economic growth. The following article provides some economic insights into this issue.
Financial Times, Friday, May 11, 2007
search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=
Awkward+questions+on+behalf+of+our+children&y=
7&aje=true&x=11&id=070511001000

The following stories have links with Chapters 3 and 10 as this is essentially a story about demand and supply, however, there are also links to the story of OPEC and the high price of oil (Case Study 1 in Chapter 8 on page 173-6), to the principle of substitution in Chapter 6 as this is about finding a substitute for high priced oil. They are also related to the issue of long term growth and global warming Chapter 26 page 603-4 as biofuels may not reduce carbon emissions but they are a renewable resource.
The background to the surge in interest in biofuels is two important trends: First, the high price of oil and the problems that burning fossil fuels cause for the environment; second the fact that oil is an exhaustible resource which will eventually run out and so we need to find energy sources which are renewable in the long term. The current round of reports generally relate to the fact that high oil prices have created an incentive to seek substitutes and one possible substitute is ethanol which can be extracted from various crops, including corn and wheat. The greater demand for these crops has then lead to their prices rising and this has both raised the cost of the food products that use these as inputs directly and it has raised the prices of animal feeds which has put upward pressure on meat prices. Higher food prices have had particular effects on poor people in countries such as Mexico and China.
Financial Times, Friday, February 23, 2007
www.ft.com/cms/s/997406be-c29c-11db-9e1c-000b5df10621.html
The Times, Friday, March 2, 2007
business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article1459141.ece
Financial Times, Tuesday, March 27, 2007
search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=
Changing+landscape%3A+why+worries+surround+rural+America
%27s+biofuels+surge&y=3&aje=true&x=6&id=070327000564
Financial Times, Tuesday, May 1, 2007
search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=
Tyson+says+rising+corn+costs+to+hit+meat+prices&y=5&aje=true&x=16&id=070501000505
The Times, Tuesday, June 12, 2007
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/china/article1917927.ece
Financial Times, Friday, June 29, 2007
www.ft.com/cms/s/52365a5a-25dd-11dc-b338-000b5df10621.html

A big story in recent years has been the rapid growth of China, India and even Russia. The following report explains that there is high labour productivity growth in emerging economies but less so in industrial countries:
Financial Times, 6 January 2008
search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=Living+standards+set+to+suffer+strain&y=8&aje=true&x=13&id=080115000007&ct=0

The following report asks whether these differences in performance will continue:.
Financial Times, 15 January 2008
search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=
Challenge+ahead+for+the+world%E2%80%99s+divided+economy&y=8&aje=false&x=17&id=080109000221&ct=0

The following 2 articles discuss the growth story in China:
Financial Times, 23 January 2008
search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=China+changes+the+whole+world&
y=4&aje=false&x=11&id=080123000211&ct=0
Financial Times, 8 February 2008
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/419a2c0a-d5e9-11dc-bbb2-0000779fd2ac.html

Another China growth story (that also links to commodity price stories in Chapters 3 & 4) is:
The Guardian, 10 February 2008
www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/10/mining.china

The following is about growth in Russia:
Financial Times, 15 November 2007
search.ft.com/ftArticle?queryText=
Industry%E2%80%99s+vanguard++Russia+plans+grand+projects+to+become+a+top-five+economy&y
=10&aje=true&x=7&id=071114000531&ct=0

Recent stories about economic growth performance and forecasts are:
BBC, Friday, August 8, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7549780.stm
BBC, Wednesday, August 6, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7545447.stm
BBC, Wednesday, August 13, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7557777.stm

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Chapter 26