Comments on: The G20 receives some Stern advice http://www.nouse.co.uk/2009/03/31/the-g20-receives-some-stern-advice/ Award-winning University of York Student Newspaper and Website Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:59:27 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Paul http://www.nouse.co.uk/2009/03/31/the-g20-receives-some-stern-advice/#comment-57743 Paul Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:31:57 +0000 http://www.nouse.co.uk/?p=12136#comment-57743 'Inaction will be more costly than action' ... Maybe somebody should tell this to Obama, the king of rhetoric without action. The solution to climate change will come from the market. It is no coincidence that the suppossedly 'evil' corporate giants Shell have already built the first hydrogen fuel station in America and the multinational corporations have invested more time and money into a cleaner energy economy than all the governments of the world combined. Our hope lies with scientists and researchers into new fuels, not with politicians that Lord Stern clearly has too much faith in. Undoubtedly governments have a role, and the recent experience with banks proves this, but banking is a very different industry suffering from information asymmetry and moral hazard that crucially the energy industry doesn't. Therefore we should be looking for a modern day James Watts, not a modern day JFK to change the world. Lord Stern has yet to learn this. ‘Inaction will be more costly than action’ … Maybe somebody should tell this to Obama, the king of rhetoric without action.
The solution to climate change will come from the market. It is no coincidence that the suppossedly ‘evil’ corporate giants Shell have already built the first hydrogen fuel station in America and the multinational corporations have invested more time and money into a cleaner energy economy than all the governments of the world combined. Our hope lies with scientists and researchers into new fuels, not with politicians that Lord Stern clearly has too much faith in.

Undoubtedly governments have a role, and the recent experience with banks proves this, but banking is a very different industry suffering from information asymmetry and moral hazard that crucially the energy industry doesn’t. Therefore we should be looking for a modern day James Watts, not a modern day JFK to change the world. Lord Stern has yet to learn this.

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