GPI Global Policy Institute

The US Energy Information Administration, EIA, for the very first time projects that by 2050 electricity generated in the US by renewable technologies (solar and wind) will be ahead of electricity produced by fossil fuels (coal and natural gas). Read more

Tesla is always surprising us. One day it seems close to bankruptcy, the next day its stock rises to unimaginable heights –purely on the news that the company made a profit in the last two quarters. (imagine that: a company making cars is actually making some money. What novelty!) That said, when we see this Tesla’s stock price increase of almost 100% in a matter of weeks, what are we looking at? Savvy investors who really know what they are doing? Or a completely irrational mania destined to end up badly? Holman W. Jenkins of The Wall Street Journal is a skeptic. Here is an excerpt from a recent column he wrote for the WSJ. “Am I a believer in Tesla at the current stock price? No. The company expects to sell 500,000 cars next year; its market cap, at $169 billion, is more than $50 billion higher than GM’s, Ford’s and Fiat Chrysler’s combined, businesses that collectively sell 17 million cars a year.” “Tesla can earn a lot more profit per car, and can sell a lot more cars than it does now, and still its stock is priced as if its future profits will be coming from some unnamed something that is not the car-making business.” --Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. Tesla’s Stock Goes to Heaven The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 4, 2020 www.wsj.com 

Can you have too much of a good thing? Yes, when it comes to US domestic natural gas production, absolutely yes. Ten or twelve years ago most energy analysts believed that the US had to become a net natural gas importer, as economically viable domestic reserves had been almost exhausted. Well, completely wrong prediction. What most analysts had missed was a phenomenal “fracking revolution” that dramatically increased both oil and natural gas production in the US. This revolution  brought huge economic benefits to many stakeholders, while lowering electricity prices for both industries and millions of American consumers, (natural gas is used primarily for electric power generation). Indeed, farmers from Texas to Pennsylvania could lease their land to the fracking companies for good money. Scores of new companies got into this promising fracking energy business. They hired thousands of workers for rather well-paying jobs. And all these energy-related activities fueled the local economies in many states. Everybody gained: from restaurant owners to shop keepers, from equipment manufactures to the trucking companies that delivered it on site.

The Trump-Ukraine controversy has now become the focus of the Democratic Party in Congress. House members, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, believe that this is a glaring example of abuse of executive power, and a lot more. Hence the ramping up of an impeachment inquiry. However, if there is trouble ahead for President Donald Trump, there seems to be trouble for Joe Biden, a likely Democratic opponent in 2020, as well. Indeed, going a few years back, at the source of all this there is the work that Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, did for a Ukrainian energy company. Now, what was the son of the then Vice President of the United States doing, working for a company established in one of the most corrupt countries in the world? Why was he offered the job? And why did he accept it? As a minimum, this issue raises some questions.

“The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which starts operations in October 2019, will modernize the U.S. development finance architecture. The DFC will expand the size and capabilities of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and will seek to crowd-in vitally needed private sector investments in low- and lower-middle income countries through new tools such as local currency loans, first-loss guarantees, and equity investments. The DFC is expected to help solidify the work of different U.S. agencies that work on fostering the private sector abroad.” --Center for Strategic and International Studies, CSIS - www.CSIS.org

For many years we have been debating the sorry state of US public education, (too many drop outs, large percentages of high school graduates who cannot read or count), and how it could and should be improved. Alas, much talk and very little action. Nationwide, the public schools sector seems to belong to a different universe, a universe in which professionalism, the pursuit of academic excellence, merit-based pay and promotions for teachers, accountability, and cost-effectiveness are unknown concepts. 

This is a first, and it must be noted. Effective June 29, 2019 Major General Laura L. Yeager became the commander of the California Army National Guard's 40th Infantry Division. With this appointment, Major General Yeager is now the very first woman in the entire history of the US armed forces to command a United States Army infantry division.

“There will be no peace in Europe, if the states are reconstituted on the basis of national sovereignty... The countries of Europe are too small to guarantee their peoples the necessary prosperity and social development. The European states must constitute themselves into a federation...”

If you are worried about global warming caused by burning fossil fuels, this CNBC story (see below) citing data from the US Department of Energy about the incredible comeback of the US Read More

There has been some progress in increasing the number of Africans, especially people living in rural areas, who now have access to electricity. But it is slow going, Read more

Americans, it seems, do not know much American history. And younger people know much less than older people. Does this matter? Yes, it does. Read more