Enjoy your visit.
What's New:
May 4, 2009: An article, co-athored with Julio Friedmann of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, appeared in the Toronto Globe and Mail describing the advantages of exploiting underground coal gasification technology in Alberta. To read the article, click here.
On April 14, Thomas Homer-Dixon's edited book, Carbon Shift: How the Twin Crises of Oil Depletion and Climate Change Will Define the Future, was released in Canada. The book argues that the crises of climate change and peaking oil production are really one: a carbon problem.
Carbon Shift brings together six of Canada's world-class experts to explore where we stand now and where we might be headed. It investigates the economics, geology, politics, and science of the predicament we find ourselves in. And it gives each expert the chance to address what he thinks are the most important facets of the complex problem before us.
For further information, and to order the book, go to http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307357182.
On April 4, the CBC's Peter Mansbridge interviewed Thomas Homer-Dixon about the causes and consequences of the current economic crisis. To see the interview, click here.
On April 4, an essay on the value of fear – and on how its absence contributed to the current economic crisis – appeared in the Saturday Focus section of the Toronto Globe and Mail. To read the article, click here.
On March 19, a review of two books (Vaclav Smil's Global Catastrophes and Trends and Chris Patten's What Next?) appeared in Nature. To read the review, click here.
On November 24, an article on the global financial crisis appeared in the Toronto Globe and Mail, arguing that the deflation spiral the world economy appears to be entering is a collective action problem known as a "stag hunt." Such collective action problems arise from a precipitous drop in trust that households and firms will spend. They can only be addressed with massive injections of government funds into sectors that produce immediate spending. To read the article, click here.
On October 30, Thomas Homer-Dixon presented a paper titled "Climate Change, the Arctic, and Canada: Avoiding Yesterday's Analysis of Tomorrow's Crisis" to the 20th Anniversary Conference of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy in Ottawa. To read this paper, click here.
On September 26, Thomas Homer-Dixon published an article in the Toronto Globe and Mail on the underlying causes of the global credit crisis, including the attenuation of risk in financial markets. To see the article, click here.
On September 20, an article, co-authored with David Keith of the University of Calgary, appeared in the New York Times arguing that research and testing of geo-engineering technologies should begin soon, in light of rapid melting of Arctic sea ice. To see the article, click here.
From the Archives:
The following four articles explain the origins of the current economic crisis:
"Unbounded uncertainty #1," Toronto Globe and Mail, August 14, 2007.
"From Risk to Uncertainty," Toronto Globe and Mail, March 19, 2008.
"Unbounded uncertainty #2," Toronto Globe and Mail, September 26, 2008.
"The Stag Hunt: Deflation as a Collective Action Problem," Toronto Globe and Mail, November 26, 2008.
Things I'm Reading:
In a recent Brookings conference paper, economist James Hamilton (UCSD) argues that the oil price shock of 2007-08 contributed directly to the onset of the US recession. "The experience of 2007-08 should thus be added to the list of recessions to which oil prices appear to have made a material contribution."
May 4, 2009: An article, co-athored with Julio Friedmann of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, appeared in the Toronto Globe and Mail describing the advantages of exploiting underground coal gasification technology in Alberta. To read the article, click here.
Carbon Shift brings together six of Canada's world-class experts to explore where we stand now and where we might be headed. It investigates the economics, geology, politics, and science of the predicament we find ourselves in. And it gives each expert the chance to address what he thinks are the most important facets of the complex problem before us.
For further information, and to order the book, go to http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307357182.
On April 4, the CBC's Peter Mansbridge interviewed Thomas Homer-Dixon about the causes and consequences of the current economic crisis. To see the interview, click here.
On April 4, an essay on the value of fear – and on how its absence contributed to the current economic crisis – appeared in the Saturday Focus section of the Toronto Globe and Mail. To read the article, click here.
On March 19, a review of two books (Vaclav Smil's Global Catastrophes and Trends and Chris Patten's What Next?) appeared in Nature. To read the review, click here.
On November 24, an article on the global financial crisis appeared in the Toronto Globe and Mail, arguing that the deflation spiral the world economy appears to be entering is a collective action problem known as a "stag hunt." Such collective action problems arise from a precipitous drop in trust that households and firms will spend. They can only be addressed with massive injections of government funds into sectors that produce immediate spending. To read the article, click here.
On October 30, Thomas Homer-Dixon presented a paper titled "Climate Change, the Arctic, and Canada: Avoiding Yesterday's Analysis of Tomorrow's Crisis" to the 20th Anniversary Conference of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy in Ottawa. To read this paper, click here.
On September 26, Thomas Homer-Dixon published an article in the Toronto Globe and Mail on the underlying causes of the global credit crisis, including the attenuation of risk in financial markets. To see the article, click here.
On September 20, an article, co-authored with David Keith of the University of Calgary, appeared in the New York Times arguing that research and testing of geo-engineering technologies should begin soon, in light of rapid melting of Arctic sea ice. To see the article, click here.
From the Archives:
The following four articles explain the origins of the current economic crisis:
"Unbounded uncertainty #1," Toronto Globe and Mail, August 14, 2007.
"From Risk to Uncertainty," Toronto Globe and Mail, March 19, 2008.
"Unbounded uncertainty #2," Toronto Globe and Mail, September 26, 2008.
"The Stag Hunt: Deflation as a Collective Action Problem," Toronto Globe and Mail, November 26, 2008.
Things I'm Reading:
In a recent Brookings conference paper,
economist James Hamilton (UCSD) argues that the oil price shock of 2007-08 contributed directly to the onset of the US recession. "The experience of 2007-08 should thus be added to the list of recessions to which oil prices appear to have made a material contribution."