Showing 1 - 5 of 5
Dear DOGE, it's high time to tear down those dams!
News, Tom Zoellner, Published on 12/07/2025
» No big government infrastructure project made an imprint on the landscape and economy of the West more than the US Bureau of Reclamation's 20th century dam-building spree, which peppered 490 dams across the country, created an agricultural civilisation dependent on federal hydrology civil engineering, and brought about a welter of environmental difficulties after drying up dozens of once-healthy rivers.
Even Warren Buffett makes statistical errors
News, Marty Fridson, Published on 24/05/2025
» One person you wouldn't expect to hear tout a statistical fallacy is Warren Buffett, but the legendary investor appeared to do just that at the recent Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, a reminder of just how easy it is to fall into statistical traps. While speaking at the annual meeting in early May, Mr Buffett commented while holding up a can of sugar-laden soda: "For 94 years I've been able to drink whatever I want to drink. They predict all kinds of terrible things for me, but it hasn't happened yet ... Charlie [Munger] and I never really exercised that much or did anything -- we were carefully preserving ourselves for these years."
Can insurance come to our climate rescue?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 09/06/2023
» California's fall from grace has been steep and swift, and now even the insurance companies are pulling out. The two biggest American home insurance companies, State Farm and Allstate, announced last week that they will stop selling insurance policies to Californians. Why? Climate change-related wildfires are making it too risky to insure Californian houses.
Property stays hot in chilly times
News, Ronald W Chan, Published on 28/01/2019
» Thailand's booming property market is at risk of cooling this year as rampant construction threatens an oversupply of apartments amid increasing global economic headwinds.
Extend-and-pretend runs out of puff
News, Satyajit Das, Published on 06/02/2018
» The default operating model today for seemingly all economics, business, social policy and environmental decisions is "extend and pretend", colloquially known as "kicking the can down the road". This approach brings forward benefits or gains, often based on cosmetic solutions, and defers risks or costs into the future. It's a convenient model for many reasons. But it's now in danger of breaking down.