What did I learn in November? Let’s start with the bad and then go to the good.

Negative stories (-10):

• The World Economic Forum’s 2015 Global Risks Report came out. Some of the top risks are interstate conflict, water crisis, failure of climate change adaptation, unemployment and underemployment. Hmm, that “interstate conflict” items might be what we used to call “war”. And I think there might be one underway right now in the Middle East, which Jimmy Carter says we are getting all wrong. And it just might be caused by the other items on the list. And speaking of war, there is a new book on the Vietnam War aimed at the middle grades, but it seems pretty harsh for that age to me. (-2)
• I noticed that Robert Costanza in 2014 issued an update to his seminal 1997 paper on ecosystem services. He now estimates their value at $125 trillion per year, compared to a world economy of $77 trillion per year. Each year we are using up about $4-20 trillion in value more than the Earth is able to replenish. The correct conclusion here is that we can’t live without ecosystem services any time soon with our current level of knowledge and wealth, and yet we are depleting the natural capital that produces them. We were all lucky enough to inherit an enormous trust fund of natural capital at birth, and we are spending it down like the spoiled trust fund babies we are. We are living it up, and we measure our wealth based on that lifestyle, but we don’t have a bank statement so we don’t actually know when that nest egg is going to run out. (-3)
• This crop of presidential candidates is easy for comedians to make fun of. I enjoy it but think it may be a contrary indicator for the health of the country. (-1)
• Bicycle helmets are not making U.S. bicycle riders any safer. This is why we need streets designed on the European model to be safe for driving, bicycling, and walking. It’s 100% known technology and there can be no excuses! (-2)
• In current events, we had the awful, shocking terrorist attacks in Paris. I suggested that the long-term answer to violence caused by angry young men anywhere is to understand why they are angry, address their legitimate grievances, and give them productive work to do. Short term, we also have to detect and disrupt any plots involving nuclear or biological weapons, of course, because we can’t afford even one. (-2)

Positive stories (+9):

• Asimov’s yeast vats are finally here. This is good because it allows us to produce food without photosynthesis, but bad because it allows us to produce food without photosynthesis. (+0).
• New technology could allow us to travel anywhere on Earth in four hours. (+1)
• The package delivery robots are here. (+1)
• NASA is recruiting astronauts to go to Mars. (+1)
• I learned that Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen was a protege of Joseph Schumpeter and a founding father of modern ecological economics. (+1)
• Search technology is opening up new possibilities for synthesis of knowledge across disciplines. (+1)
• There is a near consensus among economists that an international carbon price would be a good idea, and there are some sensible proposals. (+1)
• I had a fresh look at a couple systems thinkers: Sherlock Holmes, cocaine fiend, and Peter Checkland, originator of the “soft systems methodology”. (+1)
• There are plenty of ways to store intermittent solar and wind power so they can provide a constant, reliable electricity source. (+2)