The Poet Economist

Vote for Higher Purpose

The late Senior Senator from Arizona John McCain wrote that: Human rights exist above the state and beyond history. They cannot be rescinded by one government any more than they can be granted by another. They inhabit the human heart, and from there, though they may be abridged, they can never be extinguished. He was considered a…

The Struggle for Our Future

An expanded space for human liberty—free from persecution and degradation—is the measure of whether we, as organized society, are succeeding. Some take the view that this means no constraint on any person’s liberty can be allowed. The result of this thinking is a strange hybrid radicalism, combining an aversion to all centralizing institutions with a…

Maverick McCain will be Missed

Senator John McCain will be missed for many reasons, but I want to offer a personal reason, which I think we will all come to understand more deeply as time goes on. The Senator was a giant of American politics, first and foremost because he was willing to put aside his own comfort and convenience…

Highest-value Climate Action is Economy-wide

The global crisis in climate disruption is deepening. Droughts, floods, storms, and wildfires are taking an increasing toll on human beings, straining vital ecosystems, and putting food and water supplies at risk. The Paris Agreement outlines a global collaborative “race to the top”, where nations support each other’s success and innovate as rapidly as possible…

Food Price Shocks Signal Need for Macro-Resilient Finance

Wildfires, floods, storms, and droughts, are putting unprecedented pressure on food crops, threatening to destabilize commodities markets that determine food prices, across the world. This is a major climate impact on market signals and a sign of emerging pervasive risk to the global economy. Bloomberg is reporting: A heatwave across swathes of North America, Europe…

Declare Energy Independence with Carbon Dividends

Taking action on climate is about a lot more than our energy economy. Climate disruption is the leading threat to our built environment, an accelerant of armed conflict, and a leading cause of mass migration. Its effects intensify and prolong storms, droughts, wildfires, and floods — resulting in the US spending as much on disaster…

Uphold the Humanity of Every Person

We inhabit a period of great turmoil and suffering, while at the same time immense hope and promise flood around us, making it possible for any person anywhere to potentially make great contributions to the betterment of humankind. That better possibility is entirely dependent upon the guarantee that all people have access to the benefits…

Better Civics Justifies Hope

Remarks, as delivered, by Joseph Robertson on Sunday, June 10, to the 2018 Citizens’ Climate Lobby annual conference: There is a quiet daring that happens in the person who says “I refuse to accept” what is not right. Without that quiet moment of daring, the effort to confront the unacceptable cannot get started. The work…

Ocean Resilience Starts Upstream

Upstream decisions in finance, farming, industry, and personal consumption determine whether not only the ocean but also our food supply is eroded or sustained. We need to stop putting plastic into the ocean. We need to stop acidifying the ocean. We need to understand that ocean ecosystems are as important to sustaining life on Earth…

Democracy is an Engine of Economic Value

No society can win by denying basic human rights. We are subsumed in a vast web of evolving technological capability, some of which does not necessarily make us free. We are living through a paradox of organized human empowerment, in which the power to access information is greatly expanding across the world, and yet faith…

The Poet Economist

Frontier Work

Press Freedom is Human Freedom

Networking Earth Science Platforms to Finance

Zero-Sum Thinking Doesn’t Work

Income Inequality puts Everything We Value at Risk

Reject Hate, Every Time