lee wrote on Dec 15^th, 2021 at 1:02pm:


Of course; and China too is under the baleful influence of Western-trained economists, and is fiddling around with carbon trading schemes.

Meanwhile "developed" Germany and the UK both relied more on coal in the last 2 months, compared with the same time last year....

"23 Sept 2021 — Germany: Coal-fired power generation is coming back · increase in electricity generation of almost 38 percent in the first half of 2021 compared to last year..."

The pandemic didn't help, I suppose.

 

lee wrote on Dec 15^th, 2021 at 4:43pm:


So...back to the Sahara....which you spent a good amount of time rubbishing, claiming engineers can't solve the problems.

So perhaps you are now ready to  explain why  the sovereign currency-issuing government had to go into debt to the tune of $1 trillion, to pay peoples' essential (recurring) bills in a pandemic-enforced lock-down?

lee wrote on Dec 15^th, 2021 at 7:55pm:


Deploying PVs in the Sahara is - ultimately - an engineering problem to be solved in conjunction with other disciplines. 

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So I will grant you more time to consider my question re the insanity of forcing sovereign currency-issuing governments to go into massive debt, to pay the essential bills of locked-down workers in a pandemic.

OTOH,  I can of course answer your question straightaway.

The CCP is currently analyzing  the policies which resulted in China's spectacular growth over the last 4 decades, following  the in-part adoption of free market principles  ("socialism with Chinese characteristics").   

Nothing to do with MMT...and they are still relying on their Western-educated economists in the PBofC to show the way forward. Hence the Evergrande disaster which absolutely should/could have been avoided, in China.

[Whereas the subprime-induced GFC disaster originating in the US is the very essence of unregulated, financialized capitalism].

But now China's  export-driven  growth model is being increasingly shut-off to China, by a paranoid US backed by like-minded allies,  seeking to maintain global hegemony.   

As to "being afraid of world opinion"; internally, China just wants to get on with running their own country the way they see fit, while externally conforming with WTO rules.

Interestingly,  the mainland-Taiwan ideological dispute (yes, the people on Taiwan are Chinese....) is an extreme form of the hyper-partisanship currently ravaging  the democracies, as democratic governance itself  increasingly fails to address the needs of the people.

lee wrote on Dec 16^th, 2021 at 12:08pm:


So you are saying it's impossible to deploy PVs to any extent in all of the Sahara...

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China would be unbeatable if it's Western trained economists became aware of MMT.

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Oz like everyone else was a victim of the GFC, not an an originator of it.

But interestingly, Frydenberg appears to be sufficiently acquainted with MMT, to finally ditch Abbott's 'debt and deficit disaster' narrative ....(remember that?)   'Budget repair' is best achieved by growing the economy,  Frydenberg is now telling the ABC's hysterical 'balanced-budget' mainstream journalists.

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China doesn't have expansion dreams. That is US propaganda.  Even Biden says there is One China.... though he wants to destroy the CCP, of course, because the CCP is achieving national development miracles....note: the US didn't give two hoots about the CCP, back in the days when Nixon was looking for an Asian political bulwark against the USSR, and China's economy was the size of India's...

thegreatdivide wrote on Dec 17^th, 2021 at 5:28pm:


I'd say so yes. I have seen reports it is rich in silicon. That of course needs a stable supply for refining. The Conversation is positive towards it, but they don't mention sandstorms or scouring of the PV's. Plenty of "may'ss" and "could's".

https://theconversation.com/solar-panels-in-sahara-could-boost-renewable-energy-...

thegreatdivide wrote on Dec 17^th, 2021 at 5:28pm:


You mean they are not aware of it when it is being widely touted?

thegreatdivide wrote on Dec 17^th, 2021 at 5:28pm:


That's why they are building islands in the South China Sea - despite other nations claims.

thegreatdivide wrote on Dec 17^th, 2021 at 5:28pm:


The original Blank Looks Matter poster child.

thegreatdivide wrote on Dec 17^th, 2021 at 5:28pm:


On the back of fossil fuels.

Bam wrote on Dec 17^th, 2021 at 5:42pm:


So true. Conservatives are notoriously unconcerned by debt and deficits when they are in government. Less understandable is Murdoch's recent about face on climate change.

lee wrote on Dec 18^th, 2021 at 3:34pm:


?? Your linked article posited higher temps via more heat being conducted into the atmosphere from PVs. The article ignored reduction in the CO2 AGW hot-house effect when filthy fossils are eliminated. 

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That's actually not a debating point, more like an ad hominem. 

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That's no reason for the US to stick its nose into internal Chinese affairs, on ideological grounds. 

The US would object if China supported  Bernie Sanders for President.   

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Spectacular growth in China was powered by coal, while fossils were still  powering most everyone at the same time, so China's rapid growth - compared with the developed world -  has other causes.
btw, renewables in the US and Oz are still only c.20% of energy sources; 2050 is the zero emissions goal in the West.

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No, she is a public banking advocate; she posits China's spectacular rise to state planning, funded via the  government-owned PBofC alongside market reforms adopted in the 1980s.