Category Archives: Sustainability

How our economy is like an out of control AI

Posted on September 13, 2019 by Warwick Smith

By Warwick Smith | 8 September 2019, 12:30pm First published at Independent Australia Humans, individually, can be incredibly brilliant but collectively we’re often puzzlingly stupid. To take a simple, uncontroversial example, we know that forests are critical for our survival. … Continue reading →

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A failure of collective intelligence

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Warwick Smith

By Warwick Smith An essay I wrote has won second prize in New Philosopher magazine’s latest writer’s prize and has been published in the magazine. As I did with my last New Philosopher essay, I’ll probably publish this in another … Continue reading →

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Abbott’s love of coal is holding us back on emissions targets – The Drum

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Warwick Smith

Originally published at The Drum (ABC). By Warwick Smith Posted 11 Aug 2015, 4:23pm A larger emissions reduction target would have come at very little additional cost to GDP, but it would have involved the loss of jobs in the … Continue reading →

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My latest at The Guardian questions the value of pursuing economic growth at all costs

Posted on October 13, 2014 by Warwick Smith

Do we dare to question economic growth? We’ve all been so effectively sold the line that endless growth is essential to maintain and improve our quality of life. This couldn’t be further from the truth By Warwick Smith First published … Continue reading →

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Coal or bust: How Abbott is stranding Australia

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Warwick Smith

By Warwick Smith Originally published at Independent Australia The Abbott government appears intent on dismantling the small but vibrant renewable energy industry in Australia. At the very moment when the rest of the world is coming to their senses about … Continue reading →

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Great article by Bob Douglas

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Warwick Smith

This article highlights how broken our political process is and provides a critical example of how issues that both major parties agree on (or ignore) are virtually removed from democratic scrutiny. I wrote an article related to this one in … Continue reading →

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Brown coal Victoria’s economic saviour. Really? Are they serious?

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Warwick Smith

The Victorian Minister for State Development, Peter Ryan, spoke in State Parliament: Victoria has one of the world’s most extensive brown coal deposits and the government is committed to maximising the opportunities to develop this resource in support of economic … Continue reading →

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New Matilida article: Are Growth And Consumption Our Enemies?

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Warwick Smith

I’ve just had an article published in New Matilda. The article is reproduced below. Thanks to the folks at New Matilda. Are Growth And Consumption Our Enemies? Professor Ross Garnaut recently argued that those of us interested in sustainability must … Continue reading →

Posted in Economic theory, Sustainability | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment