The public disagreement between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia this week in the OPEC+ group has shaken international markets given the high stakes involved for a deal supporting a global economic recovery. The UAE opposed the extension and expansion of a supply deal without first increasing its baseline production. Closer to home, the dispute has been touted as another crack in the Saudi-UAE strategic partnership after the 2011 Arab uprisings, especially since 2015 and the ascension of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and his son Mohammed bin Salman. However, the unfolding events represent more than a bilateral relationship gone awry. The…

In the past few weeks, I have been discussing a number of points in Human Action, and today I propose to concentrate on a fundamental insight that is a main theme of the book. There are, Mises says, only two ways to organize production in a complex modern economy that produces a great many goods and services. One is by centralized decision-making and the other is through the free market. A closer look, though, shows that only one of these alternatives is genuine. In a complex economy, producers’ goods can usually be used to make a number of different consumers’ goods.…

On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan melted down as the result of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. Following the earthquake, there were radiation leaks, contamination in the Pacific Ocean, and widespread power outages. The Fukushima accident was a critical turning point for nuclear power and inspired nuclear skepticism around the world. In response to the tragedy, nations adopted a range of stances, from Russia’s renewed investment in nuclear energy to Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power altogether. Anti-nuclear countries have cited nuclear radiation and the potential for meltdowns as the main reasons behind their decisions…

In Indonesia, the power systems face a wide range of issues that make commitments to lowering carbon emissions and transitioning to renewables all the more challenging. Find out how PLN, Indonesia’s state electricity company, is managing the power supply that fuels the largest economy in Southeast Asia and why flexibility is so vital to the power systems. Solving both old and new challenges with more flexible power generation technology In this episode of Rethinking Energy in Southeast Asia, Febron Siregar, Sales Director at Wärtsilä Energy talks with Dr. Zainal Arifin, Executive Vice President of Engineering and Technology at Indonesia’s state energy company,…

My mother, long before she died at age 92, ran through both Social Security and her retirement money. She wasn’t unusual: the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) estimates that, even with Social Security, some 40+% of us will run out of money in retirement.[1] Why does this happen to so many? Often it’s because there’s no savings plan where people work, or if there is, they don’t use it. The most effective way for people to save more is for them to be enrolled automatically in a payroll savings plan (from which they can opt out) and to require their employers to…