Tuesday 16 July 2024

"Five Times Faster: Rethinking the Science, Economics, and Diplomacy of Climate Change" by Simon Sharpe - audiobook review

I really enjoyed this book. I wish more people like Simon Sharpe had the ear of policy-makers and decision-makers. It gave me hope that we can actually make the transition to a more sustainable economy. I preferred the sections on science and economics; the diplomacy of climate change is interesting but so frustrating!

A few things I learned include: carbon tax is better than cap and trade because cap and trade has balancing feedbacks that negate the benefits. Also, economists use the wrong kind of equilibrium economics models; agent-based models are better. This book echoes a theme in Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics that the way economics is taught in universities needs to be changed to break the hegemony of a narrow neoliberal capitalist  paradigm.

Things I found annoying about this audiobook version narrated by Michael Langan: 1) The way the narrator lowers his voice when reading footnotes. Just say: "Footnote" and read normally. 2) Reading out full URLs. These could be cited in the accompanying PDF instead.

Humble-brag disclosure: I built the author, Simon Sharpe's, website for this book and have also done some web development for his literary agent, Maggie Hanbury. This is, however, an independent review.

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