Tony Kevin: Crunch Time: Using and Abusing Keynes to Fight the Twin Crises of our Era. Scribe, 2009. ISBN: 9781921372933. Online
The economic recession and growing concerns at the disastrous consequences of climate change are global. Crunch Time examines the issues in an Australian context with a Keynesian economic backdrop.
This informative text focuses in some detail on climate change, science and analysis from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, numerous individual scientific reports, international conferences and, particularly, the Garnaut Review.
It emphasises that the Rudd Government, contrary to its earlier indications, has failed to support this important Review. This, it suggests, is the result of powerful industry lobbying and the Government's subservience to political considerations rather than Australia's long-term interest.
The author, former public servant of 30 years Tony Kevin, provides an outline of Keynes' economic values and thinking, especially the emergence of macro-economics and government intervention, in contrast to the individualism and 'free market resolves all' of neo-classicists.
Of course, today's economic conditions are radically different to those that confronted Keynes in 1936. Think of the massive growth in bank and non-bank finance and credit, profligate consumption and split-second trillion-dollar investments, many of them questionable, taken daily around the world.
However Kevin does highlight Keynes' recognition of 'productive' and 'unproductive' investment and his likely being appalled at today's excessive and prolific consumption.
The book contains an excellent outline of the general operation, effectiveness, fallacies and desirable long-term objectives of the energy sector in Australia. It debunks the 'clean coal' concept as now spruiked by the Government and its proposed huge expenditures to achieve it.
In fact the clean coal concept was not originally developed with CO2 in mind. It was developed to sell Australians sulphur reduction, washed, low particulate coal using 'bag' and related technology. The issue of CO2 emissions was simply added to the clean coal concept and took it over for industry and political convenience when CO2 emissions started to become an issue, without any serious scientific or economic analysis and justification.
Moreover, in the 20 or so years that clean coal has become focused on CO2 removal, there has not been a single commercially viable application in the world. Also as the book points out that the exorbitant costs of sequestering CO2, even if possible, simply increases the viability of other options.
The book rightly emphasises the potential for a range of renewables. Coal use and exports