The wind power industry just dodged a bullet. As part of the fiscal cliff deal, Congress has renewed the wind power tax credit, whose expiration could have caused the industry to shrink by 95 percent. Prior to the deal, uncertainty over the industry’s future lead many wind power companies to slow down or halt their […]

Every week brings new evidence of the unexpected greening of America. According to the Wall Street Journal, electricity use is falling in America even as our use of gadgets is on the rise: The Energy Information Administration is projecting that electricity use in the U.S. will rise an average of just 0.6% a year for […]

Our friends at the FT have brought us some good news for the new year: The private sector added more than 200,000 jobs in December, growing at a ten-month high, according to a monthly report by ADP. Even better, the number of job losses has fallen by more than 40 percent since November, nearing pre-recession levels: […]

Pessimists move so fast they can make your head spin. A few months ago, the conventional wisdom held that America was running out of oil and gas—and so was the whole world. Peak oil and an age of scarcity were falling upon us. Alas and alack, o woe!But then a few people and publications, including […]

Japan today took steps to strengthen its relationship with Myanmar, a potential new ally as it continues to jockey for resources and influence: Japan’s new government confirmed its support for the emerging democracy in Myanmar on Thursday when Finance Minister Taro Aso visited the country to reaffirm Japan’s intention to cancel debt and help develop a […]

China is building a railroad from Kunming in southeastern China through Laos to Thailand, a significant upgrade to the Laotian transport network and an extremely lucrative link between China and Southeast Asia. But because of a very skewed financing agreement between Chinese, Laotian, and international banks, Laos is footing the bill for its section of […]

There’s nothing new about governors competing to bring jobs to their state, but rarely has it been this brazen. The Wall Street Journal reports that neighboring states, as well as some states as far flung as Georgia and Tennessee, are stationing official “business recruiters” in California to convince businesses to move their operations out of state.It’s […]

How much of the Christmas story is “real” and how much of both this story—and ultimately the entire record of the the Scriptures—is historically accurate? This is a much more complicated question than it may appear at first glance.

Over the past several years, the pace of the changes in China’s volatile housing market could give anyone whiplash. The Chinese government, worried that property prices were climbing too high, first started taking steps to hold down prices. In some places, they fell by as much as ten percent. Then, fearful of the disastrous economic effects of a bursting […]

By now, the Three Kings are well on their way to Bethlehem, and the Christmas season is drawing to a close. But the Three Kings (actually, ‘wise men’ according to Matthew’s gospel) aren’t just bringing their famous three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They bring with them another set of questions that we have […]