Economic Repercussions of the Icelandic Volcano
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-04-20/economic-repercussions-icelandic-volcano
The MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite captured an Ash plume from Eyjafjallajokull Volcano over the North Atlantic on April 17, 2010
Travelers and businesses worldwide are struggling to cope with closed airspace over Europe in the aftermath of the Icelandic volcano. A panel joins Diane for an update on the spread of ash and the economic cost to the region and the airline industry.
Guests
Anthony Smallwood
spokesman for the European Union Delegation in Washington D.C.
Matthew Bishop
U.S. business editor and New York bureau chief of The Economist
Steve Lott
head of communications for IATA in North America
Patrick Smith
airline pilot and author of the "Ask the Pilot" blog on Salon.
Joe Palca
NPR science correspondent
Comments
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I would hope that one of the repercussions of the situation might be to highlight the importance of maintaining a diversity of good transport infrastructure - especially rail. It's better for the environment too.
The EU's video conference is also a good indication that it is possible nowadays to communicate very efficiently without bringing people at great economic and environmental cost into the same room.
BOOHOO this proves how sick capitalism can be, no one can enjoy a break or vacation and they can’t consider safety when shareholders may not get their cut! Silly world! Airline industry...it is not about the industry! It is about shareholders who have contributed NOTHING to the airlines getting a cut on every ticket I buy! Relax Europe...stop trying to over do everything like America!
The ash plume is a naturally occurring phenomenom like a winter snow or ice storm. Would the airline industry be clammering for compensation if the airports were shut down due to normal winter weather? NO! It's easy to question the safety precautions when there are no planes TO fall out of the sky.
This seems like a fire drill in an elementary school. What are we learning from this chaos? People expect an invincible infrastructure and look how that complicates our response when troubles occur. What will happen when fuels run out and planes start staying on the ground?
With the technology available, these things can be handled. Try Skype.
Reply to CaseyCorbin: OK, lets try communism. . . . Oh wait that didn't work. How about nationalism? nope, Imperial kingdoms? nyet. Socialism. Not one has shown to work yet. Hmmm, what can we experiment with? I know how about Marxism. Ooops, tried that and failed.
Truth be told, with all it's failings capitalism is the sole system that has brought more wealth, health and happiness to more people than any other system in the history of the planet. So let's experiment with some other theoretical utopia while destroying life as we know it.
I suppose you think that vacations are a right, too? In case you haven't looked, the airlines EMPLOY PEOPLE. Hard-working, honest and good people. "This" proves nothing.
One of the real concerns is that continuing economic growth actually does make the economy progressively more sensitive to disruption by natural disasters.
As the economy gets bigger it has more things to disrupt, in more places, that are harder to respond to. The danger is partly also because of how specialization and efficiency works. Both of those make the rest of the economy less able to respond to disruptions so they have wider "ripple effects".
The recent flurry of damaging earthquakes in densely populated areas, for example, was not due to an increasing frequency of earth quakes, but that they were so newsworthy seems to have had a lot to do with our own increasing exposure to them.
If those were the only choices, I'd agree with you. But failed old ideas of every kind don't rule out our coming up with new ones.
One new one is that the economy could be changed so its surpluses go into making it sustainable, not growth, the same way natural systems like our own bodies switch from explosive growth to maturation without a hitch.
What nearly everyone is beginning to see now is that continued growth ends up making the economies ever more vulnerable to resource depletion and environmental events we have no way to adapt to, and just take losses instead. That's a real thing, not philosophy.