Issue 129
December 2006
Contents
Change of climate
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
The key point about the economics of climate change, as the Stern review shows, is how little it costs to cut emissions sharply. Despite attacks from Bjørn Lomborg and others, Kyoto remains a good place to start
Turning up our noses
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
From Aristotle to Kant, intellectuals have delighted in denigrating the sense of smell. In doing so they have dampened the boundless pleasures of the olfactory. It is time we rediscovered our noses
Disengaged democracy
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
The Blair era began on a wave of optimism but is ending in a crisis of disengagement. Most accounts of this problem, including the Power inquiry, are unsatisfactory. Consider instead the "1 per cent solution"
Scotland alone
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Devolution was meant to give Scotland the ability to solve its own problems. But since getting its own parliament, Scotland's dependency on England seems to have increased. A former Scots Tory explains why he has come to see independence as the solution—and why it would benefit England too
River kings
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
In a secret gorge, I discover what I feared no longer existed—a pool full of leaping salmon
Orhan Pamuk
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
The author began this year facing prison, and ends it a Nobel laureate. Here he discusses his artistic development, his country's future, and the benefits of having both a western and eastern soul
The biggest bets in the world
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Since the glory days of the early 1990s, hedge funds have lost much of their lustre, and a series of high-profile collapses has raised the spectre of tighter regulation. Yet they remain the most dynamic and innovative part of the financial world
The radical humanist
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Clifford Geertz turned anthropology away from sociology and towards humanism
Nancy Pelosi
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
The new speaker of the House of Representatives is tough and disciplined. But the Democrats still have a vision problem
Hungary's pains
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
A senior member of Hungary's opposition explains why, 50 years after the anti-Soviet uprising, Hungarians are back on the streets
In praise of Musharraf
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Pervez Hoodbhoy's attack on Musharraf repeats the usual liberal pieties. Musharraf is not perfect, but a democratically elected leader may well be worse
MCB in the dock
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
The government is finally starting to notice that the Muslim Council of Britain is in denial about Islamic extremism in Britain
The fading of Friedman
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Milton Friedman was a highly original economic thinker. But even in the one area he was proved correct, his work is likely to be outshone by that of another economist
How to write about Iraq
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Bob Woodward's book on Iraq is parochial and bloated. For a real indictment of the failure to keep the peace, Americans should turn to Patrick Cockburn
The Bragg interpretation of history
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Billy Bragg has discovered a British tradition he never knew he was part of. As an Englishman, his history is dubious, but his politics are certainly decent
Chávez marches on
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Venezuela's opposition has finally managed to unite—but it is unlikely to stop Hugo Chávez winning re-election
Fry's challenge
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Michael Fry's conversion to Scottish independence is the greatest challenge to unionism I have seen in a long time
The chimera of independence
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
The case for independence has not even begun to have been made. Give devolution a chance
Free Scotland
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Michael Fry has finally seen the light. I look forward to him joining me on the SNP podium
Reinventing Scotland
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Why has it taken so long for the Scottish radical, free-market right to join the cause of independence?
Hugo's world
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
What does Hugo Chavez's election victory mean for Venezuela's place in the world?
Hands off the arts
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Is the "arm's length" approach to public funding of culture coming to an end?
What is a civil war?
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Lessons from history suggest that Iraq, though in chaos, has not yet reached civil war
Too much reality
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
What kind of programmes should Channel 4 show? Its former boss gives his verdict
Winner takes all
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Since "big bang," the City has boomed. But how has it been for everyone else?
Security dilemmas
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Secret intelligence and an adversarial court system do not live easily together
The Shah of Pakistan
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
While enjoying American support and largesse, Pakistan's president has crushed domestic opposition and done little to combat religious extremism
The DNA computer
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Scientists are attempting to create an entirely new kind of computer, one based on the building blocks of life. But don't get rid of your laptop just yet
Ways of seeing
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Arriving in London as a young man, Robert Hughes embraced 1960s excess. But it was his repressive Jesuit upbringing that made him the critic he is
Laughter and forgiveness
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
In Peter Morgan's domestic-sized dramas, our leaders emerge as fallible, even loveable figures. But his work is not as reactionary as it seems
Widescreen
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Film festivals were created to promote what the mainstream ignores. But have their heads been turned too much by the glitter of Hollywood?
Private view
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Douglas Gordon is Scotland's Damien Hirst. The difference is, Hirst is loved by dealers and Gordon by galleries—he is the Zen master of conceptual Scotart
Between the lines
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Most newspaper book review sections are parochial and outmoded. If you really want to keep up with the world of books, visit the blogosphere
Testicular cancer vs the behemoth
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Austin Weaver's mission is to forget his balls and save his girlfriend from a monster
Out of mind
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Section 3 of the Mental Health Act is our most authoritarian piece of legislation. Why is it used so much on black patients?
Washington watch
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Despite appearances, the new batch of Democrats are notably more conservative than the old lot. And why are some Dems urging Hillary not to run in '08?
France profonde
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Jean-Marie Le Pen will soon be begging the rural mayors of France to endorse his presidential run next year. Is it their democratic duty to sign? Or not to sign?
Brussels diary
16th December 2006 — Issue 129
Despite receiving billions of euros in subsidies, the mavericks and populists of eastern Europe are falling out of love with the EU—very quickly