(Bloomberg) -- The UK’s ability to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 is facing increased skepticism, as climate experts warn the country isn’t on track to reach the goal to help slow catastrophic global warming. Prospective Conservative party leaders, meanwhile, cast doubt on the economic benefits of doing so at all.
In this episode of Merryn Talks Money, Merryn Somerset Webb speaks with Ed Conway, author of Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future, and MacroStrategy founder James Ferguson. Together with Bloomberg senior reporter John Stepek, they discuss the economics of what Conway calls “the single most consequential law that we ever agreed to.”
The special podcast panel organized for The Edinburgh Festival Fringe discusses the multifaceted economic drivers and impacts of the energy transition while at Adam Smith’s final remaining home, Panmure House. They unpack issues ranging from artificial intelligence to whether Smith, an 18th century economist, would have been for or against carbon taxes.
The panelists also tackle questions like what tax increases the Labour government may propose to deal with the country’s debt problem and what investments they would make right now.
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