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A review by davidr
The Infinite Resource: The Power of Ideas on a Finite Planet by Ramez Naam
5.0
As I started this book, I started to think, "OK, another book about how wonderful innovation can be. Shades of Kurzweill. Yawn." The book starts out with a couple of chapters about how these are the "best of times", followed by a few chapters about how these are the "worst of times". All sorts of ills of our times are described; running out of fossil fuels, soaring food prices, soaring commodity prices, water shortages, deforestation, global warming, acidifying oceans--all very depressing.
Then the book takes an about-face, and describes how ideas and innovations are our one limitless resource. The remainder of the book is virtually unfettered optimism. But the optimism is well backed-up by some excellent arguments. First, Ramez Naam discusses how the experts of the past, with doomsday messages, ignored the power of innovation. When CFC's were seen as the culprit in the development of the "ozone hole", industry claimed that corporations would go bankrupt trying to remedy the problem. Even the EPA claimed it would be a costly problem to correct. But it turned out that the solution was far cheaper than even that claimed by the EPA. Malthus famously claimed that as the world's food supply grows arithmetically, the population grows geometrically, and at some point soon there would be massive starvation. His prediction ignored the power of innovations in agriculture.
In the past, all sorts of commodities that were considered absolutely necessary were exhausted. Whale oil for lighting, guano and saltpeter for fertilizer, diamonds for industry, and rubber have all been seen to be exhausted. Innovation has found substitutes for all of these materials.
In many of these cases, it was a race against time. It takes time to develop innovative technologies, and when resources are depleted without a practical substitute, then huge hardships can occur. That is why Naam argues for the need for anticipating needs, by investing in R&D on a larger scale.
Interestingly, Naam points out that unpopular ideas are seen to be more believable if they are espoused by similar people. Most Republicans don't believe in global climate change because Al Gore did so much to publicise it. But Republican presidents (Nixon, Bush senior, and Reagan) signed into law the EPA, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Montreal Protocol, and amendments to the Clean Air Act.
While market-based economies have flourished and raised the standard of living of the developing and developed world, there are some serious flaws. Free markets do not incentivize corporations to cut down on pollution. So, Naam suggests various incentive approaches; cap-and-trade worked well for reducing sulfur emissions. Naam makes a couple of similar suggestions to reduce CO2 emissions.
This book is filled with reasonable approaches for solving many of the world's resource problems. On the whole, the optimism shines through, which makes it quite an enjoyable read.
Then the book takes an about-face, and describes how ideas and innovations are our one limitless resource. The remainder of the book is virtually unfettered optimism. But the optimism is well backed-up by some excellent arguments. First, Ramez Naam discusses how the experts of the past, with doomsday messages, ignored the power of innovation. When CFC's were seen as the culprit in the development of the "ozone hole", industry claimed that corporations would go bankrupt trying to remedy the problem. Even the EPA claimed it would be a costly problem to correct. But it turned out that the solution was far cheaper than even that claimed by the EPA. Malthus famously claimed that as the world's food supply grows arithmetically, the population grows geometrically, and at some point soon there would be massive starvation. His prediction ignored the power of innovations in agriculture.
In the past, all sorts of commodities that were considered absolutely necessary were exhausted. Whale oil for lighting, guano and saltpeter for fertilizer, diamonds for industry, and rubber have all been seen to be exhausted. Innovation has found substitutes for all of these materials.
In many of these cases, it was a race against time. It takes time to develop innovative technologies, and when resources are depleted without a practical substitute, then huge hardships can occur. That is why Naam argues for the need for anticipating needs, by investing in R&D on a larger scale.
Interestingly, Naam points out that unpopular ideas are seen to be more believable if they are espoused by similar people. Most Republicans don't believe in global climate change because Al Gore did so much to publicise it. But Republican presidents (Nixon, Bush senior, and Reagan) signed into law the EPA, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Montreal Protocol, and amendments to the Clean Air Act.
While market-based economies have flourished and raised the standard of living of the developing and developed world, there are some serious flaws. Free markets do not incentivize corporations to cut down on pollution. So, Naam suggests various incentive approaches; cap-and-trade worked well for reducing sulfur emissions. Naam makes a couple of similar suggestions to reduce CO2 emissions.
This book is filled with reasonable approaches for solving many of the world's resource problems. On the whole, the optimism shines through, which makes it quite an enjoyable read.