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This means that climate change need not be disastrous for Africa. But to deal with it when it occurs, Africans need the institutions of the free society on which their agriculture and their economies can grow. Just like Australians did, with the rule of law, property rights and free markets, Africans too could build weatherproof economies.

In truth, Germany’s wind-energy promotion has not only been economically damaging, even the ecological gains are a chimera. If wind really is the energy of the future it must prove itself in the market without subsidies. And this has yet to happen. Decisions are being made on the basis of artificial models with hidden costs for taxpayers and consumers.

Science requires measurement. But not all measurement is scientific. The newest example is the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), released at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland — a compilation of data on the alleged state of the environment in 133 countries.

Wer als Teilnehmer der Klimakonferenz nach Montreal kommt, wird zunächst einmal von der Wahl des Veranstaltungsortes überrascht sein: Während die letzte UN-Konferenz zum Thema im argentinischen Sommer von Buenos Aires stattfand (die Veteranen unter den Konferenzteilnehmern schwärmen noch immer von den heißen Open Air-Parties), hat man sich diesmal für den kanadischen Herbst entschieden. Das heißt konkret Tagestemperaturen um und Nachttemperaturen deutlich unter dem Gefrierpunkt. Dazu weht ein frischer Wind, und unter einem strahlend blauen Himmel glitzert Schnee auf gefrorenen Böden.

Aufgrund der aufgezeigten argumentativen Schwächen und Irrtümer des Hans-Hermann Hoppe ist dabei anzunehmen, dass seine Ideen eine Fußnote der sozialphilosophischen Ideengeschichte bleiben werden. Eine effektive Strategie der Befreiung sähe anders aus.

Clearly, there is something rotten in the state of UK housing. The rest of the developed world enjoys living in modern, spacious and affordable accommodation. Meanwhile the British are living in houses in which single-glazing windows moving against each other can hardly be cleaned and hot and cold water runs from two separate taps – a caricature of British housing published recently in Germany’s leading quality daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Britain is a rich, modern and dynamic country but its housing is among the oldest, pokiest and most expensive in the developed world. I am German and have lived in London for just over a year. When my friends and family visit, they are surprised at how sub-standard British houses look. That surprise turns into astonishment and shock when I tell them how much one has to pay for them. I am becoming increasingly irritated at being pitied all the time – and yes. I know I could afford something better in Germany.

Strangely enough, although most other kinds of socialism have frequently been attacked by advocates of the free market, the ‘meta-intervention’ of government-created paper money is hardly being called into question. In the long run, however, the destructive effects of false money could be even more disastrous than Soviet-style communism.