Our Energy Future is Eclectic
Energy matters, and the world’s energy future will be eclectic. For an overview see this 2020 TEDxSanAntonio talk by Graham Conway The Contradictions of Battery Operated Vehicles. The video now has a warning for...
Economic Thinking Posts on Debate Topics
All Energy Day 2023 (updated)
Bjorn Lomborg discusses “the energy transition” as keynote speaker for All Energy Day 2022. Lomborg warns renewable energy advocates to be careful not to exaggerate harms from climate change and global warming. Transitioning from...
Debating Economic Inequality (again)
National and Texas debate resolutions this year focus on policies to reduce economic inequality. Wealth and income inequality are highly-charged campaign issues with newspaper and evening news stories and comedy segments peaking in the...
The Energy Race
For thousands of years energy technologies have advanced as knowledge expanded for discovering, transporting, and processing fuels, along with other advances in material sciences. From burning wood then peat, then coal, oil, and natural...
Transportation Policy Reform
Transportation policies are local, state, federal. The coming year’s NCFCA topic calls for reforming federal transportation policies: Resolved: The United States Federal Government (USFG) should significantly reform its domestic transportation policy implemented by the...
Liberalism*, Values and Lincoln-Douglas Debate
For many years through the mid-1980s to 1990s we distributed a monthly publication to high school speech and debate teachers nationwide. Originally called the LD/Extemp Monthy, it was renamed Econ’87, then Econ Update. Each...
Turning the U.S.-European Country Food Pyramid Upside Down
For the U.S. European country topic, which current government dietary and nutrition policies should be reformed to enable improved metabolic health and reduced medical costs in the U.S. and across Europe? U.S./Europe Nutrition and...
Welcome to Economic Thinking
Economic Thinking enables speech and debate students to better understand interconnected current events and public policies. Economic principles help students see why current and proposed government policies and programs lead to unintended consequences. Since...
Reform River and Port Policies to Boost Trade, Reduce Flooding, Recharge Groundwater
Water is key to prosperity across the world, from rain for agriculture to rivers for irrigation, transportation, and recreation. Too much water, like too little, causing floods or leaving land too dry, devastate and...
U.S./Europe Nutrition and Dietary Guidelines Reforms
Low Carb Denver, a health and nutrition conference, February 23-26, featured presentations by medical doctors, nutritionists, and nutritional biochemistry researchers. Most of the speakers were from the United States, and some of Europe, Australia,...