Month: January 2018

Macron’s pledge to wipe out coal is just as meaningless as Trump’s plan to revive it

In a speech at the 2018 World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, French President Emmanuel Macron said he wanted to “make France a model in the fight against climate change” and promised to shut all coal-fired power plants by 2021 – two years earlier than the timetable put forward by his predecessor.

While Macron’s move is mainly symbolic since France only generates about 2.2 percent of its power from coal, it signals his government is actively trying to wean itself off fossil fuels in sharp contrast to the current policy of his U.S. counterpart. “We have finally ended the war on coal,” pretty much sums up American policy these days, as President Donald Trump declared in a recent speech. Continue reading →

Is there a simple way to reduce credit card fraud?

Credit card fraud is a major problem, which costs billions each year.  Banks and credit card issuers have tried a number of ways to reduce the fraud.  Recent examples are the rollout of cards with computer chips.  Cards with chips are more secure for in-person transactions.  Unfortunately, chipped cards are no more secure than older cards without a chip for remote transactions, such as paying for something over the phone or buying something on the Internet. Continue reading →