Book Bits: 3 August 2024

● Demography and the Making of the Modern World: Public Policies and Demographic Forces
John Rennie Short
Summary via publisher (Agenda Publishing via Columbia U. Press)
John Rennie Short critically explores the implications of demographic change from a social and economic perspective and considers what this means for public policy. He shows how events as varied and important as the Arab Spring, migration from Africa to Europe, budget negotiations in the United States, and economic growth in India and Brazil – all seemingly diverse issues from around the world – are shaped by forces of demography. Using the demographic transition model as a framework, the book examines the demographic forces that underlie major social and economic issues, and in particular, the range of public policies that have been developed, adopted and rejected to meet these population challenges.

● Nuclear is Not the Solution: The Folly of Atomic Power in the Age of Climate Change
M.V. Ramana
Summary via publisher (Verso)
The climate crisis has propelled nuclear energy back into fashion. Its proponents argue we already have the technology of the future and that it only needs perfection and deployment. Nuclear Is Not the Solution demonstrates why this sort of thinking is not only naïve but dangerous. Even beyond the horrific implications of meltdown and the intractable problem of waste disposal, nuclear is not practicable on such a large scale. Any appraisal of future energy technology depends on two important parameters: cost and time. Nuclear fails on both counts. It is more costly than its renewable competitors wind and solar. And, importantly given the need for rapid transformation, it is slow. A plant takes a decade to come online. If you include permits and fundraising, this adds another decade. And we should not forget the deep roots it has in the defense industry.

● Dark Traffic: The Dangerous Intersection of Technology, Crime, Money, Sex, and Humanity
Noel Thomas with Rob Suggs
Summary via publisher (Whitaker House)
Dark Traffic is the book that ushers the public into the next phase of anti-trafficking efforts to stop what has evolved into a $150 billion industry involving a complex network of organized crime trafficking sex, labor, and human organs. As co-founder and CEO of Dark Watch, author Noel Thomas has led United States law enforcement and the judicial system into the new battleground, where high-tech data analysis is changing how criminals are caught and prosecuted. Dark Traffic arrives on a new wave of media attention and actions at the federal, state, and local government levels, and informs readers how they can play a role in identifying and helping stop trafficking that occurs in their own neighborhood. Noel’s story of how he became aware of the issue is proof. The trafficking game has changed drastically, and Dark Traffic will change all our perceptions of trafficking.

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