Hannesson: For Wise Use Environmentalism

Posted on 10.10.15

Photo: Kristinn Einarsson.

Environmental protection can be reasonable, whereas demands for it have often been characterised by fanaticism and irresponsibility, Professor Rognvaldur Hannesson argued at a conference held in his honour by RNH and the School of Social Sciences and the Economics Faculty of the University of Iceland Thursday 8 October 2015. In his lecture, Hannesson gave an outline of his recent book, Ecofundamentalism. There, he made a distinction between “wise use” environmentalism and ecofundamentalism where people ascribe special rights to “Nature” against man. Hannesson submitted that ecofundamentalism was religious in nature. He pointed out that almost all the predictions in Limits to Growth—which appeared in an Icelandic translation in 1974—have been wide off the mark; that the so-called precautionary principle is more of a paralysing principle, because it hinders experiments and therefore progress; that it remains unclear whether global warming is undesirable, as it is difficult to demonstrate that the present climate is the best one possible; that oil and coal are cheap sources of energy and simple to utilise; and that the rate of population increase has gone down in the last few decades, while food production per acre has vastly increased.

Professor Rognvaldur Hannesson is an internationally renowned expert on resource economics, the author of around 100 refereed papers and six books. Professor Bengt Kristrom of Umea University in Sweden and Julian Morris, Director of Academic Studies at the Reason Foundation in the United States, responded to Hannesson’s lecture. Dr. Dadi Mar Kristofersson, President of the School of Social Sciences, introduced Hannesson, and Professor Tor Einarsson, Chairman of the Economics Faculty, chaired the meeting which was well-attended. Whereas Hannesson has spent his professional career abroad, mostly at the Norwegian School of Business in Bergen, some of his old schoolmates from Iceland turned up for his lecture. On the day of the conference, Professor Hannes H. Gissurarson published in the leading Icelandic daily Morgunbladid an article on Hannesson’s book, describing some of the main arguments in Hannesson’s book. According to him, Hannesson’s message was similar to that of Bjorn Lomborg, whose book on the Sceptical Environmentalist was published in Icelandic in 2000, and of Matt Ridley, whose book on the Rational Optimist was published in Icelandic in 2014. In the evening, Education and Culture Minister Illugi Gunnarsson gave a dinner in Hannesson’s honour. The RNH participation in this event forms a part of the joint project with AECR, the Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, on “Europe, Iceland and the Future of Capitalism”.

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Oppression in Cuba

Posted on 08.10.15

Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo

Cuban writer Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo gives a talk at a meeting of the Pen Club in Iceland Saturday 10 October 2015 at 14 in the City Library in Grofin, Reykjavik Centre. The meeting is co-sponsored by the City Library. Pardo describes the systemic abuse of human rights in Cuba and the reasons he was forced to leave the country. Pardo was born in Havana 1971 and received a degree in biochemistry from the University of Havana. Around 2000, he became a photographer and writer, starting the online magazine Voces in 2010, the only such magazine in Cuba. The material from Voces often had to be clandestinely distributed on CDs or in photocopies, as the authorities try to limit access to the Internet. In 2009, Cuban secret service agents sought out Pardo and a colleague of his and gave them a beating. In September 2012, Pardo was arrested, but when the news of the arrest spred, a multitude gathered outside the prison where he was held, to protest. He was released later the same day. He later moved to the United States where he has edited and contributed to a collection of short stories, Cuba in Splinters. He also writes poems and blogs.

In the beginning of 1959, communists seized power in Cuba and have ruled the fertile, sunny, tropical island since then with an iron fist, long under the leadership of Fidel Castro. Their oppressive regime is described in the Black Book of Communism, published in Icelandic in 2009. Almost 30,000 people are thought to have perished as a result of their activities (compared to around 3,000 in Pinochet’s Chile). More than 100,000 people have had to spend time in prisons and labour camps. In addition to a powerful secret police, the Cuban communists organised special neighbourhood committees to watch over people and to discover any dissent. Individual enterprise is held down as much as possible. It is estimated that around two million people have fled the country: they have “voted with their oars”. Icelandic leftists have however been staunch supporters of the Cuban communist regime. Magnus Kjartansson, editor of their now-defunct organ The Nation’s Will (Thjodviljinn), went to Cuba in 1962, spent an evening with Che Guevara and listened to two of Castro’s long speeches, and subsequently wrote a pro-Castro book, The Cuban Revolution (Byltingin a Kubu). Many Icelandic leftists also worked as volunteers on Castro’s sugar plantations, including literary critic Silja Adalsteinsdottir, also for a while editor of The Nation’s Will, and labour leader Pall Halldorsson. The last action of the main leftist party, the People’s Alliance, before it was dissolved in 1998 was to send a delegation to the Cuban Communist Party, led by two former Party Chairmen, Margret Frimannsdottir and Svavar Gestsson. They asked for an interview, or rather an audience, with Fidel Castro, who did not bother to receive them.

Cuban refugees vote with their oars. From the Black Book of Communism.

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Conference in Honour of Hannesson

Posted on 06.10.15

The School of Social Sciences and the Economics Faculty at the University of Iceland, and RNH, hold a conference on “Environmental Protection and Natural Resource Utilisation” Thursday 8 October 2015 at 16.30–18 at the Festivities Hall of the University. The conference is in honour of one of Iceland’s most distinguished scholars, Rognvaldur Hannesson, Professor Emeritus in Resource Economics at the Norwegian School of Commerce in Bergen, the author of around 100 academic papers and six books. The conference focuses on Hannesson’s latest book, Ecofundamentalism, where the author makes a distinction between wise use environmentalism, which he favours, and ecofundamentalism, which he criticizes. Professor Dadi Mar Kristofersson, President of the School of Social Sciences, introduces the guest of honour. Professor Hannesson delivers a keynote lecture. Two discussants comment on the subject, Bengt Kristrom, Professor of Resource Economics at Umea University in Sweden, and Julian Morris, Director of Academic Studies at Reason Foundation in the United States. After questions and answers, Professor Hannesson gives final remarks. A reception on the premises follows. Admission is free and all are welcome.

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Well-attended and successful ESFL conference

Posted on 03.10.15

Ragnar Árnason flytur fyrirlestur sinn.

The regional meeting of the European Students for Liberty, ESFL, which took place in Reykjavik Saturday 3 October 2015 was well-attended and very successful. Attendees included not only university students, but also many from senior high schools or grammar schools in the Reykjavik region. RNH supported the conference in various ways. The Chairman of RNH’s Academic Council, Professor Ragnar Arnason, spoke on free markets and property rights. RNH’s Director of Academic Studies, Professor Hannes H. Gissurarson, held a reception at his home for the foreign guests. Gisli Hauksson, RNH’s Chairman of the Board, organised a reception hosted by Gamma, a rapidly growing fund management company. The participation of RNH in the conference forms a part of the joint project with AECR, Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, on “Europe, Iceland and the Future of Capitalism”. Other speakers at the conference were business affairs reporter Asgeir Ingvarsson who spoke on the impact of immigration on income distribution, Icelandic MP Sigridur Andersen who discussed the relationship between politics and ideals, Roderick T. Long, Philosophy Professor at Auburn University, who described “left-wing liberalism” or the alliance of libertarians and radical leftists, both of whom are sceptical of government and hierarchies, and investor Heidar Gudjonsson, who analysed public debt in Western democracies and traced its accumulation, unsustainable in some countries, to the government monopoly of producing money. While the attendees at the conference disagreed on many issues, they generally welcomed the fresh and innovative ideas put forward there. The conference was moderated by Lukas Schweiger, originally from Austria, but residing at present in Iceland, and Eyd Aradottir from the Faroe Islands, now residing in Denmark. The conference was taped by the Sons of Libertas, and parts of it, as well as interviews with some speakers, will be included in a documentary produced by the SoL.

Slides of Ragnar Arnason

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Students meet and Hannesson is honoured

Posted on 04.09.15

Professor Gissurarson, Dr. Yaron Brook of the Ayn Rand Institute and Professor Hannesson at the ESFL conference in Bergen 2014.

Many events are being planned by RNH and its associates in the winter of 2015–2016. European Students for Liberty, ESFL, holds a regional conference in Reykjavik Saturday 3 October, at meeting room HT-102, Haskolatorgi (University Forum), in the University of Iceland, 11–17. Speakers include Asgeir Ingvarsson, political scientist and business correspondent at Morgunbladid, Heidar Gudjonsson, economist and independent investor, Sigridur Andersen, lawyer and Independence Party MP, and Roderick T. Long, Philosophy Professor at Auburn University. A group led by law student Ingvar Smari Birgisson and economics student Thorsteinn Fridrik Halldorsson, Chairman of the Libertarian Alliance, is organising the conference. The participation of RNH in the conference forms a part of the joint project with AECR, Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, on “Europe, Iceland and the Future of Capitalism”.

Julian Morris

Thursday 8 October 2015 a conference is held at the festivities hall of the University of Iceland, 16.30–18, in honour of Rognvaldur Hannesson, Professor Emeritus in resource economics at the Norwegian Business School in Bergen. The conference is sponsored by the School of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Economics at the University of Iceland, RNH, and Reason Foundation. Professor Dadi Mar Kristofersson, President of the School of Social Sciences, will introduce Professor Hannesson who will, subsequently give a keynote lecture, with short responses by Julian Morris, Research Director of US-based Reason Foundation, Professor Bengt Kriström from Sweden and others. Professor Hannesson is one of the best-known and most-respected resource economists in the world, having published around 100 papers in learned journals. Recently he published Ecofundamentalism, where he contrasts „wise-use environmentalism” which he supports to ecofundamentalism which is, in his opinion, a dangerous religion. A lengthy review of the book by Professor Hannes H. Gissurarson will soon be published in a U.S. journal. The participation of RNH in the conference forms a part of the joint project with AECR, Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists, on “Europe, Iceland and the Future of Capitalism”.

Thursday 5 November 2015, Professor Hannes H. Gissurarson gives a public lecture on Ayn Rand’s moral defence of capitalism at 16.30 in lecture hall O-101 at the University of Iceland. The meeting is held by the Institute of Public Administration and Politics of the University of Iceland, also sponsored by RNH and forming a part of the  joint project by RNH and AECR on “Europe, Iceland and the Future of Capitalism”. The Public Book Club (Almenna bokafelagid) which cooperates with RNH, is also preparing for publication some books on history and current affairs, including works on Putin’s Russia and on totalitarian rulers of the 20th Century, Niall Ferguson’s Civilization, Richard Pipes’ Property and Freedom and possibly some classic works on liberty. RNH also continues its international operations. RNH Academic Director Hannes H. Gissurarson will give a talk at the regional conference of European Students for Liberty in Sofia in Bulgaria 17 October 2015 and attend the general meeting of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience in Wroclaw in Poland 17–19 November.

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History and Biography Discussed in Reykjavik

Posted on 20.08.15

RNH is the Icelandic partner of the Remembrance and Future Centre in Wroclaw in Poland. This Centre is now undertaking a project on oral history with special reference to the connections between the Polish and Icelandic nations. In 17–27 August 2015, a workshop was conducted in Reykjavik where Polish scholars and university students interviewed Polish immigrants in Iceland, visited the oral history centre at the National Library of Iceland and listened to two scholars explaining Icelandic history on the one hand and the traditions of Icelandic biography on the other hand. RNH helped the Centre in organising the workshop.

Dr. Hannes H. Gissurarson, Professor of Politics at the University of Iceland, gave an outline of Iceland’s history. It was, he said, mainly a story of the nation’s fight against ice and fire until the 20th century. The ancient Commonwealth had been an interesting attempt to resolve conflicts without government. The fishing grounds off Iceland were very fertile, but while the country was a Danish dependency in 1380–1918, the Danish King has in effect conspired with the small Icelandic landowning class to hinder the development of Icelandic fisheries. This had changed in the 19th century and the Icelanders had worked their way from poverty to affluence through the fisheries and free trade. The 2008 bank collapse had been a great shock to the nation, but it had quickly recovered as in former calamities. The nation has until recently been very homogeneous, but this was changing. Polish immigrants had adjusted better to life in Iceland than many other groups.

Dr. Gudni Johannesson, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Iceland, discussed the tradition of Icelandic biographies. He told the audience that he had himself written some biographies, including a controversial unauthorised biography of Kari Stefansson, the medical doctor and founder of Icelandic Decode, and a better-received and authorised biography of Prime Minister Gunnar Thoroddsen. Johannesson was now working on three biographies, two of them on prominent Icelanders, with the support of their families, and one about his own father. It was not always easy, Johannesson submitted, to find sources and to evaluate them. An honest historian had to approach his subject matter with sympathy, and yet critically. He had used oral sources in many of his works, but of course they had to be subject to the same critical analysis as other sources.

Gissurarson Slides 19 August 2015

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