Marijuana legalization in Uruguay

 AFTER more than a year’s public deliberation and a 14-hour parliamentary debate, on July 31st Uruguay took a big step and became the first country in the world to legalize marijuana. The lower house of Congress voted, by 50 to 46, to approve a bill from the left-wing ruling party to legalize and regulate the production and sale of the drug. This is now expected to be approved by the Senate. If so, Uruguayans will be able to consume marijuana by growing up to six plants at home, by joining a club or by buying up to 40 grams a month from licensed pharmacies.


The bill has faced fierce opposition: a poll last month found 63% against, and opponents claim that consumption will rise. But its supporters argue that drug prohibition has caused more problems—in the form of organized crime and the risks of clandestine consumption—than the drugs themselves.

Uruguay’s vote follows the approval of marijuana legalization in referendums in Colorado and Washington state in the United States last year.

In June foreign ministers of the 34 countries of the Organization of American States agreed “to encourage the consideration of new approaches” to the drug problem. Reformers hail these steps as breaking a taboo: in place of the universal prohibition imposed by the UN drugs conventions, the Americas are moving towards experiments with alternative policies. That, they hope, will encourage drug policy based on evidence, rather than dogma.

 

 What questions would you ask to get the following answers?




1. more than a year
2. July 31st
3. legalize and regulate the production and sale of the drug.
4. Yes, the Senate will.
5. by growing up to six plants at home, by joining a club or by buying up to 40 grams  a month from licensed pharmacies.
6. six plants
7. 40 grams
8. last month
9. that drug prohibition has caused more problems than the drugs themselves.
10. to encourage the consideration of new approaches
11. drug policy based on evidence.
12. perhaps

From The Economist

YPF - Flogging a Dead Cow

 Out of gas

LITTLE more than a year ago President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced the nationalisation of YPF, an oil company owned by Spain’s Repsol. Ms Fernández called it a victory for “energy sovereignty”, claiming that Repsol had plundered its Argentine holding for quick profits without investing in exploration or development. But on July 16th, after a year in which YPF’s oil and gas production continued to disappoint, the government announced that it had agreed on a big joint venture between YPF and a different foreign oil giant, Chevron.

Argentina’s energy industry is in a sad state. In 2011 the country became a net importer of energy for the first time since 1984, further eroding its foreign-currency reserves, now at their lowest in six years. Nationalisation has not helped: in the first quarter of this year YPF’s output of crude oil fell by 0.7% and of natural gas by 3.7%. April saw a fire at a refinery. Energy imports are expected to reach $14 billion this year, up from $9.2 billion in 2012.

The great hope is vast shale-oil and gas reserves in Neuquén province, which Repsol discovered shortly before the government expropriated YPF. The Vaca Muerta (“Dead Cow”) field is estimated to hold 16 billion barrels of shale oil and 308 trillion cubic feet (8.7 trillion cubic metres) of shale gas, which would give Argentina the world’s fourth-largest reserves of shale oil and second-largest of shale gas.

Extracting the deeply buried spoils is complicated, costly work. Jorge Ferioli of the World Energy Council, an industry research group, estimates that developing Vaca Muerta will require $68 billion-89 billion. YPF lacks such funds, and Argentina’s borrowing costs in effect bar it from seeking international financing.

As well as bringing expertise, Chevron has promised an initial investment of $1.24 billion in Vaca Muerta as part of its joint venture with YPF. The deal was announced after Ms Fernández issued a decree seemingly tailor-made for Chevron, which states that energy companies that invest over $1 billion will, after five years, be allowed to sell 20% of their production abroad without paying export taxes or being forced to repatriate profits.

Opposition parties, which backed the expropriation, have labelled the Chevron deal a “re-privatisation” and challenged the legality of the decree. They will make the most of the controversy in the run-up to congressional elections due in October. “A year ago the government considered energy sovereignty to mean ‘Spanish, get out’, whereas now it seems to mean ‘Yankees, come in’,” says Daniel Montamat, a former energy secretary and former head of YPF (under opposition governments).

YPF faces obstacles to attracting more collaborators. For one thing there is runaway inflation and a distorted exchange rate. More pressing is the government’s unfinished business with Repsol. Argentina has yet to compensate the company a peso for the $10.5 billion it claims it is owed. Last year, anticipating its deal with YPF, Repsol sued Chevron in Spain and the United States; on July 24th it sought an injunction to halt the deal. Keeping the lights on in Argentina is not getting any easier.

From The Economist

A magic penny (TED Talk)

 Tania Luna has an unusual title: she calls herself a “surprisologist.” The co-founder and CEO of Surprise Industries, Luna thinks deeply about how to delight, and how to help individuals and teams thrive in uncertain circumstances and develop the bonds needed to get through them.

When Luna was invited to take part in TED’s Worldwide Talent Search in 2012, she expected to give a talk about surprise and the importance of not being attached to outcomes. However, she was inspired to tell a more personal story -- one many of her closest friends didn’t know -- about her Ukrainian family getting asylum in the United States when she was 6-yeard-old and arriving in New York with virtually nothing. She sees her work as connected to her upbringing  because it gave her an appreciation for the joy of little surprises. 

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Europe's economy today

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