Notes From All Over, Part 4 -- October 2, 2019

Schwab: I just made my first Schwab trade after the no-commission announcement. We'll see later if that no-commission change has taken effect yet. [Later: nope, it was not a commission-free trade; $4.95.]

Schwab: and, tomorrow, I will be attending another monthly noon luncheon with local Schwab office -- one of the nicer, one of the bigger Schwab offices I have found.

Making America great.

Merkel's parthian shot, sent to me by a reader -- am I reading this correctly -- fuel costs would go up 50 cents/liter or about $2.00/gallon for literally no effect on global CO2?

September 2019: The deputy parliamentary group leader of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU party, Andreas Jung, has called for a carbon price cap of 180 euros per tonne by 2030.... ....

According to the article, a CO2 price of 180 euros would translate into an increase of fuel prices of about 50 cents per litre. In its current climate strategy programme, the government has planned a gradual rise of carbon prices from 10 to 35 euros per tonne between 2021 and 2025 and capped the price at 60 euros in 2026. The cap prevailing after that year will be decided on in 2025, according to the programme.

Wow, have they lost their minds? But, actually it's worse. In response to that announcement, Germany's director of the country's plan to transition to renewable energy:

“This climate package is shockingly feeble and fainthearted. In particular the proposed CO2 pricing is a bad joke: 10 Euros per tonne won’t do anything, the annual increases are so homeopathic that they are barely more than inflation. There is no progress for the expansion of renewables either – to the contrary the conditions for wind power are worse. That way the 2030 climate targets will definitely not be achieved.”

Better them than us. But the US will move in that same direction once the current administration changes. California: be ready to see another 50 cents to $2.00 tacked on to each gallon of gasoline. 

Link here.