- Andreas and Emilia Karabalis, both 80, had €80,000 taken from island home
- Billions of euros hidden in cupboards and under floorboards across nation
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Warning: Greeks are being urged to keep their money in the nation's banks and not to stash their cash at home (file picture)
Greeks are being urged to keep their money in the nation's banks and not to stash their cash at home - as thieves continue to profit from the country's economic uncertainty.
Police say brazen burglars are making off with hundreds of thousands of euros, on an almost daily basis, as they raid homes where money is hidden in cupboards or under the mattress.
Andreas and Emilia Karabalis, both 80, are just one of the many victims targeted by unscrupulous robbers.
The couple took out €80,000 and hid it in their home, on the island of Lefkada, because they thought their bank would collapse. But days later thieves came in the night.
Emilia said: 'We were sleeping. The two masked burglars came to our bed and tied us up. They hit us. They robbed us - they didn't leave anything, it was torture.'
Husband Andreas added: 'Our life is black now. They took our life's savings. We lost everything.'
No-one knows exactly just how much cash lies stashed in Greek homes, secreted in cupboards, at the back of the ice-box, beneath the floor or under the mattress.
But by any guess it is well in the billions, and burglars are after their share of loot which is both highly portable and virtually impossible to recover.
Greece's debt crisis has plunged it into five straight years of economic contraction, thrown half of its young people out of work and may see it ejected from the eurozone.
Civil disorder: As well as the targeting of homes, there has also been violence on the streets of Greece in recent months
In the past two years, Greeks have withdrawn from banks more than €72billion - or close to €7,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. And much of that has been taken in cash.
Police say gangs who may have once eyed 'hard targets', - like the banks themselves, or jewellers - are now going after homes of ordinary people, where there is far less risk and often large stashes of cash freshly withdrawn from savings accounts.
'Many people have withdrawn their money from the banks fearing a financial crash, and they either carry it on them, find a hideout at home or in storage rooms,' said national police spokesman Thanassis Kokkalakis.
He said: 'We urge people to trust the banking system, leave their money there, or at least in a safe place, not hide it at home, where they must anyway take the basic security measures.
Little wonder: But with shares in Greek firms plunging, and the nation's banks having to be bailed out, many think keeping their money at home is the sensible option
'Some people don't even lock their doors and windows.' The unexpected bonanza is attracting foreign crime networks, he said, including two from ex-Soviet Georgia which police dismantled in recent months, blaming them for 300 burglaries.
Crime is just one hazard for people storing unusually large hoards of cash, most of which are not insured.
GREEKS HIT BY UNCERTAINTY OF ECONOMY, AND NOW BY THIEVES
Carpenter George Psychogios, 30, withdrew his savings of €8,000 and kept them in his house at Arta, a small town 200 miles from Athens and known principally for its Byzantine stone bridge and a 13th-century church.
He said: 'I hid the money in two different places before leaving for a trip. When I came back it was all gone. They broke into the house through a balcony door and they took it all.
'We used to sleep outside with the doors unlocked. Now we don't feel safe even when we lock up. They break into homes, shops, businesses. There is a surge in robberies here.'
In Iraklion, a working class neighbourhood of Athens, local people say some thieves have become so brazen they often prowl in broad daylight, even when a family is in.
'We were sitting on the front veranda chatting when they jumped from the roof to the back yard and got into the house,' said pensioner Mattheos Michelakakis, 61.
Before he realised what had happened, they had made off with his family's gold.
'Burglars hear that people are scared and withdrawing money and they hit homes randomly hoping they will be lucky,' he said.
'I feel like I've been naive. We always used to leave all the doors open; we had nothing to worry about.'
There are tales of savings going up in smoke in fires or, as in one case, being lost when a pensioner withdrew his life savings - then died suddenly, before telling his family where they were hidden.
Theft, though, seems the biggest risk and the crime wave has spread far beyond the big cities into rural areas where robbery was little known.
According to the central bank, Greeks withdrew €72billion from bank accounts between January 2010 and March 2012, leaving just €165billion behind.
Since then, withdrawals have accelerated further after an inconclusive May 6 election led EU leaders to talk openly of Greek exit from the single currency.
Some of that money was wired abroad and some spent, but much of it was hidden in homes, either in cash or converted to gold. If Greece leaves the common currency area, any money left in Greek banks would probably be turned into drachmas worth a good deal less. Euros stashed in a box at home would still be euros.
'People have already taken their money out of the bank. The rest are doing it now because they are afraid we will be kicked out of the eurozone,' said one police officer.
Among cases he said he had come across in the past week: a man reported €30,000 in cash and gold stolen from a storage room next to his house and an elderly woman had her life savings of €100,000 stolen from her apartment.
That woman's home also happened to be packed full of cartons of long-life milk and boxes of pasta - in case, she explained, the economic crisis led to food shortages.
Stashing cash is as old as Greece. The countryside is dotted with archaeological sites where the ancients squirreled away their silver drachmas to hide them from marauding armies.
Greek museums are rich in treasure whose owners never made it back.
'Hiding valuables - small or larger amounts of coins, golden, silver, even bronze - was very widespread in antiquity, especially in times of war, crisis or difficulty,' said George Riginos of the Association of Greek Archaeologists.
'Sometimes the owner would perish and this is how they reached us, hidden in the ground, in holes in the wall, small vases under the floor or leather bags.'
Future archaeologists may yet stumble on some of the buried treasure of the euro zone crisis of 2012. A senior banker tells the story of a family on the island of Rhodes who recently visited their local branch, trying desperately to figure out how much their late father had withdrawn before he died.
Not trusting the bank, the old man had taken out his life savings. But he hadn't told anyone where he hid it. His children were searching everywhere, tearing down walls in the house trying to find it, but with no luck.
So much ‘money down the drain’ - Financial Post
In Ontario, a couple we’ll call Frank, 43, and Amy, 37, are raising two pre-school children on an after-tax income that averages $10,632 a month. Yet, devastated by failed investments, they have barely enough money to pay their current bills and debts.
Frank, a health-care professional who runs his own business, and Amy, a stay-at-home mom, are paying off a $628,000 mortgage and struggling with other debt, some of it from investments long underwater.
Ten years ago they bought into a limited partnership for $130,000 with borrowed money. Today it is worth just $35,000 and they still have $98,000 owing, costing $350 a month in interest payments alone.
It’s a hopeless situation, “money down the drain,” Frank says. But, like many investors, he is reluctant to sell and admit defeat.
Still, there are other bad investments. The money that survived the limited partnership went through a series of stocks, losing about half of its remaining value and leaving a residue of penny stocks. It eviscerated much of their savings.
“That still hurts,” Frank says. “We try not to look back. We want to look forward. Our core question is whether we can make up for the losses without depriving our children of their education or ourselves of our retirement.”
Family Finance asked Adrian Mastracci, a portfolio manager and financial planner who heads KCM Wealth Management Inc. in Vancouver, to work with Frank and Amy.
“They have assembled investments in property and financial assets with unknown levels of risk and poor returns,” he says. “That is their core issue.”
Frank and Amy have investment accounts with five dealers. Each account has stocks and mutual funds. Many of the funds have high fees. Investments include risky resource limited partnerships and dubious penny stocks.
“This is more like a piñata than a portfolio,” Mr. Mastracci says. “It might work for them, but it would be more luck than plan if that happens.”
They also have substantial exposure to real estate with four properties, including their home, a cottage and two rental condos.
There is a $212,000 mortgage on their $850,000 house, a $114,000 mortgage on a $130,000 cottage, an $81,000 mortgage on a $150,000 rental condo and a $98,000 mortgage on a $150,000 condo. Total monthly mortgage costs for the four properties are $2,907. The interest rates on the properties average 2.5% a year.
The rental properties generate income, but if depreciation and maintenance are deducted it is marginal, Mr. Mastracci says. If all the properties were sold, the couple could harvest $197,000 of equity. If invested at 3% over the rate of inflation, this capital would generate a return of $5,900 a year that could go to savings. They would also save $730 a month in condo fees and rentals and $400 a month in property taxes.
The couple’s portfolio and cash flow need a makeover. They have $308,000 in financial assets, the rental properties and a $400,000 business. The portfolio cannot support their retirement at present, though with restructuring and contributions, it may.
The investment income that could be generated by the sale of the low-return income properties would allow the couple to contribute another $2,500 to their registered education savings plans needed to get the full $500 annual Canada Education Savings Grant.
They are presently contributing at $2,400 a year for one toddler and have ample time to build up the RRSP for their other, a newborn. After education savings, the $5,900 realized through the sale of income properties would leave $3,400 a year, or $283 a month, for retirement savings.
In retirement at 65, the couple will need $60,000 a year in 2012 dollars after tax or $70,600 a year before tax at an average 15% rate to equal their present spending without debt service charges, retirement savings or educational savings.
Their Canada Pension Plan credits are negligible, the result of Amy’s short tenure in the workforce and Frank’s preference for paying himself dividends rather than salary. Their Old Age Security benefits will begin at age 67 at $6,481 each a year for total pre-tax OAS income of $12,962.
If they can harvest $600,000 from various investment assets including, at the end of his career, sale of his $400,000 business, and obtain a 3% return after inflation, they will add $18,000 to income for total pre-tax income of $30,962.
They will need $29,000 more annual income before tax to maintain their standard of living. If they boost monthly savings to $3,100 and make those savings grow at 3% after inflation, they will have $1-million by the time Frank is ready to retire at 65.
That seems like a lot, but they can get it by selling the income properties and keeping the approximately $1,400 a month they now spend on mortgages, taxes and fees. If they need supplemental income before their OAS begins at 67, they can dip into the substantial cash those savings will have generated.
“Frank and Amy have the ability to build their children’s RESPs and their own retirement savings. It will take a departure from their past misfortune of being sold investments rather than carefully buying them,” Mr. Mastracci says.
Need help getting out of a financial fix? Email andrewallentuck@mts.net for a free Family Finance analysis
Is it time for a shared payroll strategy between finance and HR? - HRmagazine.co.uk
What is different about this big bang is that it involves sharing HR services between not just those two councils, but with a third for part of it, neighbouring Kingston upon Thames borough council, which will include the payroll chunk.
It is the culmination of two years of work on a masterplan for HR shared services across Sutton and Merton, which Shoesmith reckons will save each borough £250,000 every year. A governing board comprised of Shoesmith, finance representatives from all three councils and representatives from HR, payroll, appraisal and recruitment, have together drawn up their shared vision, agreed on a payroll provider - which also has a seat on the governing board - and bashed out who is responsible for what.
From 1 April, payroll will be run from one platform across the three councils, governed by both HR and finance across the trio. Could this shared solution provide a way out of the perennial confusion as to who owns payroll, and a path through the myriad accountability, reporting and legal burdens payroll presents?
The oncoming auto-enrolment legislation is a microcosm of the challenge contained in this collaborative approach. A survey of 103 payroll, HR and accounting professionals, conducted this February by the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP), found 27% of employers would be asking payroll, HR and finance to collaborate on overseeing changes to payroll necessary to comply with auto-enrolment, which goes live this October. A little over 23% of companies said they would put auto-enrolment solely at the feet of its HRD and just 9% would hand it entirely over to finance. Bluefin, the employee benefits advisor, has suggested departments as far away from HR as IT, or even legal, should play a part in rolling out the new pensions responsibilities.
Payroll is a financial function, but pertains to employee salaries and links to employee benefits. Politically and practically, how can HR and finance be organised to share payroll?
Finance directors, for their part, like the idea of sharing payroll. It sings to their interest in streamlining and making cost savings, but it can be a battle for hearts and minds. Narin Ganesh, group FD at relocations company Crown Worldwide since November 2009, says that while his predecessor outsourced payroll, he recently tried - and failed - to make a case to his board for bringing it back in-house, as part of a project to re-define the relationship between finance, payroll and HR. "We do retain a payroll administrator function in the business, which sits as part of the finance function now, but was part of HR before. HR didn't want it, so it ended up with me," Ganesh says.
"The in-house payroll administrator is intended as the interface between company and outsourced provider - but in practice, we actually have pockets of payroll work going on in HR anyway."
Despite having identified that the outsourcing arrangement was dysfunctional, because it lacked clear objectives from the outset, the company decided not to have in-house collaboration between HR and finance. It instead chose to draw clearer lines between HR and finance, keeping payroll off the HR mandate. "The outsourcing provider was not being held up to the right level of scrutiny and work ended up being done in-house to cover for its deficiencies," Ganesh says. "I set about re-defining the relationship with the outsourcer - even having to withhold payment in one case - but its performance improved dramatically and we now draw on more services. At the same time, we are re-defining the scope of work that needs to be done in-house and removing payroll from HR as far as possible; the latter is over-burdened with stuff that isn't adding value."
He admits demarcation between HR and finance is "blurred" and that he spends a lot of time working out the issues between them. "The functions should collaborate - payroll straddles both teams, so collaboration in my view is pure commonsense."
The lack of a shared payroll strategy raises the risk of compliance issues. Payroll ends up delivering compliance with employment law by virtue of its role - and as payroll is still, more often than not, reporting into finance, compliance risk lies with staff who are not trained in those laws. Auto-enrolment is an opportunity for companies to address that compliance risk on a more systematic basis, and to take a shared HR-finance approach.
"HRDs and FDs can be ambivalent about payroll, because it is often seen as not adding any real value to an organisation. Many see it as just a function that needs to be undertaken," says Paul Rains, director of Transact HR, a performance measurement company. "Though traditionally payroll reports into finance more than HR, some savvy HRDs with control over payroll have harnessed the analytical skills of payroll professionals to provide them with management information about the workforce, which assists in strategic planning and the resolution of operational issues. A uniform approach to auto- enrolment makes good commercial sense and needs to be planned jointly by HR and finance to be effective."
Payroll outsourcing is common, but there are many employers that want to control the process and are looking to in-house shared services for that. Defence multinational Thales implemented a shared finance and HR service platform in 2009, incorporating an in-house payroll shared service, for its entire UK business. Management and governance of the process is the responsibility of HR, but the over-arching strategy is set collaboratively by finance and HR for their respective teams.
The driver was governance controls across the group; HR 'owns' payroll production and reconciliation, finance runs the general ledger, budget control and does costing projections. A payroll service delivery manager curates the payroll piece with a team of 10 payroll and finance specialists looking after 8,000 paychecks.
The result? "Excellent payroll controls, with effective segregation of duty, minimal payroll error rate, credible 'one version of the truth' HR information," says Joe Ales, director for HR shared services at Thales UK.
How did the company deliver that? Sort out the politics first, draw the battle lines, agree terms, and draw up the plan with all parties involved.
"Strategically, it was decided payroll would be directed by its main functional customer, HR. But the business recognises payroll is a critical operation within finance as well, so we invested time in defining clear 'lines of sight', as well as the segregation of duty and where responsibilities for activity actually sit," Ales explains. "While the governance and direction of payroll is managed through HR, finance is a key stakeholder in the process; there are clear 'hands-offs' in the payroll production, payment and reconciliation between both functions."
Sutton and Merton's Shoesmith concurs. He appointed Sutton the 'lead' borough of the trio for HR shared services, with its director of resources heading the governance board. The roadmap for delivery was written by HR at Sutton and Merton (which under his leadership had already merged into one team). A shared HR and payroll platform is in place.
The governance board appointed an outsource payroll bureau for the shared service, but a shared payroll client team has been formed out of Sutton as the lead borough.
This was particularly prescient, given the introduction of auto-enrolment this October. Jes Turner, programme manager at payroll provider ADP, doesn't see how payroll can do auto-enrolment at present, and says that company HR departments should be responsible - though HR sees auto- enrolment as a payroll job. "HR passes the information, but payroll determines the contributions. This argument is falling between the cracks for some employers," says Turner.
As always, the devil is in the detail. Sutton was running a small in-house payroll client and outsourced payroll processing out of finance; Merton had an in-house payroll team sitting in HR. Each team had different suppliers, contracts and cultures.
With contracts too expensive to terminate, Shoesmith was pragmatic. "To embed a shared service approach on a single platform with one way of running payroll, we had to align contracts we were tied into with some mini contract extensions that run until we can switch to a new provider," says Shoesmith.
"We have had to agree on key protocols between HR and finance and each borough, so we know the outsourced provider can run our plan in a simple way, and we have agreed we will do things the way of the system - rather than what often happens, which is that people invest in a system, then later try to tailor it to the way they work."
A common chorus comes out of FDs and HRDs that have enacted payroll shared services: it's a partnership with particularly acute need for clearly defined leadership. "I would recommend anyone thinking of doing this to manage design and implementation using effective project-management and change-management disciplines, to clearly define the business case, scope and who owns what aspects of the payroll process," says Ales.
But it is Shoesmith who sums up the risk and the reward: "You need a common language between finance and HR. Thus far, we have ironed out most problems," he says. "But the proof of the pudding is in the eating and it boils down to personalities - the ability to problem-solve, compromise and find solutions." That should be something with which HRDs can assist their financial opposite numbers.
Facts and figures
- 20% of employee salaries are processed by outsourced payroll services
- 30% of total HR costs come from payroll and personnel costs
- 'Visible, measurable' payroll costs around €200 per employee
- Switzerland has the lowest uptake of payroll outsourcing (1% of businesses), while Denmark and Belgium have the highest uptake at over 80% of businesses in both countries
Auto-enrolment in a minute
From 1 October 2012, legislation will start to roll out, meaning that, depending on the size of the organisation, by 2017 every employee aged between 22 and state pensionable age, earning above the income tax personal allowance threshold, must be automatically enrolled by the employer into a qualifying pension scheme, to which both employer and employee contribute (the employee can later opt out if they wish).
Employers are required to either make a 3% contribution towards a defined contribution scheme, the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), or to offer membership of a defined-benefit scheme that meets certain criteria.
Preparedness is patchy. In March, a Northgate Arinso study of 100 senior decision-makers responsible for auto-enrolment found seven in 10 worried about the additional workload and new processes required to comply. Nearly half don't understand what the new legislation requires of them. Worse, the cost of amending payroll systems in a business with 7,500 staff is thought to be as much as £300,000.
Money-lender jailed and told to pay back £60,000 - jarrowandhebburngazette.com
AN illegal money-lender was today jailed for eight months in prison and ordered to pay back thousands of pounds of criminal cash.
Stuart Bell, of Newcastle Road, South Shields, will have to pay £60,000 following a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
At Newcastle Crown Court on Tuesday, April 24, Bell pleaded guilty to engaging in activity requiring a licence between January 2005 and June 2010.
Today, he was sentenced to eight months in jail for prividing unlicensed loans and ordered to pay back the cash.
He was given 28 days to pay the £60,000, or he will face 19 months in prison on top of his sentence, as default.
Bell was arrested in June 2010 after an investigation by Northumbria Police and the North East Illegal Money Lending Team into his illegal money lending activities.
His home was searched and a number of items relating to illegal money lending, including hand-written repayment schedules, were seized.
A confiscation order is based on the value of the defendant’s assets at the time it is made.
The benefit figure is the amount of profit the court decides the defendant has ‘earned’ through crime.
Detective Inspector Paul Knox of Northumbria Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said: “We are pleased with the outcome of the confiscation hearing.
“Financial outcomes can be as much of a deterrent as going to jail.
“Anyone found making money from any type of crime will be caught and will be dealt with appropriately by the courts.
“This confiscation order clearly demonstrates that crime does not pay.”
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Print this pageThe Business Finance Store Discusses How Business Debt Can Affect Personal Credit - YAHOO!
The Business Finance Store discusses how small business owner business credit and debt might be affecting their personal credit.
Santa Ana, CA (PRWEB) May 25, 2012
A federal judge ruled that auto dealers who use consumer’s bad credit histories to charge higher interest rates must inform these clients of the negative information on their credit report, the Associated Press reported in an article titled "Judge: Auto dealers must reveal bad credit history even when they use third-party financier" published on May 24, 2012. This ruling further demonstrates the importance of understanding one’s credit history. This is true, not only for consumers but business owners as well. Many do not realize but their business and personal credit are more connected than they expect. In the recent blog post “How Business Debt Can Affect Your Personal Credit Score,” The Business Finance Store discusses how small business owner business credit and debt might be affecting their personal credit.Many who take on debt to fund their business do not realize that their business debt could affect their personal credit and potentially their interest rates on things such their personal car loan. While there may be little one can do about this dilemma, understanding exactly what can affect a personal credit report is the first step toward avoiding larger issues. Read more about how business credit can affect personal credit at The Business Finance Store Blog.
The Business Finance Store is a business financing and consulting firm that offers customized Business Financial Solutions. Seasoned professionals offer assistance in a variety of financial solutions to help small businesses succeed such as: Business Financial Solutions, Legal Solutions, and Accounting Solutions.
The staff at The Business Finance Store understands that starting and growing a business is an exciting time. They keep it exciting by taking care of some of the most difficult aspects, by providing legal advice, helping with vital responsibilities like accounting & bookkeeping, and by obtaining business finance. They can quickly and easily guide entrepreneurs through many different complicated processes and put them on the path to success.
For 10 years The Business Finance Store has been helping startups and other small businesses legally structure their companies, find the right franchises, get the funding they need, and achieve the American Dream of owning their own successful business. Since expanding nationwide in 2007, they have helped thousands of companies and have funded over $60 Million in business credit lines, not including SBA loans. The Business Finance Store sees limitless potential in the current climate, and looks forward to many strong years of growth to come. Take some time to review their services, and give them a call.
For more information, or a free, no-obligation analysis of your business needs, visit The Business Finance Store website: http://www.businessfinancestore.com. A member of their professional staff will contact you to discuss your business' short and long-term goals. Whatever you need, The Business Finance Store is there.
Kelly Rye
The Business Finance Store
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Diablo 3's real-money auction house delayed again - CVG Online
The launch of Diablo 3's real-money auction house has been delayed again.
"In light of the post-launch obstacles we've encountered, we have made the decision to move the launch of the real-money auction house beyond the previously estimated May time frame," Blizzard said on the Diablo forums.
"As we mentioned in our original announcement, our goal has always been to ensure everyone has the smoothest experience possible when the real-money auction house launches, and we need a bit more time to iron out the existing general stability and gameplay issues before that feature goes live.
"While we don't have a new launch date to share just yet, we'll have more information soon."
Blizzard also issued a lengthy statement addressing a number of post-launch issues players have encountered with Diablo 3, most notably the hacking of user accounts.
Earlier this week Activision Blizzard announced that Diablo 3 had become the fastest-selling PC game ever after shifting 3.5 million copies in its first 24 hours of availability.
If you haven't already, why not check out our Diablo 3 review and our Diablo 3 guide, which features 30 essential tips and tricks every dungeon crawler should know.
Accusations that climate science is controlled by money are mistaken - Wired.co.uk
One of the unfortunate memes that has made repeated appearances in the climate debate is that money isn't just influencing the public debate about science, but it's also influencing the science itself. The government, the argument goes, is paying scientists specifically to demonstrate that carbon dioxide is the major culprit in recent climate change, and the money available to do so is exploding.
Although the argument displays a profound misunderstanding of how science and science funding work, it's just not going away. Just this week, one of the sites where people congregate to criticise mainstream climate science once again repeated it, with the graph accompanying this story. That graph originated in a 2009 report from a think tank called the Science & Public Policy Institute (notable for using the serially confused Christopher Monckton as a policy advisor).
The report, called " Climate Money: The climate industry: $79 billion (£50.4 billion) so far -- trillions to come" (PDF) and prepared by Australian journalist Joanne Nova for the Science & Public Policy Institute, claims to show how money has distorted climate science. There are several aspects to this argument, but we'll start with the money itself.
Who's got the money?
Many discussions have focused on the fact that businesses with a
large carbon output (like fossil fuels extractors) have funded PR
and lobbying efforts that, in part, have attempted to undercut the
scientific case for human-driven climate change. It notes that
there is now significant money being made by companies that build
carbon-neutral energy sources and energy efficient technology, some
coming from tax incentives and subsidies. In addition,
carbon-trading markets are predicted to grow rapidly over the
coming decades. Combined, the report asserts, this money provides
an incentive to keep the spotlight focused on carbon.
In short, some of the green industries are now in the same position as their fossil fuel counterparts, in that they have an incentive to shape policy and the public support for it. There's a definite element of truth to this, although there are clearly reasons other than climate change -- ocean acidification, energy security, extending the lifetime of finite resources -- for promoting efficiency and green energy.
But the key thing here is that, at best, these companies can influence things like public perception and policy responses. They don't influence the underlying science because almost none of them are paying any scientists to gather data. So, although a focus on the income of various companies might tell us something about public opinion, it doesn't really say much about the science.
The false assertion that money is distorting the science comes, in part, from a spectacular misreading of the graph that accompanies this article.
The graph ostensibly shows how the US has gone from essentially funding nothing in the way of climate research to spending over $7 billion (£4.47 billion) a year. But the vast majority of that money is in the form of "Climate Technology," and a careful reading of the report indicates that this goes to things like wind and solar power, biofuel production, and things of that nature. None of that money goes to the researchers who are actually generating the results that point to anthropogenic warming, so it can't possibly provide an incentive to them.
The money that is actually going to climate science is on the bottom of the graph, in purple. And, as that shows, funding has been essentially flat since the early 1990s. (Funding has gone up slightly in recent years, but is still in the neighbourhood of $2 billion (£1.2billion) annually.) A lot of that money doesn't actually go to scientists, either, as it pays to support everything from some of NASA's Earth-monitoring satellites to land and ocean temperature monitoring.
The other issue with this graph is that it gives the false impression that funding shot up from nowhere around 1990. The truth of the matter is that the US has been funding climate science for decades. It's why we have things like a record of CO2 levels that goes back to the 1950s, temperature records that span over a century, and a detailed history of periods like the ice ages. People didn't just suddenly start studying this stuff in 1990 -- and much of the work from before that date was funded by the government. What changed was the accounting. There are over a dozen different branches of the government that fund some sort of science, but it wasn't until 1990 that the government formed the Climate Change Science Program, which started aggregating the expenditures across agencies.
There has never been any sudden boom in government funding for climate research that is luring people onto the research track, much less inducing them to support the consensus view. If anything, many years of flat funding would provide an incentive for people to look to getting out of the field. The graph, held up as evidence that climate scientists are being led around by money, actually shows the exact opposite.
Where's that money going?
But maybe that money is somehow being directed in a biased manner,
distributed in a way that ensures the current consensus is
supported. "Where is the Department of Solar Influence or the
Institute of Natural Climate Change?" Nova asks, elsewhere
claiming, "Thousands of scientists have been funded to find a
connection between human carbon emissions and the climate. Hardly
any have been funded to find the opposite."
This displays an almost incomprehensible misunderstanding of how science research works. Thereare institutes that are dedicated to studying the Sun -- the Naval Research Laboratory has one, as does NASA. But those institutes are focused on learning about what the Sun actually does, not squeezing what we learn into some preconceived agenda. For decades, solar activity has been trending downwards, even as temperatures have continued to rise. It's not that the researchers are being induced or compelled to some sort of biased interpretation of the data. Reality just happens to have a bias.
The same thing works in other areas as well. A number of countries have spent large sums of research dollars to put Earth-monitoring satellites in orbit, not with the intent of finding anything in particular, but because monitoring the Earth can tell us important things. This hardware has imaged the Greenland ice sheet -- again, not because of some sort of bias, but because the sheet is very big and very significant. Most of these studies have suggested that ice loss is accelerating, but a recent one concluded, "sea level rise from Greenland may fall well below proposed upper bounds."
The researchers weren't from some sort of "Institute to discover a stable sea level." They were from departments focused on polar research and Earth sciences. What Nova doesn't seem to get is that the people who study the planet actually pay attention to what the planet tells them, not to what their institute may be titled.
(Incidentally, this paper is also a clear indication that research that indicates things aren't as bad as they could be not only gets published, but makes it into very prestigious journals.)
Like many other self-proclaimed skeptics, Nova also has the bizarre idea that research normally proceeds by "auditing" existing studies. "Auditing AGW research," she writes "is so underfunded that for the most part it is left to unpaid bloggers who collect donations from concerned citizens online." But nobody audits the JPL to see if it's handling the Cassini probe properly; geneticists aren't being asked to open their books so that other scientists can see if they're fudging the numbers.
Science simply doesn't proceed through audits. The Greenland paper linked above provides a much more typical picture of how things work. The researchers behind it didn't simply reanalyse what others had done; they got new (and, in many ways, better) data that addressed the same issue and provided a more comprehensive picture of what was going on at the ice sheet's glaciers.
In short, you generally don't make an impression on science by auditing past data; you do it by coming up with better data.
It's pretty strange that people find in the graph (which shows research stuck in neutral for decades) evidence of a flood of money into climate science that distorts its conclusions. But it's unfortunately typical that an argument focused on climate science leaves the facts behind from the start.
Source: Ars Technica
Everyone has taken their money out of the banks and got themselves a dog...balconies are full of dogs!!
- just saying, Athens Greece, 25/5/2012 16:36
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