After finishing ‘Hyperobjects’ a couple of weeks ago, I thought a switch from ecological philosophy to net zero economics policy might be a welcome change of pace…

Supercharge Me is ambitious and pragmatic, it urges specific actions and is optimistic about achieving them. Unfortunately, it was written for a different age.

Published all the way back in 2022, when inflation still seemed ‘transitory’ (remember that?) and we didn’t yet realise the days of near-zero interest rates were over, so many of the book’s policy recommendations now read as a lament to lost opportunity, to all the progress we could have made during those low-interest years… but didn’t.

It doesn’t land as ‘optimistic’ now at all, it reads as tragedy.

Nor does it feel practical. With mounting demands on households and governments and global relations cooling, the large-scale international co-operation Supercharge Me calls for, feels like wishing the world were otherwise. (“It’s just a question of shifting the global norm very quickly…” OK.)

Don’t get me wrong, the book talks sense. Its central idea that ‘extreme positive incentives for change’ (”EPICs”) are the most effective way for governments to shift behaviour towards net zero, is compelling. Support the development of low-carbon substitutes in polluting sectors, massively incentivise their adoption, and only then penalise the laggards with taxation and regulation. The authors’ belief that rapid electrification of everything should be the primary focus of global action is sound (if knowingly simplistic and carbon-centric).

Some of the details are creative too. Using Central Banks’ balance sheets to lower the cost of capital for green assets is a great idea. Persuading Sovereign Wealth Funds to purchase and decommission polluting assets seems lovely. International debt guarantees would be wonderful to see. And I could join them in caring less about stranded fossil fuel assets on the basis that reaching net zero is both wealth-creating and distributive. But none of this bridges the gap in international will between where we are now (with warm words and long-term goals) and where we need to be to see these things enacted.

And maybe the incoming tide of interest rates doesn’t destroy all the ideas in Supercharge Me but it certainly spoils the low-hanging fruit. The book which needs to be written now is the one which shows us the route from lip-service to a genuine, funded determination, then we’ll return to Supercharge Me to take us from that point to effective action.

If you think I’m being a bit miserable about this, you may well be right. Take a look at the reviews on Goodreads or Amazon and you’ll find plenty of people being inspired by this book. Clearly my sense of a lost opportunity is far from universal. Indeed, if I were writing a review on Amazon, I’d agree it was concise, well thought-through, factually supported yet accessible, urgent yet optimistic. Supercharge Me: four stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

And I am an optimist, I do believe we’ll pull together and make change happen, just in weirder ways than this. In ways which are less geopolitically cooperative and probably less economically rational.

I can’t blame Corrine and Eric for how their book leaves me feeling, I just think the world has let them down by being the way it is. I’m sorry guys. Global Politics: two stars. ⭐⭐