The Global Deal

A well-known British economist discusses world policy on climate change and its relationship to practically everything. Written in sophisticated language, the lofty concepts are somewhat abstract, but the economics-minded will find them enlightening and thought-provoking. The golden-throated narrator, James Adams, speaks BBC English, perfect in pace, enunciation, and volume. Trying not to lose his audience, Adams copes admirably with his biggest challenge: the thousands of figures in gigatons, percents, parts per million, euros, cubic meters, and degrees Celsius. Without any charts, tables, or curves to help, the cascade of spoken numbers becomes too immense for most listeners to absorb. The nature of Stern's essay of seemingly endless data brings into question its appropriateness for the audio format. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine