It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Food, housing insecurities may delay breast cancer diagnosis
IMAGE: MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS RESULTS INDICATING THAT FOOD INSECURITY AND HOUSING INSECURITY ARE ASSOCIATED WITH STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT LONGER LAPSES BETWEEN DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING AND BIOPSY AMONG BREAST IMAGING PATIENTS. view more
CREDIT: RADIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA
OAK BROOK, Ill. - Women who experience food or housing insecurity may be at risk for undiagnosed breast cancer due to lapses in follow-up appointments, according to research being presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
"Diagnosing breast cancer at an early stage is very important for survival," said Aaron Afran, a third-year medical student at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM). "Concerning mammography findings lead to the need for additional imaging, such as diagnostic mammography and ultrasound, and there can be a lapse in time between imaging appointments."
Researchers retrospectively reviewed the medical records of two groups of women undergoing breast imaging at Boston Medical Center (BMC) from January 2015 to December 2018. The first group included 4,959 women who underwent screening mammography and, based on a BI-RADS score of 0, were recommended for diagnostic imaging. The second group included 3,028 women who underwent diagnostic breast imaging and were recommended for a breast biopsy based on a BI-RADS score of 4 or 5.
The women were included in the study cohort if they had also completed the BMC's THRIVE screening tool designed to help primary care clinicians understand and address patients' unmet social needs, or social determinants of health (SDH).
The THRIVE questionnaire addresses eight social variables including housing, employment, transportation to medical appointments, whether the patient has trouble with caretaking responsibilities, and if the patient can afford food, medicine and utilities.
"Our goal with this study was to understand how social determinants of health influence the time interval between breast imaging and follow-up appointments," Afran said.
Of the 4,959 patients in the first group who underwent mammography screening, 1,510 patients (30.7%) had SDH data and were included in a multivariate analysis (mean age 59.1 years, 56.2% black, 18.2% white, 25.6% other race/unknown; 16.5% were Hispanic).
Of the 3,028 patients in the second group who had suspicious diagnostic imaging results, 812 patients (26.9%) had complete SDH data and were included in a multivariate analysis (mean age 60.9 years, 57.5% black, 22% white, 20.5% other race/unknown; 13.6% were Hispanic).
Results of the statistical analysis demonstrated that having food or housing insecurity was associated with longer lapses between diagnostic imaging and breast biopsy compared to interval times for women without those unmet social needs.
The study results confirm that unmet social needs are clearly relevant to patient care, noted senior author Michael D. Fishman, M.D., assistant professor of radiology at BUSM and section chief of breast imaging at BMC.
"To best serve our patient population at a safety-net hospital, we must think creatively about the social factors that are preventing our patients from receiving the best care," Dr. Fishman said. "Our findings indicate longer lapses between diagnostic imaging and biopsy for patients with unmet social needs, which begs the question: are unmet social needs associated with some amount of breast cancer mortality that could have been prevented? We seek to investigate this in future work."
According to a 2020 report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, nearly one in three renters and one in six homeowners in the U.S. experienced housing insecurity during the first half of the year. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 11.1% of U.S. households reported food insecurity in 2018.
CAPTION
Hazard ratio for screening mammography to diagnostic imaging lapse (top). Hazard ratio for diagnostic imaging to biopsy lapse (bottom).
###
Co-authors are Donghoon Shin, M.S., and Christina A. LeBedis, M.S.
For more information and images, visit RSNA.org/press20. Press account required to view embargoed materials.
RSNA is an association of radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. (RSNA.org)
Editor's note: The data in these releases may differ from those in the published abstract and those actually presented at the meeting, as researchers continue to update their data right up until the meeting. To ensure you are using the most up-to-date information, please call the RSNA media relations team at Newsroom at 1-630-590-7762.
For patient-friendly information on breast imaging, visit RadiologyInfo.org
One in four older refugees are in psychological distress -- even decades after resettlement
A new study of Canadians aged 45-85, released this week in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry, found that 24% of refugees were in psychological distress compared to 13% of non-refugee immigrants and those born in Canada.
"Refugees are very vulnerable to negative mental health in later life. The average time these refugees had lived in Canada was more than 4 decades, yet one in four were still in substantial psychological distress," says the study's first author Hongmei Tong, Assistant Professor of Social Work at MacEwan University in Edmonton.
"Since refugees had twice the prevalence of distress compared to other immigrants, we hypothesize that pre-migration traumas, rather than the post-migration challenges of resettlement, are probably driving the high levels of psychological distress" says Tong.
The researchers found that individuals without social support were twice as likely to experience psychological distress compared to those with at least some social support. In addition, more than one-quarter of the refugees in the study did not have someone they could regularly confide in, nor someone they could turn to for advice in a crisis. Almost one in five refugees had no one who regularly showed them love or attention. Immigrants who were not refugees and those born in Canada were much less likely to lack these key aspects of social support.
"We believe this extreme lack of social support may be a contributing factor to refugees' increased vulnerability to distress," says senior author, Esme Fuller-Thomson, director of the Institute for Life Course & Aging and professor at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW). "These findings underline the importance of finding effective interventions to help refugees integrate into their community and develop supportive relationships."
Consistent with earlier studies, older Canadian adults in this study who were less educated, poor, experiencing chronic pain and those with more co-morbid health conditions had a higher prevalence of psychological distress.
"Mental health professionals must be careful not to neglect physical health concerns such as chronic health conditions and chronic pain." says co-author Yu Lung, a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto's FIFSW.
The study also found that in the general population women and visible minority members are at a higher risk of psychological distress than men and whites.
"Programs to address mental health concerns should target the groups in these higher risk categories," says co-author Karen Kobayashi, a professor in the Department of Sociology and a research fellow at the Institute on Aging & Lifelong Health at the University of Victoria.
The study's findings have important policy implications.
"With such a high prevalence of distress among older refugees, there is a need to screen for depression and to provide trauma informed mental health interventions for those who are struggling," says co-author Karen Davison, Health Science Faculty and Nutrition Informatics Research Program Director at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, B.C.
This study was published online, ahead of print, in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry this month. It uses data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging and includes information on 244 refugees, 4,765 non-refugee immigrants and 23,149 respondents born in Canada.
Tong H, Lung Y, Lin S, Kobayashi, K, Davison, KM, Agbeyaka, S & Fuller-Thomson, E, (2020). Refugee status is associated with double the odds of psychological distress in mid-to-late life: Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. (Published online ahead of print)
Commentary: Want to understand health disparities? Get your antiracist goggles on
IMAGE: AFRICAN AMERICAN MOM AND DAUGHTER TAKE A TRIP TO THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE FOR AN APPOINTMENT. view more
CREDIT: DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL
AUSTIN, Texas -- When it comes to understanding why children from non-white race groups have such poor health outcomes compared with their white counterparts, it's time for researchers to look beyond their genes and delve deeper into social factors, according to a commentary published today in the journal Pediatrics.
"Framing race in biological terms within health sciences is not only shortsighted, but it also absolves us from dealing with how structural racism and other problems in society are far stronger causes of disparities than genetics," said co-author Elizabeth Matsui, M.D., professor of pediatrics and population health at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin.
Matsui points to decades of research into racial and ethnic health disparities that have failed to resolve disproportionate health outcomes among kids for conditions such as premature birth, asthma and obesity.
Even when there's no scientific basis to make such a claim, Matsui and her co-authors Adewole Adamson, M.D., of Dell Med and Tamara Perry, M.D., of The University of Arkansas argue that observed associations between race, ethnicity and disease among minority populations are misconstrued as evidence that innate biological differences are a key cause of health disparities.
"Take a Black child with asthma, for instance," Matsui said. "Many of us are inclined to conflate the color of his skin with an intrinsic biologic difference rather than thinking about his condition not only in the context of where he lives, but also the history that led to that context. And it's this context that's overwhelmingly responsible for the disproportionate burden of asthma and other chronic conditions within Black communities."
The commentary cites other research exemplifying this problem, including a study on atopic dermatitis that described inflammatory markers in skin between Black and white people, without discussing the potential role of contextual factors in causing these differences.
"This overemphasis on biology is persistent, even though these genetic differences between racial groups are often meaningless," said Adamson, a dermatologist and assistant professor of internal medicine at Dell Med. "Until we recast minority health research that positions race and ethnicity as social - not biologic - constructs, we'll see little progress. So, we're calling for a research framework that is explicitly antiracist."
Matsui, Adamson and Perry contend that new research framework must be:
Embedded in systems that fund, evaluate, disseminate and promote health sciences,
Guided by antiracist principles,
Explicitly considerate of contextual factors such as race and ethnicity when designing or interpreting studies,
Engaging of the community disproportionately affected by the health condition being examined or studied.
The researchers also advocate for the construction of "trans-disciplinary" research teams.
"We want experts at the table that include social scientists, race scholars, environmental health scientists, epidemiologists, population geneticists, behavioral scientists and others," Matsui said. "Right now, that's simply not how most investigative teams are structured."
Matsui believes the pediatric field is best positioned to lead this re-casting of health disparities research because of its constant focus on prevention and routine collaboration with social workers, schools and other public services that focus on child wellness.
"Although this agenda is ambitious, it's critical in the effort to have a meaningful impact on minority health," said Matsui. "As the issue of structural racism grows louder, the opportunity for the pediatric community to lead the implementation of an antiracist research agenda has never been greater."
###
Study of hope and optimism: New paper examines research in emerging fields
How does practicing hope and optimism benefit or harm us?
IMAGE: EXPLORE THE LATEST RESEARCH IN THIS WHITE PAPER BY PROFESSOR MICHAEL MILONA. view more
CREDIT: JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION
A new paper published by the John Templeton Foundation explores the latest scientific and philosophical research on the related but distinct virtues of hope and optimism. The 45-page white paper, written by Michael Milona, a philosophy professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, examines findings on the benefits and risks involved in both hope and optimism. Milona's summary gave particular focus to the results of a three-year, $4.4 million project led by Samuel Newlands at Notre Dame and Andrew Chignell at the University of Pennsylvania, which funded projects by more than 29 researchers worldwide on topics on the effects of hope and optimism in education, faith, healthcare, politics, and more.
A HOPEFUL OVERVIEW
Milona's white paper surveys more than 145 sources from the last 50 years, with special attention to new work in the past decade. According to his analysis, philosophers and psychologists view optimism and hope as distinct but related traits. Optimism is generally categorized as being dispositional (involving a general tendency to expect things to go well) or contextualized (being oriented around a specific goal). Optimism can give motivation, improve health, and help people to cope in tough times. At the same time, optimism can run the risk of being untethered from reality, which may set people up for disappointment.
While optimism is the belief that a good outcome will occur, hope, Milona writes, is "something we can hold on to even when we've lost confidence." Hope is connected with both belief and desire. Though often allied with positive emotions, it can also connect with negative emotions such as fear.
Critics of hope can cast it as overconfidence, demotivation, or otherworldliness, but as with optimism, hope can motivate us, and be a primary factor in our personal identities. In religious and secular outlooks, hope figures significantly in how we think about the reality of death -- both as we approach life's end and contemplate what might happen after we die.
Milona also examines several sub-varieties of hope, including "Christian Hope" -- which emphasizes confidence even when one is uncertain of the details -- and "Pragmatist Hope," which emphasizes flexibility, a commitment to what works, and taking the role of a participant rather than observer. He quotes Cornel West's 2008 book Hope on a Tightrope: "Hope," West says, "enacts the stance of the participant who actively struggles against the evidence."
###
Founded in 1987, the John Templeton Foundation supports research and dialogue on the deepest and most perplexing questions facing humankind. The Foundation funds work on subjects ranging from black holes and evolution to creativity, forgiveness, and free will. It also encourages civil, informed dialogue among scientists, philosophers, theologians, and the public at large.
With $3.5 billion in assets and annual grants of approximately $115 million, the Foundation ranks among the 25 largest grantmaking foundations in the United States. Headquartered outside Philadelphia, its philanthropic activities have engaged all major faith traditions and extended to more than 190 countries around the world.
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy
They built them and no one ever came. Now shipyards need to do something other than wait if they want to solve their newbuild rig problem.
It’s 2019, the offshore rig scene is ramping up after a long and difficult downturn and newbuilds are finally leaving shipyards. Cue 2020, Coronavirus and a new oil price mess. There are still 69 newbuilds in yards and 65 of them, estimated by Bassoe Rig Values to be now worth approximately $6.2 billion, have nowhere to go. During the offshore rig newbuilding boom, which commenced around 10 years ago now, far more rigs were ordered, many on speculation, than were proven to be needed. Fast forward to 2020 and there is still a glut of units awaiting delivery from yards with little-to-no sale or work prospects in sight.
Data from Bassoe Analytics shows that there are 43 jackups, 18 drillships and 8 semisubs still classed as “under construction” today, though many of these have had deliveries deferred year after year in hopes that they will have brighter prospects to get a contract in a few years when the market recovers. Unfortunately, this has been the plan for the best part of a decade for some rig owners and now that we have escaped one downturn just to be met by a second means that little will change near term. Oil price, near-term demand and dayrates are all struggling and until these improve, newbuild sale and contracting activity will remain muted.
Do any of these rigs have work to go to?
Between the beginning of 2019 and mid-October 2020, 40 units were delivered thanks to some improvement in global oil market fundamentals. The majority of these were jackups, which were put to work in the Middle East, Mexico or China; meanwhile five harsh-environment semisubs were successfully contracted on long-term commitments in Norway plus a further semisub was contracted for work in Chinese waters. Only two drillships were delivered during the period, both Sonadrill units, with just one securing work in Angolan waters.
Figure 1: Newbuild rigs with contracts in place (Data from Bassoe Analytics)
As can be seen in Figure 1, only four of the 69 offshore rigs currently in shipyards have known future contracts in place: two are Transocean managed 20k BOP drillships, which will be utilized under long-term deals in the US Gulf of Mexico, and the other two are newbuild jackups ordered by ARO Drilling specifically for long-term deals with Saudi Aramco.
Who is responsible for all this excess tonnage?
Most of the companies originally responsible for these newbuilds have defaulted on their orders and walked away. That does not necessarily mean that it was their fault. When everyone wanted to order a new rig, circa 2010, shipyards enabled buyers by offering low-risk terms. The original buyers were hurt the least out of all this and the shipyards have been left holding assets that nobody wants.
As has been the norm in the past, newbuild jackup ownership remains fragmented especially in comparison to floating rigs (see Figure 2). There are still 18 different “owners” within the newbuild jackup segment, with Chinese companies still essentially in control of the market. Like jackup ownership, the spread of newbuilds within shipyards is also disjointed with these 43 jackups spread across 14 different yards.
Figure 2: Newbuild jackups by owner (Data from Bassoe Analytics)
On the deepwater side of the market, drillships are the main cause for concern with more than double the amount marooned in comparison to semisubs (see Figure 3). The main reason behind this split is that many of the semisub newbuilds were designed for the Norwegian Continental Shelf, a market that has been doing relatively well, therefore yards managed to find new owners for these prior to 2020. It is now mainly benign floaters that are left in the yards. Most of these drillships were originally ordered by drilling contractors such as Seadrill, Ocean Rig, Pacific Drilling which, when faced with a depressed market and lack of demand during the last oil downturn, canceled construction contracts with yards.
Figure 3: Newbuild floating rigs by owner (Data from Bassoe Analytics)
Many shipyards are now under huge financial strain after owners backed out of contracts, leaving them to finance and finish construction work following a nosedive in drilling demand. Yards have been forced into the awkward position of having to build, own, and pay to maintain these assets.
What are the options going forward?
There are some companies which have been formed based on rescuing and managing these abandoned rigs, with SinoOcean being one of the most successful of late in the jackup segment. Perhaps more of the excess jackup tonnage will be brought under the wing of such companies, some will may be picked up by COSL for work in Chinese waters, while others could still be secured on bareboat leasing agreements which had been a growing trend until COVID and the oil price crash. Shelf Drilling, for example, recently canceled bareboat agreements with CMHI for two jackups.
One potential solution for shipyards would be to consider upgrading some of these rigs to cater to a growing trend towards “greener” drilling capabilities. This could make them more attractive to potential buyers and help to recover some of their loses. However, this would mean requiring more funding and not many yards would be open to risking further loses. However, yards that at least start investigating this could end up better off than the alternative.
The other options going forward are quite simple. Yards can keep holding onto these rigs, digging a deeper financial pit whilst hoping for a miracle upturn in the market; they can bite the bullet and try to sell assets while taking a massive financial loss; or a final option (and one that is becoming increasingly likely) is that some of these newbuilds could be scrapped before ever being put to work. Shipyards cannot keep stranded assets forever and now that many of these units are likely to have been written down, and with no market improvement in sight, it is probable that they will shortly attempt to offload rigs. Keppel Corp recently announced that it is considering divesting “non-core” assets such as drilling rigs as part of a new asset-light strategy. We believe that this is just start of many more such announcements to come.
Bassoe Analytics estimates that the original order value of these 65 remaining rigs would have been in the arena of $21.4 billion and when compared to our current estimated value of just $6.2 billion this already shows a brutal loss of over $15.2 billion for shipyards. To make matters worse, if yards start offloading newbuilds just to get rid of them, rig values may fall further. As reported in our last article, Ending offshore rig owners’ bankruptcy nightmare requires a lot more scrapping, these dormant rigs are all part of a bigger global oversupply problem in the offshore rig market. Until we witness a mass scrapping of old tonnage to make room for the new, these dormant rigs will likely continue to sit idly awaiting maiden charters that may never come.
This article is reprinted courtesy of Bassoe Analytics and it may be found in its original form here.
The Many Types of Capitalist Economic Anarchy
[This is a brief essay against the notion that there is only one kind of capitalist economic anarchy. I submitted it to the RCP*** in 1983 under the title "On State Capitalist Economic Anarchy". I received no response from them.]
The current discussion on the nature of the Soviet Union is an important one. But as an RCP member has pointed out to me, it is not simply a matter of arguing for one existing line against all other lines—it also includes the necessity of further developing our understanding of the question. Though I respect the contribution made by the old Revolutionary Union publication, Red Papers 7, as well as the more recent writings of the RCP on the subject, the present situation demands a still deeper analysis.
In this essay I would like to raise just one particular issue from among the many that need to be discussed—that of the existence and types of economic anarchy under capitalism, and under state capitalism in particular.
One of the main themes of Engels' work Anti-Dühring[1] is that under capitalism "anarchy of social production prevails" [p. 350] and that under socialism "the anarchy within social production is replaced by consciously planned organization" [p. 366]. He also says that
In proportion as the anarchy of social production vanishes, the political authority of the state dies away. Men, at last masters of their own mode of social organization, consequently become at the same time masters of nature, masters of themselves—free. [p. 369]
I agree with Engels on these points—even the last one which could be taken by some to imply support for the infamous "theory of the productive forces" (though I do not read it that way). But if these points are even generally correct, it follows that you should be able to decide whether a society is capitalist or socialist by deciding if it can still be characterized by anarchy in its social production, and by whether such anarchy as does exist is decreasing or not.
(This is an economic test of socialism as opposed to a political test; and actually socialism is both a political and economic system. However I believe that these things are so interrelated that sufficient tests of either kind can be constructed and that they will not lead to opposite conclusions. In the present case, for example, it seems to me that the only way there could possibly be an absence of economic anarchy, or even a progressive diminution of economic anarchy in a society, is if the proletariat controlled that society... but this is jumping ahead in the argument.)
In pursuing this line of inquiry, then, the key question becomes: "In what does the socio-economic anarchy of capitalist production consist?" The answer to this question is that the anarchy of capitalist production is manifested in many ways, some of which are more important than others. All of these derive, however, from one basic contradiction in capitalist production, a contradiction so important in fact that it is often called the fundamental contradiction of capitalism: This is, as Engels expressed it, "the contradiction between social production and capitalist appropriation" [p. 349]. Let us then proceed to discuss some of the ways in which this contradiction leads to capitalist economic anarchy.
First, and most important, the fundamental contradiction leads to economic crises of overproduction. As is well known, this "overproduction" is not in relation to the material needs of the people, but rather in relation to what can be sold. If anything is economic anarchy it is the quintessential capitalist phenomenon of starvation and want in the midst of a mountain of "excess" goods which cannot be disposed of profitably. Of course the explication of these crises of overproduction can get quite complicated, as many subsidiary contradictions are involved. The whole of Marx's Capital is in effect the detailed story of how this all works. (This is why those who point to any single argument in Capital as being Marx's "theory of economic crises" are hopelessly off the mark.)
[Note added on 8/12/98: I've partially changed my mind on this point. It is not an appropriate response to someone seeking a short explanation of capitalist economic crises to say "go read Capital". The essential features of any process can be summarized briefly, or relatively briefly. But it is true that the essential features of capitalist economic crises are still somewhat complex. This is why Marx's dialectical explication of them is the best way to proceed.]
A second form of capitalist economic anarchy is the anarchy among the various capitalist enterprises. Each enterprise may attempt to organize its production rationally, but—traditionally at least—that same rational planning did not exist overall. There is no denying that this is an important type of economic anarchy, and it is also true that it can play a role in the development of overproduction crises. However, with the advent of monopoly capitalism this particular form of economic anarchy has become relatively less important than it used to be. For one thing, there is the widespread development of vertical integration of production within corporations, and the equally important closer integration of production between companies and their outside suppliers which has often gone so far as to allow "just-in-time" arrival of parts from other companies (in order to avoid large parts inventories). From the standpoint of rational planning of production it often no longer makes any real difference if the parts come from a different company, or from another factory or division of the same company.
For another thing, there are now generally only a small number of producers of particular commodities, and it is easier for them to divide up the market and hence impose at least a degree of rational planning among the various enterprises. Often this has even gone to the point of formal production cartels, though in the U.S. it is typically done through secret (illegal) agreements and implicit "understandings". And more important by far, there now exists the phenomenon of state capitalism of the Soviet variety, under which formal production plans are developed for the whole economy (even if they are to some extent a farce!). This does not completely eliminate the anarchy among Soviet production enterprises, but it certainly greatly reduces this type of anarchy.
Engels remarked that "The contradiction between social production and capitalist appropriation reproduces itself as the antagonism between the organization of production in the individual factory and the anarchy of production in society as a whole" [p. 352, emphasis in original]. While this is literally true, it is possible to read Engels here as saying that this is the only way that anarchy is manifested from the fundamental contradiction. I don't think Engels is saying this, but if he is, as much as I admire him, I have to say that he is wrong on this point. In any case, those who believe that the anarchy in capitalist production consists mainly (or entirely) of anarchy among capitalist enterprises are very much mistaken, as are those who believe that the fundamental contradiction must of necessity lead to the development of crises of overproduction through the exclusive medium of inter-enterprise anarchy.
It is easy to see why certain people today might be attracted to these views, however. For if the anarchy of capitalism derives solely (or even primarily) from the anarchy among competing enterprises, all that is necessary to eliminate this anarchy is to institute an overall state economic plan. State capitalism then becomes free (or largely free) of economic anarchy, they suppose. The Soviet revisionists repeatedly state that economic crises do not and cannot occur in the Soviet Union because of the existence of their overall economic plans. The fact that they continue to trumpet these comments at the same time as their economy sinks deeper into stagnation and crisis vastly amuses us, of course.
A third kind of capitalist economic anarchy is the anarchy which exists within capitalist enterprises. Marx and Engels often refer to the "social production" within each enterprise, and of course they even contrast this with the anarchy of production among the various capitalist enterprises. But anybody who has ever worked for a large corporation has, I am sure, seen enormous waste, disorganization, bad planning (or the partial absence of planning), and the like. In fact the "socialized production" of the capitalist workplace is really only semi-socialized and could be greatly improved upon in a more completely socialized enterprise controlled by the workers. Social production under capitalism is far from perfect because (for one important reason among many) society is split into classes and it is not in the interests of the workers to work harmoniously according to the production plans of the capitalists. Many workers know this quite well, at one level of consciousness or another.
Paradoxically, one of the factors leading to economic anarchy within corporations is a bureaucratic over-centralization! Any complex entity (be it a living organism or an economy) needs a dialectical balance between centralism and decentralism. Too much central control of production leads to a situation where some small dislocation somewhere cannot be quickly and readily compensated for, resulting in disruptive chain reactions. Of course this sort of thing is particularly characteristic of the Soviet economy, which comes close to being "one big bureaucratic corporation".
A fourth kind of capitalist economic anarchy is the anarchy which exists among capitalist countries, including that among the various state capitalist countries. This is, in a sense, the international reproduction of the older type of economic anarchy among individual enterprises within a single country. The importance of this form of anarchy has of course grown immensely with the advent of imperialism.
As long as capitalism exists all of the many types of capitalist economic anarchy will continue to exist, to one extent or another. And they all will continue to play a part in the development of overproduction crises. But the primary cause of crises of overproduction derives directly from the fundamental contradiction of capitalism (between social production and private appropriation), and these crises do not require the existence of any other type of economic anarchy for their development. Even if we imagine that the whole earth comes under control of a single capitalist world government, operating under a "perfect" world economic plan, and that every single economic enterprise on earth operates completely rationally within that plan, there would still be economic crises of overproduction! The reason is simple: surplus value would still be ripped off from the workers; the workers would therefore be unable to buy all that they produce; the capitalists would use up a certain part of the resulting spoils in the form of untold luxuries and extravagances, and would re-invest the rest in the expansion of the means of production; but there would come a time when the further expansion of the means of production would become obviously pointless; for awhile things might be kept going by advancing credit to the workers, but after awhile it would become apparent that the workers could never repay their loans and the credit bubble would collapse... and sooner or later stagnation and/or depression would develop. These things are inherent in capitalist commodity production, and there is no escaping them. It is not possible to have an economic plan under any form of capitalism, which will not eventually break down.
Socialism or communism without an overall economic plan is inconceivable. There is a great deal of work still necessary to understand exactly how socialist or communist economic plans should be developed and implemented. But one thing transcends all this: the realization that the law of value is fundamentally incompatible with communist planning, and that any economic plan that is based upon the continued existence of commodity production is either capitalist, or at best transitional (to the extent that the law of value is being progressively restricted). The importance of getting clear on the nature and varieties of economic anarchy which can exist under various forms of capitalism, including state capitalism, is that this helps us understand why the much-glorified economic planning in the revisionist Soviet Union is nothing more than capitalist economic planning carried as far as it can go.
Of course there is much more which could be, and should be, said about all this. I hope these introductory comments can be of some value to the discussion of the nature of the Soviet Union which is now underway.
In 1965 in Rhode Island, Bob Dylan changed the course of popular music. He scandalized purists by plugging in an electric guitar for the first time in front of an audience at the Newport Folk Festival. It was a bold move that was met with derision by many, but it changed rock and roll forever, and made Dylan a household name. Half a century later, history was made again in Rhode Island as the state’s power grid was plugged in to five wind turbine generators standing in 100 feet of water about 4 miles offshore. It was another bold move, but it forged a connection that would open the door for a whole new wave of offshore wind industry for the United States.
While the European nations and operators have spent the past 30-plus years developing their offshore wind capabilities, the US has lagged behind. Indeed, it was even questioned if the country’s offshore wind plans would ever come to fruition. So, when Rhode Island’s Block Island Wind Farm was built, it sparked excitement and signaled the tangible beginning of a fledgling industry.
By the time Vineyard Wind won Massachusetts’ first offshore wind solicitation in 2018, things had changed. The leading question was no longer a matter of “if” but “when”. A whole new wave of excitement and anticipation was born.
From the earliest days of the now-defunct planned projects off the coasts of Massachusetts and New Jersey, GAC North America has worked diligently to become a trusted partner and leading service provider with the skills and resources the emerging US offshore wind industry needs. We offer guidance to our customers, both foreign and domestic, aiding them in navigating US regulations and requirements for their vessels and personnel working in support of planned wind farms.
Energizing the industry
Initially focusing on vessel agency and husbandry, GAC has worked with vessel owner/operators who previously been based in oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico for years and now needed a trusted guide as they moved to the New England coast for the first time. The company also works with and guides those who had never had a vessel make a US port call, let alone conduct project work in US waters.
Some of its principals are purpose-built to serve the offshore wind industry, while others are significant, long-established players in the upstream Oil & Gas (O&G) sector seeking to expand or diversify and transition into a new market, just as the major construction phases in the US offshore windfarms get underway in the coming years. GAC North America’s experience with all phases of offshore upstream O&G activity give it a solid foundation from which to provide support in every aspect of US offshore wind projects, from initial environmental, geophysical, and geotechnical surveys through to pile or jacket installation, wind turbine generator and substation construction, and inter-array or export cable burial and connection.
In recent years, GAC has been supporting principals working on eight different US offshore wind projects spanning a half-dozen states across the US Northeast and Central Atlantic coastlines. As our principals’ projects progress, they turn to GAC’s multiple business lines to provide additional solutions beyond vessel agency, ranging from in-house customs brokerage, freight forwarding and warehousing to route coordination, visa assistance and optimized bunker fuel supply via GAC Bunker Fuels. In a sign of the times, the company has also provided valuable support in expediting COVID-19 testing and travel coordination, both domestically and internationally. We have added, reassigned or relocated staff as needed to deliver what our customers need, exemplifying the flexibility to serve the industry as efficiently as possible.
Looking forward
Watching this growth and development of our own companies from within is exciting, but it is only a drop in the bucket in comparison to the jobs that offshore wind will bring into the US. Studies from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), among others, predict the offshore wind industry could create more than one hundred thousand US jobs, and generate economic development worth tens of billions of dollars annually. Even before the first monopile or jacket for a commercial windfarm touches the seafloor, we are seeing significant infrastructure investment from private enterprise, cities, and states committing to redeveloping derelict or long-abandoned port terminals – and that means jobs. US-built Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs) and Service Operation Vessels (SOVs) are putting shipyards to work, US-flagged survey vessels are putting mariners to work, terminal developments and improvements are putting engineers, surveyors, architects, construction crews and more to work.
Beyond the economic benefits, the developing US offshore wind industry has focused further attention on environmental responsibility. Windfarm operators have been working closely with biological and physical oceanographers and local fishing communities to determine the best installation methods and placement of the wind turbine generators to ensure the impacts on migratory fish and bird species are kept to an absolute minimum.
Of particular concern is the protection of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale. The protection of this species has been factored into the design and operation of new, purpose-built vessels which will support the windfarms on a daily basis after construction. Environmental concerns have also spurred innovation in the propulsion systems of these new vessels, with development in cleaner technologies such as LNG, battery, or hydrogen power becoming more prominent.
GAC North America is now playing a significant role in this expanding industry, in the same way that our colleagues at GAC Denmark did with the first installation at Vindeby in 1991 and GAC UK since the development of North Hoyle and Scroby Sands in the early 2000s. We are drawing on that wealth of experience within the GAC Group to gain insight and support from our colleagues who have already been where we are today. We are also working closely with them as the technology for floating offshore wind becomes more refined, bringing with it the potential for additional US projects in deeper waters. Just a few short years ago, the potential for floating wind turbine generators off the coast of Northern California seemed like a pipedream to some, but now there are already surveys underway in water depths of over 2,000 feet. After all, not so long ago, some of the initial projects planned for the Atlantic coast seemed to be up against insurmountable hurdles, discouraging some visionaries and encouraging many of the nay-sayers, Today, the US has two proof-of-concept wind turbine generators (each of which has a nameplate capacity greater than the first windfarm at Vindeby) in approximately 88 feet of water, 27 miles off the coast of Virginia, ready to enter commercial service.
As states continue to introduce and pass legislation calling for greater environmental responsibility paving the way for renewable energy sources, the US offshore wind industry will continue to grow. Wind turbine generators will continue to get larger and more efficient. Offshore windfarm developments will enter deeper waters and new locales. And the excitement of being not just witnesses, but active participants in a revolutionary period for industry in the United States is something that GAC North America will hold dear in perpetuity.
Adron Allen is business manager for offshore services, oil & gas / renewables at GAC.
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.
Maritime Research and Offshore Wind Power Investments in UK Green Plan
The UK government announced a broad ten-point plan to lead what the Prime Minister called a “green industrial revolution” that is also designed to create jobs. The investment of more than $5 billion includes portions for the maritime industry and offshore wind power as well as other elements ranging from carbon capture to hydrogen, electric vehicles, and public transportation.
“My Ten Point Plan will create, support, and protect hundreds of thousands of green jobs, whilst making strides towards net-zero by 2050,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “Our green industrial revolution will be powered by the wind turbines of Scotland and the North East, propelled by the electric vehicles made in the Midlands and advanced by the latest technologies developed in Wales, so we can look ahead to a more prosperous, greener future.”
Covering clean energy, transport, nature, and innovative technologies, the Prime Minister said the blueprint would allow the UK to forge ahead with eradicating its contribution to climate change by 2050. Among the more attention-getting elements is a ban on new gasoline and diesel cars in the UK from 2030 to be replaced by electric vehicles, investments to green private homes, expanding nuclear power, and restoring nature with a tree planting initiative.
The maritime industry is included within the overall plan. The Prime Minister said they would invest $26.5 million for “greener maritime.” This would be focused on launching a competition to develop clean maritime technology and include feasibility studies.
Maritime UK Chair, Harry Theochari quickly responded to the announcement welcoming the news of the planned investments. “Given maritime's unique capacity to drive growth and employment at a difficult time for the country, the government is absolutely right to view the sector as critical to meeting the UK’s net-zero ambitions and as an engine of the new green industrial revolution. The market for green maritime technology is truly global, and the first country to make real progress towards maritime decarbonization will reap substantial returns. The new green technologies to move vessels must be matched by green infrastructure at ports, so those vessels can recharge and refuel as people and goods come and go,” Maritime UK said in its statement.
Other elements of the plan will also contribute to the maritime industry. The Prime Minister was to produce enough offshore wind to power every home in the UK. He set a goal of quadrupling the amount of power generated from offshore wind to 40GW by 2030.
He also called for investments in hydrogen and hydrogen technology. The goal is by working with industry to generate 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for industry, transport, power, and homes.
In the field of carbon capture, the Prime Minister wants the UK to become a world-leader in the technology to capture and store harmful emissions away from the atmosphere. The target is to remove 10MT of carbon dioxide by 2030.
In announcing this initiative, which builds on several programs already announced, the Prime Minister said, “this marks the beginning of the UK’s path to net zero, with further plans to reduce emissions whilst creating jobs.
The initiative has sparked much debate and while it has been called a good first step, critics have said it fails to go far enough. They are saying that more investment will be required and bolder initiatives to achieve the goals of reducing carbon emissions and restoring the global environment.
NYK Forms Partnerships to Grow Japan's Offshore Wind Power Sector
Geological survey ship operated by Fugro - courtesy of NYK
The global growth in the offshore wind power sector is contributing to the ongoing investment into the sector. Japan’s NYK Line announced a new partnership to develop opportunities in offshore exploration to further expand its operations in the sector.
NYK announced that it has agreed to a memorandum of understanding with subsidiaries of Fugro headquartered in the Netherlands focusing on geological survey related to offshore wind power generation. NYK and Fugro will undertake a joint study for the operation of an offshore geotechnical investigation vessel and providing a geotechnical service that would contribute to the success of offshore wind projects off Japan.
Japan has been seeking to encourage the development of offshore wind power generation, including legislation in 2019 designed to facilitate the development of new offshore wind projects. While this is expected to spur investments in new projects, the companies noted that before constructing an offshore wind power plant, it is necessary to collect geological data in the sea area when considering the basic design of the wind turbines and the layout of the power plant.
In response to the rapidly increasing demand for undersea ground surveys, a shortage of offshore geotechnical investigation vessels has become apparent in Japan, leading NYK to decide pursue the opportunities. NYK chose to partner with Fugro, which has over 25 years’ experience in the offshore geological survey business in Europe.
The project is exploring the operation of an offshore geotechnical investigation vessel which would conduct a submarine ground survey by performing cone penetration tests, which measures resistance, friction, and water pressure, key data on ground strength necessary in the planning of new offshore installations.
This new partnership is NYK’s latest effort to realize opportunities related to the offshore wind power sector. In January 2020, NYK and Van Oord signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly own and operate offshore wind installation vessels under the Japanese flag. The first vessel, which will have a crane capacity of more than 1,000 mt partners is expected to begin service in 2022.
NYK also announced that it was working with Northern Offshore Group of Sweden to develop a crew transfer vessel business for the offshore wind power generation sector.
Norwegian oil major Equinor has announced new details for a proposal to build an offshore wind tower manufacturing plant at the Port of Albany, New York, in partnership with tower fabricators Marmen and Welcon. It would be the first facility of its kind in the United States.
Marmen and Welcon have already signed an MOU to market their services in the nascent U.S. offshore wind market, which is expected to grow rapidly over the next decade. Their plant would serve the construction of the Equinor/BP Empire Wind and Beacon Wind projects - so long as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) selects their bid in a 2.5 gigawatt offshore wind power solicitation announced earlier this year.
“With this latest solicitation, New York solidifies its commitment to renewable energy and its desire to make the offshore wind industry an important component of the state’s economy,” said Siri Espedal Kindem, President of Equinor Wind U.S. “This plan would create the first facility for offshore wind tower and transition piece manufacturing in the U.S. Our proposal helps secure New York and the Port of Albany as a regional leader in this exciting new industry.”
The tower manufacturing plant would create up to 350 direct jobs around the region, according to Equinor. It would be one element of a multi-port investment project to support Empire Wind, along with improvements at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal - creating new employment in Upstate and Downstate New York. The extra supply chain activity associated with manufacturing tower components would bring even more economic opportunity to the state, according to Equinor.
“With the ongoing expansion of offshore wind power on the East Coast, the Port of Albany would become a natural destination for future projects to source components. The economic potential for the NY Capital Region is enormous," said Katie Newcombe, the Chief Economic Development Officer for the Center for Economic Growth.
Equinor's Empire Wind lease area is located about 15-30 miles southeast of Long Island, adjacent to the approaches to New York Harbor. The proposed Beacon Wind site is located about 60 miles to the east of Montauk. In September, Equinor announced a deal to sell a 50 percent stake in Empire Wind and Beacon Wind to BP for about $1.1 billion; like other European oil and gas companies, BP has announced plans to rapidly scale up its low-carbon investments, and it is targeting total renewables capex in the range of $5 billion per year.
