Tension is rising is the USA. Two US police officers were shot dead in Mississippi. Last week.a New York police officer was shot in the head while questioning a suspect from his police car. And riots bubbled in Baltimore after a suspect died in police custody. The mood is confused and angry. The issue is …
Continue reading Good people are dying. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Category:Economy
UK Election Exposes Shocking Social Chasm
It happens that as the UK goes to the polls today many marginal constituencies are based in rural areas and expose an unexpected economic vacuum throughout the economy. The numbers are striking. Very wealthy people live next to swathes of people surviving on charity who would rather work but jobs are scarce and low paid. …
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Social, economic, intellectual capital and the memes of society: expectations determine wealth.
The emerging science of memes hold the key to modern business success. Be a part of a growing meme and you win. That is the aim of leading marketers. What is a meme? It is culture. How do you measure it? Using social, economic and intellectual measures against a backdrop of psychology. Getting data is …
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Global systems in transition – accountants seeing the light.
Dr Hazel Henderson has released a summary of her upcoming book Mapping the global transition to the solar age – From ‘economism’ to earth systems science. Drawing on over 40 years of data and experience, it offers a comprehensive summary of the issues faced by global systems and indicates ways forward. It is sponsored by …
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The price of oil is under pressure – high stocks and soft demand
The oil price has been a focus of attention for half a year or so since it dropped rapidly last year when Saudi Arabia stopped restricting supply. The immediate effect was to put pressure on marginal sources, like fracking, and to give consumers a break. This report by The Economist offers valuable insight, saying that …
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Deflation is everywhere. So what? It’s another crack in the wall.
Concerns about deflation are becoming widespread. Deflation is unwelcome because it makes loans more difficult to pay off and dampens economic vitality by encouraging hoarding of cash (some banks offer negative interest for deposits). There were concerns about the spectre of inflation back in 2008/9 but they were held at bay until the recent drop …
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1% own more than everyone else by next year: a decadent milestone in the implosion of civilisation.
Oxfam research shows that the share of the world’s wealth owned by the richest 1% increased from 44% in 2009 to 48% last year. Each adult on average has $2.7m. On current trends the wealthiest 1% will own more than 50% of the world’s wealth by 2016. Today the 80 richest people have the same …
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“The Facts” about sustainability, the environment and your future.
Below are the facts stated in the film Cowspiracy and their references. Which ever side you’re on it’s good to know them. For example, one takeaway from the ideas presented is that we can resolve environmental problems, reform economic systems and still keep our cars, if we change our diet. If you take that with …
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COP out? Yes! Sadly as expected, but what else could happen …
The 20th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change treaty ran over by a couple of days as delegates from over 190 countries “negotiated” the language of resolutions to control carbon emissions. Rich countries don’t want to pay for past emissions; emerging economies don’t want their opportunity for …
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We’re ALL living next to slaves. 36 million of them.
Walk Free published the 2014 Global Slavery Index which makes for sad reading. 167 countries have them, including some which really shouldn’t: Japan 240 thousand South Africa 110 thousand Singapore 5 thousand USA 60 thousand Italy 11 thousand Germany 11 thousand France 9 thousand UK 8 thousand Ireland 300 The report defines slaves as people …
Continue reading We’re ALL living next to slaves. 36 million of them.