According to the Asian Development Bank, 1.5 billion people live below the poverty line, not the “official figure” of 0.5 billion., so the Asian poverty rate is 41.2% not 12.7%. The explanation is that the officially set poverty line of $1.25 a day is too low and by increasing it by 25 cents, to $1.50 …
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Category:3 The World of Money
Waste hemp for cradle-to-cradle and biomimicry
Research shows that “Hemp fibres ‘better than graphene’”. Scientists have made graphene-like materials for a thousandth of the price – and with waste. They “cooked” cannabis bark into carbon nanosheets and built supercapacitors, high-performance energy storage devices, which are “on a par with or better than graphene” – the industry gold standard. Graphene is too …
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Cows are eating the planet.
Since primary school it has been clear that animals require more food than plants. Those food pyramids with grass at the bottom and lion at the top made it quite clear that it takes far more land and resources to fee a lion than a patch of grass. Later on, as an observer of human …
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A world without growth – IMF.
Well that doesn’t seem natural because the plants grow every year and add to the planet’s biomass. When the IMF talks about no economic growth for years, it should raise concern. The head of the IMF talks technically about inflation and capacity but irrespective of accounting, laws and economics, the natural resources of the planet …
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The “Google Office” doesn’t always work
Open offices can be excellent environments for creativity and collaboration, but need to be complemented by work space where focus and critical thinking can take place, without distraction. Home office workers know what that means. It’s great to have a personalised flexible space to work in. It is liberating and fresh and doesn’t dull the …
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Be a “B Corp” for sustainability.
“B Corps”, started in 2006, are a new type of company that uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. It aims to certify businesses that serve a globally responsible initiative. If you care about sustainability, social equity, eco-energy, ethical business, saving the planet or things like that consider using companies on …
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There’s nothing wrong with hard work, unless …
Working hard is fine, and many people have to work hard just to get by, but whether it’s by choice or necessity when it makes you sick, stressed, stupid, off-balance and disengaged, the balance is wrong. The Washington Post offers 5 reasons why you shouldn’t work too hard, at least from an American perspective. What …
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Open management.
Being an advocate of open management systems, an article by Inc. Magazine: Why You Should Let Your Employees Do Whatever They Want, drew attention. Caution, however, was raised by the tag line: “Focus and discipline are relics of 20th century business. Here’s what’s taking their place in the virtual, open source era”. No, sadly, that …
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Show love! Philanthropy doesn’t match wealth growth.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy notes that “Gifts surge from US donors“. That’s good, especially in difficult times. But BloombergBusinessWeek read between the lines and saw that “Billionaires’ Wealth Is Skyrocketing. Their Philanthropy Is Not“. Sadly. It is unfortunate because this is another sign of a widening wealth gap between the top and everyone else, between …
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A minimum wage stimulates the economy?
I’ve always been against the hand of the state in private decisions and forcing a minimum wage is one of those interferences which has always grated. However, in a world where technology is raising productivity and reducing the demand for labour there ought to be a popular desire for everyone to have the ability to …
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