In 2008 Lehman Brothers collapsed in a fiery inferno and the capital markets were consumed by brimstone. Or so some would have us believe. The truth is it was all perfectly predictable because sudden collapses of confidence are built into today’s business cycle, where those with assets to protect try to inflate their value as […]
Three Lessons for a Sustainable Economy Read More 👉
Any business, any person, can understand sustainability. It’s not difficult, in fact it’s remarkably easy. It’s all about give and take, and making sure you give more than you take. Is that such a terrible thing to say, to say that a business ought to create more than it absorbs? Not just in terms of
What is Sustainability? Read More 👉
Private wealth.. what’s that all about? Well it’s easy to explain. It wealth, that is to say assets and money, which is owned and controlled by a private individual or privately owned organisation for their private gain. Easy. What about common wealth, what’s that? Well it’s sort of the opposite, where assets and money are
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Money. It’s one of the biggest misconceptions in modern economic theory around and a huge barrier to building a sustainable economy. Not because there’s anything intrinsically wrong with money, but how economists have come to view it does no-one (or very few people) any favours. Here’s the problem: you mention economics and everyone assumes you
The Trouble with Money | Building a Sustainable Economy Read More 👉
Thanks to a couple of communist revolutions during the 20th Century the economic map of the world has been polarised between capitalist and socialist thought. Now, at the start of the 21st Century, we’re faced with the problem of how to build a sustainable economy and the whole capitalism vs socialism issue raises its head
The Misconceptions of Capitalism vs Socialism | Building a Sustainable Economy Read More 👉
Mandatory CSR spending moved a step closer this week after and announcement by the Indian Ministry of Corporate Affairs that it had received no objections to the controversial Clause 135 of the Companies Bill 2011. This helps clear the way for the bill to become law sometime next year. Clause 135 states that all businesses
Mandatory CSR spending a step closer Read More 👉
In October, General Motors published a blueprint for companies to follow to reduce their waste going to landfill. Buried within it are ten cool things GM has done to reduce its own landfill waste. These are: Converting 227 miles of oil soaked booms from the Deepwater Horizon disaster into air deflectors for the Chevvy Volt.Â
Ten Cool Things GM Have Done To Reduce Waste Read More 👉
Earlier today I was scribbling away furiously trying to keep up with the news that BP admits criminal liability for the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Then an astounding thought struck me: it’s actually paying BP to be a criminal. My thinking goes something like this.
Why it pays BP to be criminal Read More 👉
One of those projects I’ve kept an increasingly excited eye on is the Business and Biodiversity Offset Program (BBOP .. an acronym which always makes me want to dance!). This month is something of a BBOP milestone as they’ve published their very first standard. This takes the initial 10 principles around which BBOP is based
Introducing the Biodiversity Offset standard Read More 👉
As the G20 leaders gather in Washington for what has been dubbed “Bretton Woods II”, here’s a brief list of the economic opportunities they need to discuss: The World’s population is estimated at 6.7 billion: of this, 15% live in slums and are permanently hungry yet the USA, the EU, the UK, Russia, China, India
The Future World Economy : Bretton Woods II in Washington Must Deliver Read More 👉
Gazing into the future of a carbon market, two things seem certain: a fundamental change to the economy and sweeping land reforms. There are two well known and highly charged sayings about land: —–agriculture is the foundation of economic growth —–all land use is inherently political The fast approaching world of a carbon market could
How Will A Carbon Market Drive Economic Land Reform? Read More 👉
An introduction to the Steady State Economy. Should this be the way globalisation goes? Read the article then add your thoughts below. Previous posts in the “New Economic Architecture Required” series have looked at Wealth & Value, Money & Debt and Growth & Competition. What these very brief analyses have shown is that we, the
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With a New Economy starting to emerge, how should we measure its strength? GDP vs GPI : Which Measures The Economy Best?
GDP vs GPI : Which Measures The Economy Best? Read More 👉
Let’s face it, business growth is all about one thing: getting more money out of consumers’ pockets and into company coffers. Why do it, otherwise? And often growth goes hand in hand with competition as companies scrabble to increase their share of a finite market. Trouble is, anti-trust legislation introduces a certain ceiling beyond which
Business Growth and Competition : New Financial Architecture Required Read More 👉
I have an issue. A problem, a concern. A nag. It’s an itch, and I just gotta scratch it. It’s this. America, the UK and Iceland have all been bailed out by the taxpayer. You see it and you hear it: “Taxpayer to pump billions of squidoos into financial system” etc. Except it’s a bald
Taxpayer Bailouts : The Lie You Need To Know Read More 👉
Whenever you take out a loan the temptation is to imagine a big mountain of money in a secure vault somewhere. Your friendly bank manager, a nice affable chap, is on hand doling out credit to any soul who can jump through his hoops. This is miles, no decades, away from the truth. Here’s how
Money and Debt : New Financial Architecture Required Read More 👉
One of the most commonly preached mantras about the current economic system is that it will “bring wealth to everyone”. This, put politely, is a huge steaming pile of horse manure. Wealth isn’t an absolute measure which will, say, always be three feet long. It’s a comparative measure which is defined by being over a
Wealth and Value : New Financial Architecture Required Read More 👉
A few details are starting to emerge about the proposed “bail out plan” of the US Government. While legislators wrestle with the finer details, here are a few figures to juggle with over the weekend. So far, $200bn has been spent saving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with another $300bn to prop up the Federal
America’s Market Bailout : Some Figures For The Weekend Read More 👉
Switching on the radio this morning, the reaction to Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy was sobering to say the least. No more “Aww .. it’s OK, it’ll get better”. Now it was: “It may be past time to panic already. These are certainly seismic events.” Terry Smith, Chief Executive at Tullett Prebon, leading Internet Stock Brokerage “This
Lehman Brothers Collapse: New Financial Architecture Required Read More 👉
Bosch, Du Pont and Xerox have joined the Eco Patent Commons, an international effort to speed up the progress of sustainable development. Their paticipation brings the number of free patents available for use by anyone in the world to 69, more than doubling the original number. Hosted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Free Patent Details Revealed By Bosch, Du Pont and Xerox Read More 👉
Last week, while poking around a few dusty corners of the internet, I came across a small business future group which one person had left because of disagreement about the prominence of sustainability in the group’s charter. This is a shame. Those who are facing up to the current challenges in business need to work
GDP Growth Needs Replacing, But With What? Read More 👉
The UN Global Compact has a whole basketful of detractors. This is not surprising: like anything emanating from UNHQ in Manhattan it is unwieldy and slow moving, and often seems to work against itself. Recently it hit back at these critics and got tough by introducing “integrity measures”. These resulted in over 20% of its
Will Business Ever Take Human Rights Seriously? Read More 👉
Identifying those businesses that are genuinly sustainable can often be a trial of endurance. To try and relieve some of the pain, Sustainable Business has recently released the 2008 SB20: the top twenty sustainable company stocks worldwide. The aim is to showcase innovative companies which have either made considerable progress in making their management practices
Global Top Twenty Sustainable Businesses Announced Read More 👉
