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 …
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 …
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 …
Private Wealth vs Common Wealth | Building a Sustainable Economy Read More »
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 …
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. …
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.
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 …
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 …
The Steady State Economy: A New Financial Architecture Read More »
With a New Economy starting to emerge, how should we measure its strength? GDP vs GPI : Which Measures The Economy Best?
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 »