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Short Termism and the Human Brain: How We Tune Out the Long-Term Consequences of Our Actions
Sometime between fifty and one hundred thousand years ago, the ancestors of modern-day homo sapiens are believed to have left their African homeland and begun their relentless expansion across the world. Within a comparatively short time period, early humans had extended their influence to every continent. Life is believed to have existed on this planet […] More
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Private Wealth vs Common Wealth | Building a Sustainable Economy
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 […] More
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Wealth Distribution – An Unemployment Centric Perspective (Private)
Wealth distribution discussions are frequently focused on the amount of pay that people deserve, but I have a different perspective to share with you. For example: The liberals argue that the middle class is struggling, but the wealthy are earning from a few times more, to hundreds of times more money than hard working middle […] More
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The Oath. Has It Really Come to This?
The medical field has one that dates back to the 5th century BC and now about 2,600 years later an oath is taking shape for students of the Master’s of Business Administration degree. We here at the Inspired Economist clearly hold Net Impact in high regard. After all, we’ve seen articles on their sustainable MBA […] More
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Social Business Good, Corporate Social Responsibility “Largely Nonsense”
A New York Times business feature on PepsiCo’s support of Mexican corn farmers has thrust a glowing light on the firm’s business practices, while simultaneously beating the anachronistic drum against the value of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Reporter Stephanie Strom provides an interesting overview of how over 300 poor farmers in San Gabriel, Mexico have […] More
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Where Carbon Footprint Reporting Meets Greenwashing
As we forge deeper into 2011, the number of CSR reports from fiscal 2009 and 2010 that cross my desk with headlines boasting corporate enterprise carbon footprint reductions in the 5%-12% range is astounding. Here’s a quick sample: Reckitt Benckiser (RB) plc (2010): Reduction of 11% KPMG (2009) : Reduction of 7% While it’s certainly […] More
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End the Witch Hunt for Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Microfinance
There’s no doubt that the news from Andhra Pradesh, India about indebtedness crippling microfinance clients is troubling. SKS, India’s largest microfinance bank, raised cash last year by selling shares at 95 times their initial value. And now comes an increased chorus from politicians in Andhra Pradesh about fraud, corruption and impoverishment linked to SKS — […] More
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George Clooney’s New Satellite Sentinel Project in Sudan to Uphold Human Rights
A new human rights project, initiated by George Clooney, will combine satellite imagery analysis and field reports with Google’s Map Maker technology to deter the resumption of war between North and South Sudan according to CSRwire’s press release. The Satellite Sentinel Project will use satellite imagery analysis and crowd-sourced mapping to monitor the tense border […] More
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Wind Power’s Greatest Enemy — The Changing Winds of Political Economy
Following the Democrats’ “shellacking” in the November midterm elections, the American conversation has now accelerated in its derision of government. After the Republicans used a belligerent cry of consumer cost escalation to defeat cap and trade — a market concept the GOP initially embraced over a carbon tax model — US energy policy remains antiquated, […] More
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Is Philanthropy CSR?
I’ve been pondering this question for quite some time and as far as I’m concerned, the answer is still unclear. Without analyzing the specifics of what CSR is (100 different people may give you 100 different answers), I’ve always broken things down into two camps. One side would be companies that have formulated their business […] More
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The Continuing Saga of Conflict Diamonds and the Kimberley Process
Previously, I’ve written about conflict minerals in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and US efforts to curtail their sales (parts I and II), as well as the repercussions of companies doing indirect business in countries where direct business is forbidden by the US government. So, it only make sense that this article takes […] More
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Testing Composable Packaging Claims: Week 3
Yes! We have achieved deterioration! This is week three of my unofficial, unscientific test of 100% compostable packaging claims from SunChips and Boulder Canyon. Three weeks ago, I buried the bags in my home compost pile, along with a Doritos bag just for fun, and I have been digging them up to see how they […] More
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