Diplomats back common EU ‘project bonds’ plan. Nationalists celebrate victory in Serbian poll. Jeremy Rifkin on global issues and the future of our planet. Thoughts on Richard Heinberg’s book "The End of Growth" Credit ©2012 Isaac Hernández/IsaacHernandez.com How many books can you say the following about: “If the thesis is true, every assumption we have taken for granted regarding what the future holds is wrong.” Or, more to the point: “If the thesis is true, my generation is, royally, screwed.” I can’t think of many, but I did just read one, Richard Heinberg’s “The End of Growth.” The thesis of Heinberg’s book is fairly simple: we live on a finite planet, yet we have an economic system based upon infinite growth.
Thus, at some point, when we have reached our limits of natural capital, growth as we know it will end. Heinberg is no fool. Even though Heinberg remains positive and refrains from painting a bleak picture in detail, it’s easy to imagine degrowth unfolding violently. Or, it’s quite possible that I was simply not around when those works were published, and that I hold predispositions for gloom that would have had me celebrating those books as well. I was bitter. 2012 EVT – Scenario 2 – Panglossy: Same Old, Same Old. Last weeks’ summary: In 2012 EVT, Everstate (the ideal-type corresponding to our very real countries created to foresee the future of governance and of the modern nation-state) knows a rising dissatisfaction of its population. Everstate is plagued by a deepening budget deficit and an increasing need for liquidity, with a related creeping appropriation of resources while the strength of central public power weakens to the profit of various elite groups.
An outdated world-view that promotes misunderstanding, disconnect and thus inadequate actions presides to its destiny. Henceforth, the political authorities are increasingly unable to deliver the security citizens seek. Risks to the legitimacy of the whole system increases. (The reader can click on each picture to see a larger version in a new tab - a navigating map of posts is available to ease reading). Battles are thus pitched on relatively minor points, when seen from the point of view of the huge challenges the nation must face. 2012 EVT – New Government, New Opposition, Last Hope (Panglossy. Last weeks’ summary: In 2012 EVT, Everstate (the ideal-type corresponding to our very real countries created to foresee the future of governance and of the modern nation-state) knows a rising dissatisfaction of its population. Alarmed by the rising difficulties and widespread discontent, the governing authorities decide to do something when new elections start.
Dependent upon programmes created to face efficiently past challenges, prisoners of entrenched political groupings, comforted in their vision by the BRICS’ success and renewed optimism, the major parties campaign to come back to the order ante. As a result, habits and the existing system, once the new national representatives are elected and the new government starts ruling, are even more entrenched, almost ossified. (The reader can click on each picture to see a larger version in a new tab - a navigating map of posts is available to ease reading). To be continued… The OccupyCal General Assembly approves of… something. The Benefits Of A College Education. The Keynesian Emperor, Undressed. The standard Keynesian narrative that "Households and countries are not spending because they can’t borrow the funds to do so, and the best way to revive growth, the argument goes, is to find ways to get the money flowing again.
" is not working. In fact, former IMF Director Raghuram Rajan points out, today’s economic troubles are not simply the result of inadequate demand but the result, equally, of a distorted supply side as technology and foreign competition means that "advanced economies were losing their ability to grow by making useful things.
" Detailing his view of the mistakes of the Keynesian dream, Rajan notes "The growth that these countries engineered, with its dependence on borrowing, proved unsustainable. " The True Lessons of the Recession According to the conventional interpretation of the global economic recession, growth has ground to a halt in the West because demand has collapsed, a casualty of the massive amount of debt accumulated before the crisis. 2012-2013 EVT – Restoring Growth (Panglossy. Last weeks’ summary: In 2012 EVT, Everstate (the ideal-type corresponding to our very real countries created to foresee the future of governance and of the modern nation-state) knows a rising dissatisfaction of its population.
Alarmed by the rising difficulties and widespread discontent, the governing authorities decide to do something when new elections start. Dependent upon programmes created to face efficiently past challenges, prisoners of entrenched political groupings, comforted in their vision by the BRICS’ success and renewed optimism, the major parties campaign to come back to the order ante. As a result, habits and the existing system, once the new national representatives are elected and the new government starts ruling, are even more entrenched, almost ossified. Meanwhile, the polarisation and rise of a new opposition that took place during the election is temporarily frozen by the last hope created by the newly elected government. To be continued… 2013 – 2018 EVT – Increasing wages: not enough, too late? (Panglossy.
Last weeks’ summary: In 2012 EVT, Everstate (the ideal-type corresponding to our very real countries created to foresee the future of governance and of the modern nation-state) knows a rising dissatisfaction of its population. Alarmed by the rising difficulties and widespread discontent, the governing authorities decide to do something when new elections start, which starts the second scenario, Panglossy. Dependent upon programmes created to face efficiently past challenges, prisoners of entrenched political groupings, the major parties campaign to come back to the order ante. Meanwhile, the polarisation and rise of a new opposition that took place during the election is temporarily frozen by the last hope thus created. The new Everstatan government decides that a return to economic efficiency through growth is the key to the crisis. Considering self-employed and temporary employment, rather than only full-time employment is indeed crucial. To be continued…. OECD, Growing Unequal?
2013 – 2018 EVT – Investing for Green Growth without Liquidity (I) (Panglossy. As the first measure fails to boost growth, then the income of Everstate remains in the pitiful state into which it was before the elections. It even continues degrading as pressures and related costs do not relent. Meanwhile, as the need for liquidity does not stop, power remains in the hand of the lenders’ nexus .
Yet, the failure of the government is only about the first measure. Two longer term policies are meant to address those very problems that have contributed to derail the whole system: the pressures related to the increasing complexity of resources, including looming scarcity, relative and absolute, through ISSIGE, and the problem of liquidity through the new international meeting group for the resilience of the financial system ( IRESFIS ).
Those two policies show that, even if they are included under a label, “restoring economic growth,” that is still part of the outmoded worldview , some awareness of the real problems besetting Everstate has started to take place. 2013 – 2018 EVT – Investing for Green Growth without Liquidity (2) (Panglossy. Last weeks’ summary: In 2012 EVT, Everstate (the ideal-type corresponding to our very real countries created to foresee the future of governance and of the modern nation-state) knows a rising dissatisfaction of its population. Alarmed by the rising difficulties and widespread discontent, the governing authorities decide to do something when new elections start, which starts the second scenario, Panglossy. The new Everstatan government, dependent upon past thinking, decides that a return to economic efficiency through growth is the key to the crisis.
Its first measure, to raise the minimum wage, fails to boost growth through consumption. The second, longer term, policy, which promotes green growth through infrastructure investment, starts with the preparation of the first high level conference of ISSIGE. Notably, funding through the emission of bonds, which should promote a lever effect by involvement of the private sector, is decided. To be continued… 2013 – 2018 EVT – Green Growth in Action (Panglossy. Last weeks’ summary: In 2012 EVT, Everstate (the ideal-type corresponding to our very real countries created to foresee the future of governance and of the modern nation-state) knows a rising dissatisfaction of its population.
Alarmed by the rising difficulties and widespread discontent, the governing authorities decide to do something when new elections start, which begins the second scenario, Panglossy. The new Everstatan government, dependent upon past thinking, decides that a return to economic efficiency through growth is the key to the crisis. Its first measure, to raise the minimum wage, fails to boost growth through consumption. The first high level conference of the ISSIGE, the international fund to promote green growth through infrastructure investment, is hailed as a success.
(The reader can click on each picture to see a larger version in a new tab – a navigating map of posts is available to ease reading.) “Air pollution is a major environmental risk to health. 2013 – 2018 EVT – Novair: Fighting Air Pollution for Profit (Panglossy. Last weeks’ summary: In 2012 EVT, Everstate (the ideal-type corresponding to our very real countries created to foresee the future of governance and of the modern nation-state) knows a rising dissatisfaction of its population.
Alarmed by the rising difficulties and widespread discontent, the governing authorities decide to do something when new elections start, which begins the second scenario, Panglossy. The new Everstatan government, dependent upon past thinking, decides that a return to economic efficiency through growth is the key to the crisis. Its first measure, to raise the minimum wage, fails to boost growth through consumption.
As the new international meeting group for the resilience of the financial system IRESFIS does not show any progress, the ISSIGE, the international fund to promote green growth through infrastructure investment contributes to reinforce the power of the lenders’ nexus and appropriation of public power. By William Adams, How Much Air Do We Breathe? Who's profiting from the water crisis? In January 2010, investment banker Goldman Sachs, along with General Electric and a high-powered Washington thinktank called the World Resources Institute (WRI), announced the launch of a new index measuring water-related risks facing companies and their investors.
In the words of their corporate news release: ‘In many regions around the world, water scarcity from climate change and pollution is starting to impact a company’s performance, yet few analysts account for water-related risks.’ Thirsty work: a man pours water from a stream into his paddy field. Excessive irrigation has caused groundwater levels in north India to drop dramatically.
Anupam Nath / AP / Press Association Images This new water index would ‘draw on publicly available data regarding physical scarcity and water quality and overlay factors including the regulatory regime and social and reputational issues’ in various regions of the world. ‘Water is the lifeblood of our business,’ Coke spokesperson Joe Rozza told the FT. The Rise of the New Economy Movement. May 20, 2012 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. As our political system sputters, a wave of innovative thinking and bold experimentation is quietly sweeping away outmoded economic models. Just beneath the surface of traditional media attention, something vital has been gathering force and is about to explode into public consciousness. The broad goal is democratized ownership of the economy for the “99 percent” in an ecologically sustainable and participatory community-building fashion. Thousands of real world projects -- from solar-powered businesses to worker-owned cooperatives and state-owned banks -- are underway across the country.
The movement includes young and old, “Occupy” people, student activists, and what one older participant describes as thousands of “people in their 60s from the '60s” rolling up their sleeves to apply some of the lessons of an earlier movement. Explosion of Energy Theory and Action. German Pirate Party Scores Fourth Consecutive Election Win.
Today, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany went to the polls. This election is always closely watched in Germany, as it is the country’s most populous state. As expected, the Pirate Party won seats and entry into parliament – again – making this the Piratenpartei‘s fourth consecutive win. After Berlin (8.9%), Saarland (7.4%), and Schleswig-Holstein (8.2%), the time had come to Nordrhein-Westfalen. As the exit polls were just presented, it is clear that the German Pirate Party has achieved its goal and secured seats in a fourth parliament: the exit polls indicate 7.5%, well clearing the five-percent hurdle for entry, and predicting 18 new Pirate Members of Parliament. As the night progresses, and the actual votes are counted, this number will adjust somewhat.
This has a number of interesting ramifications. (Germany is a federation of 16 states, each approximately the size of a more normal European country or a typical American state. The second reason is timing and ripples on the water.