I have to confess to reaching for the wallet (at least metaphorically) when I heard how bad the devastation caused by cyclone Pam has been in Vanuatu. And then I paused (mid click on the donate now button), as I’ve done any number of times with other disasters and the cries for help from charity … Continue reading CHARITY: good, bad or just ugly
Category: Economics
Extract from ‘The beguiling sins of industrial capitalism’
Ch 2: A Haves and Have Nots World A much greater hunger In 1800 the world’s population was about 1.36 billion. If we are to believe statistical analysis, most people lived, in income terms, relatively similar lives. According to Gapminder statistical analysis (admittedly conjectural, given that data before 1900 is ‘highly uncertain’) the world’s poorest … Continue reading Extract from ‘The beguiling sins of industrial capitalism’
Ch 5: Human nature — The hierarchy of needs
A bit from the chapter I'm writing: Capitalism plays to what is most insidious in human ‘nature’: competitiveness, acquisitiveness, instant gratification, tribalism. It’s fundamental mandates, the profit motive; economies of scale; the price mechanism; inelasticity of demand… allow this game. The game derives from its character. Capitalism is not programmed for altruism. It is, and … Continue reading Ch 5: Human nature — The hierarchy of needs
The beguiling sins of Industrial Capitalism
It seems to me that Industrial Capitalism deserves a tome (popular in style and tone) cataloguing its beguiling sins. By Industrial Capitalism I mean that invidious, factory-based, technologically-innovative, profit-driven, labour-exploiting form which grew up in Europe (first in the United Kingdom) and later the USA, out of various Industrial Revolutions. And this catalogue of sins? … Continue reading The beguiling sins of Industrial Capitalism
Gapminder – what a great resource
Many an IDEAS FESTIVAL wants people to think about 'the way we think, eat, move, build, care, communicate and share information'. Gapminder.org is a phenomenally useful site and resource, particularly for Years 9- 12, though with opportunities to be employed even in the upper primary Years. Gapminder's primary focus is on using statistics to explore developmental … Continue reading Gapminder – what a great resource
Inkstained fingers 