Hoarding deepens food shortages
Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World - April 21, 2008 - The New York Sun
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.
Alternative energy: the next economic boom?
Solar Power From Africa: The Best Investment the EU Can Make | SolveClimate.com
Its architects claim they can build a supergrid of concentrating solar thermal plants (CSP) that can meet most of Europe’s current electricity needs by using just 0.3 percent of the deserts of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – and at a cost less than oil.The long-term prospects look even sunnier.
For an investment of $400 billion over 30 years, Desertec could eventually power Europe plus two-thirds of the MENA countries by 2050, while dramatically cutting C02 emissions and phasing out nuclear power at the same time.
That’s a sizeable chunk of the whole world’s energy needs. And for only $13 billion per year.
What a bargain, if you consider that building a single nuclear power plant in Europe carries a price tag of around $2.5 to $3.5 billion these days.
You are taking what we know we cannot do in the present, and extropolating that into the future, forever. History is full of examples where those who believed the future was going to be an extension of the present were shown to be dramatically wrong. You assume because you cannot solve the problem, that there is no solution at all, ever.
Athenians also breaking under the weight of their mortgages…
“In the Athens of 594 B.C., according to Plutarch, ‘the disparity of
fortune between the rich and the poor had reached its height, so that
the city seemed to be in a dangerous condition, and no other means for
freeing it from disturbances…seemed possible but despotic power.’
Good
sense prevailed; moderate elements secured the election of Solon, a
businessman of aristocratic lineage, to the supreme archonship. He
devaluated the currency, thereby easing the burden of all debtors
(though he himself was a creditor); he reduced all personal debts, and
ended imprisonment for debt; he canceled arrears for taxes and mortgage
interest; he established a graduated income tax that made the rich pay
at a rate twelve times that required of the poor; …he arranged that
the sons of those who had died in war for Athens should be brought up
and educated at the government’s expense. The rich protested that
his measures were outright confiscation; …but within a generation
almost all agreed that his reforms had saved Athens from revolution.”
How to make a viral video…explained in 3 mins.
In the digital world, a 12 y.o. teaches you
The subject he talks about is not the important thing for me. The most interesting thing is the huge gap that exists between the “digital children” and older generations.
Laugh of the day: artists will stop producing art if not paid
Art in music, drawing, painting, dancing…has been with humanity since the beginning of times. And will continue to be with us as long as we are humans. Every time I see this really silly comment I can’t help but laugh…
It is such a stupid argument that doesn’t even deserve rebating:
Cost of living | Comparing cities | Economist.com
Home copying - burnt into teenage psyche | Technology | The Guardian
“Ultimately it has to get better … At some point musicians and songwriters have to make enough money out of it otherwise they stop doing it,” he said.
The principles of incompetence
…or why I think that a company should be split as soon as it reaches a certain size:
The Meritocracy Party - A Confederacy of Dunces
Procrustes’ strange obsession with making people fit is shared by most companies. Employees are not generally allowed to express themselves. Creative diversity is absent. A company’s workforce is typically a collection of conformist clones, none of whom possesses the qualities necessary to object when poor decisions are being taken.
(Legal) Espionage: 20 Creative Ways to Research your Industry Competitors
Competition is the lifeblood of any industry. Without competition, there’s no initiative to put your best foot forward and push yourself to constantly better your business, and if you’re not pushing your business you’re probably missing valuable opportunities.
When the going gets tough…you are on your own!
photo credit: Busko
It is interesting to see how the social dynamics between individuals are mirrored exactly in the same way in a global and macro-economic scale. Whereas in the good times states cooperate with each other with more flexibility, when the situation worsens, not only each system actor shuts down to outside cooperation, but what is more alarming, they look for scapegoats to explain their own failure. This has already started:
Bloomberg on migration and the UK
Business week: senators target visa loopholes
On a global scale, as the economy worsens -and these emerging forces are pushed to greater extremes by populist politicians- this has historically lead to war.
Will it be different this time?
It may be so, if we consider the cracks already starting to appear at the local level. In the case of the state of Philadelphia, notice that the local government is going against national commercial rules with this decision:
http://www.reuters.com/article/gc03/idUSN2830318520080328
This has no recent-history precedent but may well be a sing of things to come, leading the the splitting of nations into smaller, self-administered regions. Expect the same growing tensions as well within the European Union, as the richer states start to drag their feet on the Union idea as they feel they are subsidizing in excess the poorer states…
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About Javier Marti
As an independent strategy consultant, futurist, speaker and founder of Trendirama.com Consulting, Javier is dedicated to help organizations, small businesses and individuals to optimize systems, increase profits and make better choices in business and in life. He is the author of the book "Mobile, Domains & The Future"
When not consulting for clients, Javier shares his knowledge and experience through information-packed, yet entertaining presentations in a wide range of subjects in English and Spanish.
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