At a very fundamental level, war is about defending against a perceived or actual threat. Such aggressions have been frequently used throughout history to defend ideas, ideologies and territories- but more recently, economies. Unlike any other defence environment, the theatre of nuclear war exists in a state of near-permanent checkmate. …
Hypothetical News, 2013 “Deep in a London slum, 25 people were arrested by the authorities today for not paying their air-bill. A. Person, spokesman for air-aid said, ‘the government must act on this- it is ridiculous that we have a society where some people can afford air, and some people…
In my article of September 01st 2010 “Thinking Ourselves Into Another Recession” I discussed how psychology plays a critical role in the well-being of an economy. Using the paradigm of eating disorders, we discussed how: “…When we talk of economic confidence, business confidence, or even confidence in global markets, we…
As the Economist reported, “On September 12th the Basel Committee, a club of supervisors and bank regulators, finally reached agreement on how much extra stuffing needs to go into the cushions [of banks] to absorb losses and buffer the financial system against the next crisis.” The “Basel III” recommendations set…
Reporting on the increased perceived risk of a double-dip recession, the Huffington Posted noted how there is “..a growing sense of doom among some prominent economists“. They went on to cite Nouriel Roubini, the cofounder and chairman of Roubini Global Economics and a professor at New York University’s Stern School…
UN Dispatch reported the words of Ban Ki Moon (UN Secretary General), who visited the Pakistan floods, saying, “This has been a heart-wrenching day, and I will never forget the destruction and suffering that I have witnessed. I have visited the scenes of many natural disasters around the world, but…
In this interview we talk to Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace. We discuss, in detail, the profound issues affecting our earth, including energy and climate change, food security, oceans, forests, international trade, economics, the structure of society, technology and more.
At an academic level, behaviour refers to, “…the actions of an organism or system, usually in relation to its environment, which includes the other organisms or systems around as well as the physical environment. It is the response of the organism or system to various stimuli or inputs, whether internal…
In July 2010, the Economist observed how non-profit organisations “…are commonly advised to become more like for-profit businesses. Management experts and consultants view them as horribly inefficient due to the absence of the concentrating power of the profit motive… [however] there has been barely any reciprocal pressure on for-profit firms…
In his 1817 book, “On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation“, David Ricardo explained the principle of economic comparative advantage. He drew example from the production of wine and cloth in England and Portugal and explained, “In England it is very hard to produce wine, and only moderately difficult…
There is little doubt that taxation is an economically necessary and ethically valid part of society’s structure. “Taxes” stated Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. “…are the price of civilisation.” Many cite taxation as having four ‘key’ roles in society, The generation of revenue for the state to provide infrastructure, education, defence,…
In this interview, we speak to Professor Charles Wyplosz who is Professor of International Economics at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, where he is Director of the International Centre of Money and Banking Studies and an Independent Economic Advisor to the President of the European Commission. We discuss regional and global economic integration, looking at Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, alongside the concepts of free trade and globalisation, and the role of economic and political integration in future of world economics.
In April 2010, the Economist reported, ��One of the lessons from TV is to accept change and get ahead of it. Broadcasters� initial response to the appearance of programmes online was similar to the music industry�s reaction to file-sharing: call in the lawyers. But television firms soon banded together to…
“It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, “…it’s going to be a game changer.” When observing the media analysis of such rhetoric, you always see a mix of embrace and cynicism. The latter being the ‘mainstream’ news titles, and the former…
Professor Ronald Arkin is one of the world’s leading roboticists. In 2009, he published a book entitled “Governing Lethal Behaviour in Autonomous Robots” which (as one review quoted) is, “….the most serious attempt to date to set out how to build an ethical robot.” The review continues, “This timely book…
April 20 (Bloomberg) “Stranded flyers created a surge in demand for travel industry Web sites and remote conferencing services as a shutdown of many flights in Europe continued through a sixth day.” Nothing Broke… That’s Important. The eruption of Eyjafjallajokull really caught the world off-guard, and created the levels of…
In the fields of political science and economics, you will commonly see discussion of the “Principal-Agent Problem” (also known as agency dilemma) which deals with the outcomes of situations of conflicted interest, or asymmetric information, where (for example) an agent (such as an investment manager) acting for a principal (such…
On March 29th 2010, The Economist reported that, “When the trials of four Rio Tinto employees opened in Shanghai last week, their guilty pleas to the first of the charges, of bribe-taking, dampened hopes that the matter might be settled without any severe penalties. Even so, the harshness of sentences…
In a statement issued on March 22nd 2010, Human Rights Watch said, “Google’s decision to stop censoring its Chinese search engine is a strong step in favour of freedom of expression and information, and an indictment of the Chinese government’s insistence on censorship of the internet…” They continued, “China is…
On March 11, 2011 at 05:46 UTC, Japan was hit with a Magnitude 9.0 Mega-Quake (the fourth largest earthquake ever recorded) . To put the size of this quake in perspective, it was 8,000 times more powerful than the one which devastated Christchurch (New Zealand) in February 2011, and around…