Transition St Albans had its first meeting on wednesday night. We met at the friends meeting house, about twenty of us, and it’s a really interesting bunch of people. There are teachers, accountants, an architect, a gardener, a storyteller – just the kind of combinations you need to get the creative and holistic solutions that [...]
Archive | January, 2009
The international commodities markets
A few weeks ago I investigated the currency markets and their role in our global system. They’re not well known or understood. Neither are the commodities markets. This is one of the more complicated things I’ve tried to write about, so if anyone gets these things more than I do and spots a mistake, please [...]
One billion hungry people
The number of hungry people in the world is due to reach 1 billion for the first time this year. While the economic crisis gripped us here in the west, it was the food crisis that defined 2008 for many people. It has begun a new cycle, and like last year, it is being under-reported. [...]
The Do Less Campaign
The Idler have a new campaign: Do Less in 2009. The gist of it is to do less of everything, for the environment and for ourselves. Less work, less earning and spending, less shopping. Less doing will leave more time for being. “The era which privileged the busy high achiever is coming to an end” [...]
Should we bail out the car industry?
This afternoon the government is due to announce a bailout for the car industry. That’s a bit of a shame. We won’t know the details of the proposal until later, but I can’t help wondering if billions of taxpayers money would be better spent on public transport than on cars. There are plenty of reasons [...]
The sidebar ads
Just a quick note on our little sidebar ad, which I changed today. Make Wealth History is an ad-free blog, but a little something on the side there is pretty, and an opportunity to celebrate things we like. We don’t get any money for them, and they’re all unofficial, although this latest one was kindly [...]
How television sees the world
We all know that what we see on television is hardly representative of the real world, but even factual TV leaves a lot to be desired in its choice of subjects. A recent report (pdf) analysed all the hours of factual television on British TV in 2007 (documentaries, travel, wildlife, and so on) and plotted [...]
Oiligarchy
Something for a rainy day – Oiligarchy is a subversive little online game that attempts to simulate the effects of peak oil. You play the oil industry trying to keep up with rising demand. Can you keep ahead of the market without meddling in the Middle East or pillaging the wildernesses of Alaska? Good luck! [...]
Things we learned this week
The Daily Mail, having campaigned to ban plastic bags and promote energy-saving light bulbs, has now decided to ‘save the light bulb‘. Incandescent (non-energy saving) bulbs are due to be phased out across the EU by 2016. Apparently we are being “robbed of our right to buy traditional light bulbs”, in what may be the [...]
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