3E Intelligence

The power to ‘create money out of thin air’

Willy De Backer — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 07:22:04 +0000

"If we can move on from Adam Smith’s 300 year-old flawed analytical system to a proper understanding of the powers and public goods we have, due to ignorance, outsourced to the private banking sector – then perhaps as both economists and citizens we might finally be able to understand the creation of money – by both central and private banks – ‘out of thin air’. Only with this understanding will it be possible to devise policies, regulation and strategies to tackle and once again subordinate global finance to the interests of society and the ecosystem." (Source: Open Democracy)

Willy De Backer‘s insight:

Brilliant but sometimes a bit technical analysis by Ann Pettifor of the role of money and credit in the current economic crisis. Must-read article for anyone interested in how to tame the financial sector.

The Really, Really Big Picture

Willy De Backer — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 07:31:48 +0000

"Steadily rising energy costs and decreasing net energy yields will simply not be able to fund the future economic growth and consumptive lifestyles that developed nations are depending on (and that developing nations are aspiring to). In fact, the persistent global economic weakness we’ve been experiencing over the past years is an expected symptom of the throttling constraint decreasing net energy places on growth." (Source: Peak Prosperity)

Willy De Backer‘s insight:

Chris Martenson’s excellent analysis of why there is not going to be enough net energy for the economic growth we want.

Climate change, debt and inequality ‘threaten financial stability’

Willy De Backer — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 20:20:29 +0000

“Ahead of Davos 2013, World Economic Forum calls on policymakers to step up efforts to tackle three biggest dangers” (Source: The Guardian)

Willy De Backer‘s insight:

Interesting report – my favorite quote from the press release: "Two storms – environmental and economic – are on a collision course". Wonder which one will rule; man or nature?

Read the press release and the full report.

Japan as the new normal: Living in a constrained economy

Willy De Backer — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 10:51:12 +0000

“If the end of economic growth is approaching, Japan can offer insight into the new forms of economic and societal behaviour required.” (Source: Our World 2.0)

Willy De Backer‘s insight:

Very good article by Brendan Barrett of the United Nations University. Could Japan become the model for the difficult transition to a post-growth society?

2013: a year to fight for scale in advancing sustainability

Willy De Backer — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 08:39:08 +0000

Scale is the ‘unreasonable challenge’ we must meet to drive forward sustainability. Simon Zadek explains how to achieve this (Source: The Guardian)

Willy De Backer‘s insight:

Sustainability "gurus"Simon Zadek and John Elkington highlighting the need for "breakthrough" capitalism and scaling up of sustainability at the end of a year which saw the freakiest weather ever, the expected failure or Rio and Doha, political elites’ obsession with the financial debt crises and new class wars in Southern Europe.

On the link between resource scarcity, financial fraud and the failure of austerity policies

Willy De Backer — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 18:46:34 +0000

See on Scoop.it – The Great Transition

Willy De Backer‘s insight:

This is an absolute must-read commentary written by Jin Chen and James Galbraith explaining how rising energy and resource constraints have led to the extreme fraudulous financialisation of global economy and why austerity policies but also a return to Keynesianism will not work.

See on web.unbc.ca

Conflict and Change in the Era of Economic Decline: Part 1 – The 21st century landscape of conflict

Willy De Backer — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 20:55:11 +0000

Brilliant first part of a five-articles essay by Richard Heinberg on the social implications of the Great Decline. Absolute must-read. (Source: Energy Bulletin)

“High and increasing inequality is usually bearable during boom times, as people at the bottom of the wealth pyramid are encouraged by the prospect of its overall expansion. Once growth ceases and slips into reverse, inequality becomes socially unsustainable. Declining expectations lead to unrest, while absolute misery (in the sense of not having enough to eat) often results in revolution.”

…

“In summary, conflict in the decades ahead will likely center on the four factors of money, energy, land, and food. These sources of conflict will overlap in various ways. While economic inequality will not itself be at the root of all this conflict (one could argue that population growth is a deeper if often unacknowledged cause of strife), inequality does seem destined to play a role in most conflict, whether the immediate trigger is extreme weather, high food prices, or energy shortages.”

Zero-growth is the ‘new normal’

Willy De Backer — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 06:42:42 +0000

US economic growth will be less than 1% in the next fourty years according to a new analysis by famous American investor Jeremy Grantham. The contrarian investor sees resource scarcity and higher resource prices as well as demographic factors as the main reason why our global economies will continue to struggle for new economic growth. (Source: Business Insider)

As always the gloomy predictions of Mr Grantham’s piece make a lot of sense but will be neglected by the "don’t worry, be happy" myopic political and economic elites.

Read the full report and another interesting piece by Jeremy Grantham on climate chaos and scientists’ response in the journal Nature.

Ignoring natural capital could see countries’ credit ratings downgraded

Willy De Backer — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:24:57 +0000

"A report by the UN Environment Programme’s Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) says loss of soils, forests, and fisheries, as well as rising resource costs, are likely to become increasingly important to a nation’s economic health – and may therefore affect its ability to repay or refinance sovereign debt." (Source: BusinessGreen)

This excellent report produced with the help of Global Footprint Network makes the link between the world’s financial debt crisis and the global ecological debt crisis. The debate on austerity gets a completely different dimension if you look at this double challenge.

Read the UNEP press release: “Risks to Sovereign Bonds Posed by Overuse of Natural Resources Need Greater Attention” and the full report .

The World Bank’s Shocking, Cautionary Tale on Climate Change

Willy De Backer — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 19:09:59 +0000

“Like the Ghost of Christmas Future, the World Bank has just provided us with a frightening glimpse into our world-to-be if, unlike Scrooge, we fail to change our ways.” (Source: Huffington Post)

The new World Bank report "Turn down the heat: why a 4°C warmer world must be avoided" stands in stark contrast to all fossil-fuel friendly policies of this and other international and national governance bodies. And the silence in the media about the coming Doha summit on climate change is deafening.