Comments on: Slough of stimulated despond, here we come.

By: Darren Mattock

Darren Mattock — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

From ‘Learning for Sustainable Living: Psychology of Ecological Transformation’ (Sattman-Frese & Hill, 2008), an inspiring body of research:

“What we must resist is imagining that we can revert back to the kind of boom economy that we are just leaving behind. Rather it will be a sign of positive progress if we can emotionally conceptualize the emerging recession (or depression) not just as an ecologically necessary economic downturn, but more hopefully as an opportunity to pave the way for a more sustainable society, one in which we can ALL be enabled to have a much smaller and sustainable ecological footprint.

Considering that the current downturn is not the result of orchestrated political and social efforts, but rather of unsustainable economic and other societal structures, bringing about this shift in consciousness is likely to be a complex and challenging process. Despite this, we believe that our willingness to re-examine our values and habits can enable us to gain in consciousness and wellbeing what we may loose in monetary wealth.”

I hope for and dream of such a transformation.

By: Big Perm

Big Perm — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

The guardian calls bull$hit on the January-24th-is-the-worst-day-of-the-year story doing the rounds:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/24/bad-science-winter-blues

By: JamesK

JamesK — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

“We’ve not yet reached such a fire-at-will policy’

We haven’t?

Jeez whadya think Rudd has been doin’ since the no limit bank deposit guarantee 3 months ago?

By: Vincent O'Donnell

Vincent O'Donnell — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Unlike Bernard Keane in Canberra, I heard Lindsay Tanner’s speech, first hand, in Melbourne. It was the speech that the PM should have given at the Australia Day lunch the previous Thursday. Tanner struck a balance between politics and philosophy, numerical data and nostalgia that utterly evaded the PM. Eccentric? I think not. It was, after all, breakfast time. But he did over do the cricket comparisons a bit.

By: Kevin Cox

Kevin Cox — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Some one liners to describe how we organise our economy.

Let banks lend money they do not have
Create new money on a promise that you will get back more than you create
Only give resources to those who have resources
Reward the profligate by how much they consume
Measure economic success by how much is consumed

One liners to describe the economy we could have with a little fine tuning

Only lend money if you have it to lend.
Only create new money if it is backed by an asset
Reward people for consuming less
Require Rewards to be invested to create new assets
Measure economic success by the productive assets we possess

By: Paul Arnott

Paul Arnott — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

What we need in Australia is a reminder that we are dripping in riches compared to those who live in the majority world. No Australians die of starvation. Men, women and children die daily of starvation in Africa and many other parts of the world. Sure, our shares and super have taken a hit, but let’s put it into perspective. We’re not watching our children die before our eyes because we have no food to give them.