In his new book, The Big Short, Michael Lewis explains how Wall Street destroyed $1.75 million in wealth. During an interview he describes the current Wall Street unchecked and unrepentant bonus culture as “a very elegant form of theft.
“What is needed is a better approach to help the poor, an approach that involves partnering with them to innovate and achieve sustainable win-win scenarios where the poor are actively engaged and, at the same time, the companies providing products and services to them are profitable.”
Acknowledging the passing of C.K. Prahalad. From his book The Fortune At The Bottom Of The Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits
The advanced economies accounted for two thirds of the world economy as recently as 2000. Today, the emerging economies account for just over one half of the global economy, and will hit two thirds by 2016.Projections for 2011-2016: GDP Growth in emerging market and developing economies will be 5.8% vs. 1.5% in advanced economies. Of the 4.2% projected growth in GDP worldwide, emerging markets will account for 86% (3.6% growth on their own).
The Arctic rim will be transformed by climate change into a new economic powerhouse. As the ice recedes, ecosystems extend and minerals and fossil fuels are discovered and exploited, the Arctic will become a place of “great human activity, strategic value and economic importance.”
Seed Magazine review of The World in 2050 by Laurence Smith
What made Copenhagen such a charged atmosphere was the clash of two forces. On one side: the rising expectations, engagement, and intensity of civil society. Activists have spent the last two years characterizing COP15 as humanity’s last chance to save itself; success was characterized as a full legally binding treaty targeted at 350 ppm of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. On the other side: a set of political circumstances and leaders that rendered activist aspirations all but impossible.
