Have you heard the one about Goldman Sachs investing $9.6 million into the Adolescent Behavioural Learning Experience (ABLE) programme at Rikers Island penitentiary in New…
About two weeks ago whilst preparing for teaching our photography students I took a walk in the quiet backstreets of Tbilisi in a neighbourhood full of beautiful decaying 19th century buildings. I was preparing to take photos for a charity event called Children for Children where our students would be taking images to be sold at auction in order to help disadvantaged children here in Georgia.
I wish I’d been in that meeting. You know, the one where advertising giant Ogilvy decided to launch a new internship programme called “The Pipe”….
If we think differently, we must also act differently, and only if we act differently can we produce new experiences…
I wish I’d been in that meeting. You know, the one where East Riding County Council instructed Jacobs Enforcement Services to recover an outstanding parking…
Over the past decade there has been a boom in the industry of “motivational speaking”. The industry has seen a boom across both of its…
I intend to do what little one man can do to awaken the public conscience, and in the meantime I am not frightened by your…
When Barack Obama was elected President of the United States in 2008 this was treated as a landmark event. He presented himself as the underdog,…
Freedom has been the ultimate battle cry of liberal politics. It has shaped the battle field from the French revolution, the American war of independence,…
“The more laws and commands there are, the more thieves and robbers there will be.” Lao Tzu Information leaked in the Panama Papers about the use…
When we find ourselves in need of a miracle there is a simple formula that can be applied: “Don’t panic, take stock, and do the…
The verdict and sentence on Radovan Karadjic, forty years imprisonment, has exposed persistent deep divisions in Bosnia. For Bosnian Muslims, Karadjic is a monster who…
Creative capitalism, ethical capitalism, altruistic capitalism, natural capitalism, green capitalism, distributed and democratic capitalism. Capitalism 2.0? Capitalism comes with a potpourri of sweet-scented prefixes, all…
The infamous Conservative March 2016 budget was to capture ‘the next generations’ and control their cognitive map.
I wish I’d been in that meeting. The one where Trinity Mirror staff brainstormed the idea for a new kind of daily newspaper. That must…
Separating economics and politics is impossible, so it’s important to point out that the misguided notion of austerity is not just killing people, but also…
10 Scary Facts about School 1. Under proposed new assessment guidance for tests for 11 year olds, if your child scores 5 out of 6 for…
I wish I’d been in that meeting, the one where YouTube TV moguls the Fine Brothers abandoned their controversial plans to trademark the word “React”, abandoned their global licensing scheme for “React to…” video formats and ditched their copyright infringement claims against other “reaction videos”.
Make no mistake, this is a big deal for the future of entertainment and the evolution of digital media, and is so deeply ironic that it almost tore a whole in the space time continuum.
The concept of ‘Division of Labour’ has been around since 380 B.C. Ever since being mentioned in Plato’s Republic it has become a fundamental economic principle that is deemed necessary for both the construction of a state, and a way of providing basic needs and services for citizens.
The way of the renaissance men, the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Nikola Tesla did not fit within one of the division of labour silos – thankfully. So how do we now begin to awaken our natural curiosity, exploration, and critical thinking?
“The highest degree of charity is to aid a man in want, not by offering a gift or a loan, but by entering into a partnership with him or by providing work for him - so he may become self-sufficient.”
Written by Maimonides - a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and astronomer - these words have been an inspiration to many. It’s a way of saying that fair and effective partnership beats the charity hand out.
You know, the one where the secretive board of VW bosses decided their future direction lay down the road signposted “Electric Vehicles”. They’ve hired Christian Senger from VW technology supplier Continental, where he was involved in the development of electric vehicle systems and autonomous-driving technology, to lead the charge. The message is clear. The mistakes of VW’s diesel-engined past will be fixed by reconfiguring their product lines around electric power.
I wish I’d been in that meeting… Imagine what sort of grim circumstances would drive a top TV executive, placed in charge of a hugely…
I wish I’d been in that meeting… What sort of thinking would shape the commissioning of a six-part documentary series for the 10pm Tuesday evening…
We are looking for an intern with design and social media skills, the right person would want to gain experience in the development and launch…
Ever since the financial crisis of 2008, one thing has taken centre stage when it comes to economic recovery: job creation. It is under this…
The headlong rush into economic progress has made almost everyone in developed nations happy, healthy and contented. Consumerism has delivered all the stuff that everybody…
We’ve all been that person who tries to start a conversation with a bunch of strangers out of extreme social anxiety at being in a…
Most of us haven’t quite realized there is something extraordinary happening.
A few months ago I freed myself from standard-procedure society, I broke the chains of fear that kept me locked up into the system. Since then, I see the world from a different perspective: the one that everything is going through change and that most of us are unware of that.
Why is the world changing? In this post I’ll point out the 8 reasons that lead me to believe it.
The Ten-Step Parent Guide to Supporting You Child’s Learning in the Early Years.
It’s so easy to be educated but not really know anything. The system is set up for compliance so we do well in it by ‘doing what we’re told and doing it to the best of our abilities’.
For some people that’s their entire life - but some discover there is more to it than that and do something about it.
Private institutions who sell education as a commodity for profit are putting their interests above that of children. This corrosive shift is not what children, teachers or the world needs. Economist Prabhat Patnaik explains how real education is being deconstructed.
The night has been lit up with the red white and blue of the French flag, which, projected on landmarks across the occident, showed solidarity…
The late fourteen hundreds saw the scramble of enlightened countries towards conquest of what was once known as “the new world”. Fuelled by the righteous…
From Robert McNamara’s 1995 book “In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam”
As the lifespan of every company shortens, paying lip service to change is dangerous and following the herd can be fatal. I’ve recently been working…
“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.” So said the Red Queen to Alice…
It’s been about sixteen weeks since we closed our successful crowd-funding round, which many of you generously supported. Since then we have been busy at HQ creating the new Renegade Inc. platform. We have also been filming a new series of Meet the Renegades and meeting possible funding partners.
There are vast numbers of Zombie companies out there who are paying off nominal interest payments on huge debts in order to keep the lights…
Why do we celebrate one person’s right to a job for life when they never interviewed for the position asks Matthew Lacey.
Despite their bed-hopping antics, the most important legacy of the Bloomsbury Group is what can be achieved by people who are prepared to challenge convention in pursuit of a better world, argues Mark Braund.
Make no mistake, the purposeful exclusion of growing numbers from economic activity is an integral aspect of the economic system. The argument that there is…
By now you may have noticed a common theme in these descriptions of how the banking sector and the financial markets make money: they do…
Fractional reserve banking began in Britain in the early days of gold and silver coinage, when people would deposit their coins with goldsmiths for safekeeping….
We need a more sophisticated debate about business and how it impacts on wider society, writes Mark Braund.
Looking at the terms of the Greek bailout one thing is abundantly clear: this is not only a heartless deal, but a brainless one as…
Anyone who believes in the possibility of a better world should support Labour leadership hopeful Jeremy Corbyn, even if they’re not convinced by his traditional left-wing agenda, argues Mark Braund.
Can Greece ever pay off its debts, adopt a German economic mindset and stay in the euro? Since 2010 we have been gripped by the…
Most people equate money with wealth, but in economic terms money and wealth are quite separate things. Wealth can be defined as those goods and…
When the worst rioting in a generation hit the streets of English cities last summer, politicians and pundits rushed to apportion blame. Many of the…
Even people who do not believe that climate change is man made must see that our fragile environment is getting a battering from current economic…
The material benefits of a perpetually expanding economy have reached remarkably few people, despite the speed with which mainstream economic thinking has penetrated all corners…
Critics of the current economic system condemn our modern-day ‘culture of consumption’. If we measure progress over the course of our lives purely by increased…
Our life prospects and our capacity to secure the wealth we need to survive and flourish are determined by the amount of economic power we…
Before we can build a brave new world, we have to acknowledge the depth of the current crisis. It’s tempting to trace today’s problems back…
The pursuit by individuals of limitless material prosperity – regardless of the consequences for others – has become the basis of all economic activity. Yet…
In the ancient world, empire building usually entailed the territorial conquest of one self-identifying group by another. Typically it involved exploitation based on racial or…
Changes to the monetary and taxation systems will provide mechanisms for curtailing two of the three forms of unearned wealth that drive much of the…
Supporters of the current free-market economy argue that competition among producers ensures efficiency and keeps prices as low as possible. This argument sounds reasonable in…
Since the crash, taxpayers’ money has been used to bail out failing banks because they are perceived to be too big to fail. Are they…
Generally, loans are made (and money is created) for one of three purposes: to fund direct investment in the creation of new tangible wealth; to…
If people feel alienated when they are denied access to decent economic opportunities, then it must be the case that an inclusive economy would have…
Although the current crisis is possibly the most serious and complex in human history, it follows a pattern that has existed since ancient times. The…
The following books have inspired our thinking for the Four Horsemen film and our Survival Manual book.
The Fabian Society invited Nicola Smith of the TUC, Dan Corry - once a Labour government adviser – and me to address their Summer Conference…
The chances of reducing the number of lives ruined by war and other forms of social violence depend on our ability to identify the root…
“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”…
Everyone has a basic right to shelter, which they should be able to call home. A home should not be an investment but a place…
Changes on the scale and complexity outlined in this book will require global coordination if they are to be effectively implemented. The power of vested…
In 1970, ninety per cent of financial flows were used to finance trade or investment in the real economy; only ten per cent was speculative….
The use of precious metals as money goes back nearly three thousand years. Until quite recently, gold and other metals (notably silver) were the basis…
Perhaps surprisingly, the term ‘military-industrial complex’ was coined by a former soldier. On the occasion of his farewell address to the nation after serving two…
Recently we were told about a secret project. A group of wealthy benefactors decided that the modern targets based education wasn’t for them or their…
Apart from supine politicians, the greatest friends of the elite are those who control much of the mass media. The elite have proved exceptionally adept…
The principal factor driving people to get involved in terrorism is a strong sense of injustice, both at a personal level and in respect of…
The following list is neither definitive nor exhaustive, but it summarises the main points of the book and is provided here as a starting point…
Freddie Gray’s death was the last straw for the victims of a corrupt financial system that has left tens of thousands of people with no work and no homes. This excerpt from ‘Four Horsemen -The Survival Manual’ gives context to the riots in Baltimore by explaining some of the broader issues at hand.
The wider public is depressingly disinterested in the workings of the economy; nowhere is this more evident than in their ignorance of the monetary system….
As a way of securing wealth without engaging in real economic activity – the act of combining land, labour and capital to create something with…
Four Horsemen
New
Since they first appeared in the New Testament, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have ridden roughshod into the consciousness of every generation. They remain…
Ed Milliband’s conference speech in Liverpool (2011) was typical of any populist career politician. The central theme was “I’m different so you can trust me…
Many people instinctively know that something is seriously wrong with the economy. Long before the historic events of 2008 things were far from good, especially…
Four Horsemen
Since the financial crisis that struck in 2008, the failings of the banking system have been laid bare for all to see. But, four years…
If there was a form of “conscious capitalism” in which care was extended to fellow humans, animals and the natural environment whether animate or inanimate,…
Four Horsemen
Since the advent of agriculture, and the realization by certain people that control over land is the surest route to political power, all human societies…
Four Horsemen
If the very workings of the economic system are denying people the opportunity to take responsibility for their own wellbeing, is it any wonder that…
Land rent is one of several sources of unearned wealth that bestow privileges on a minority of citizens while biasing the economy against the interests…
Four Horsemen
Poverty is blighting the lives of millions of people, and the environmental crisis is already making things worse. As with poverty, our failure to tackle…
Yesterday I picked up a copy of Animal Spirits by George A Akerlof and Robert J Shiller. In the preface to their book they discuss how Keynes’s General…
They say things like: “If the total size of the money supply was fixed then there is no possible source of money for paying interest.”…
Four Horsemen
Haven’t we been here before? Three centuries ago philosophers began to address these questions in the movement known as the Enlightenment. Immanuel Kant described it…
Not so long ago communist China was not a player in international finance, neither was the then Soviet Union. Step a little further back in…
There is an accepted view in politics and the media that roughly equates to this: a professional class of ‘experts’ are far better at commentary…
Since 1984 (surely an appropriate year) while the elderly have grown their wealth in nominal terms, the young are much worse off both in inflation-adjusted terms, as well as nominal terms(pretty hard to believe given that the money supply has expanded eightfold in the intervening years). So why are the elderly doing over fifty times better than the young when they were only doing ten times better before?
UK politics is dominated by middle England pre-occupations, there are vaguely hysterical fears of the UK having a ‘Depardieu moment’, and capital flight in case of…
Four Horsemen
Over centuries, systems have been subtly modified, manipulated and sometimes purposefully corrupted to better serve the interests of the few. Each time Enlightenment ideals have…
I’ve lost count of the times I’ve used the words ‘elite’ and ‘minority’ in this series on unearned wealth, but I’m certainly not going to…
These arguments appear irreconcilable. So who is right? And how could there have been any doubt? The reason the argument rages so often is that…
The standard economic model is a brilliant piece of mathematics, winning Nobel Prizes for its originators Kenneth Arrow and Gerard Debreu. It proves how if…
So, what should economics be about? Well, that depends on your values and world view. If you believe that everyone should have an equal chance…
It’s what’s left unsaid All the talk from politicians, economists and even most journalists is of government debt to GDP ratios. All of the problems…
Four Horsemen
As Gillian Tett of The Financial Times observes, “Most societies have an elite and the elite try to stay in power; and the way they…
Some people just care about practical or personal concerns, and value capture is just as relevant from this perspective. Through it we begin to replace…
You own yourself, and by extension you own what you make through labour or voluntary transactions thereof. Land, however, is not a fruit of labour.
Anything less than an equal share is a violation of the Law of Equal Liberty, for any exclusive claim over natural opportunities necessarily reduces the opportunities…
The answer depends on two things: how those profits are derived, and what happens to them. Last week we noted how the senior executives and…
Education Seen in a longer timeframe, education is best imparted from kindergarten and up. In this regard it can be said that true education is…
Throughout the 19th century the integrity of economics was steadily eroded. Whereas the ‘classical’ founders of the discipline had set their enquiries in the rapidly changing…
At the beginning of this series, I suggested a definition of wealth as ‘the ability to purchase in the market place those goods and services…
Mainstream economic models ignore debt. The argument goes like this: if I lend you £1 then you have +£1 and I have -£1; and -1…
Four Horsemen
This book does not call for a lurch back to the left, however. If politics is to be of any use in facing down the…
It is entirely natural for parents to want to support their children in every way possible, and for some this includes making financial provision for…
In Britain the term “Lost Generation” was originally used for those who died in World War I. People mourned that “the best of the nation…
First, if the city or state developed following the course of a river system and the river suddenly changed direction or dried up, its economy…
The Victorian age was one of great progress and great folly, and particularly a time of great ideas. While we scoff at buttoned down Victorian…
Four Horsemen
There is nothing to be gained from blaming bankers, politicians or even economists for the current crisis. They flatter themselves if they think they created…
Interviewed by the Financial Times (June 7th 2003), Friedman admitted that, “The use of the quantity of money as a target has not been a…
The time for change Despite a faltering economy and the increasing squeeze on living standards, rising house prices remain persistently but not unsurprisingly viewed as…
But it’s more than that, because the theory says that to reach equilibrium (the point at which prices match everyone wishing to buy with someone wishing to…
The Tipping Point I may be wrong, but it looks like a tipping point. A host of concerned economy-watchers are beginning to understand that most…
This simple question reflected a widely held view that economics as a subject had something to answer for. For a proportion of economists (and their…
They assume that money is essentially tokens that get passed from person to person as they exchange goods. One would assume that the amount of…
Hierarchy v Self-responsibility Disintegrating hierarchy will eventually be replaced by self-responsibility - but we are not there yet. Combine a lack of strong principled leadership…