Economy (UK)

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Economic Growth: The global economy is based on the assumption that nature is infinite and thus can be exploited indefinitely without cost. Under this assumption, exploiting all available natural resources without regard to the costs involved (pollution, exhaustion, ...) is entirely reasonable as, by inference, nature must have an infinite capacity to absorb those costs.
There was a level of human population and economic activity when that was a workable assumption, but it is clearly not one now, and is becoming increasingly ridiculous as economic growth continues.
— Common Sense

How the Economic Machine Works

  • How does the economy really work? This simple, but not simplistic, animation by Ray DalioWikipedia-W.svg answers the question "How does the economy really work?" The video shows the basic driving forces behind the economy, and explains why economic cycles occur by breaking down concepts such as credit, interest rates, leveraging and deleveraging. Youtube EconomicPrinciples.org. Accessed Apr.10.2018.

Hierarchy and the Political Economy

Humans Need Not Apply
Watch on YouTube (Aug.13.2014)
  • Aug.11.2015: Lecture: Hierarchy and the Political Economy Our understanding of how the world works is far removed from reality. 90% of US media is owned by just 6 corporations - controlled by the same forces as direct the BBC’s agenda. Three fundamental flaws in the economic system: Privatisation and enclosures have reduced the share of land wealth to less than 4%; Increasing automation is removing the need for labour; Interest is the wrecking machine at the heart of the economic system. These 3 flaws concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a Structural Elite, while the rest of us compete for a reducing share of the diminishing wealth of the planet. This handful of people comprises 8 banking families, European royalty, industrial dynasties, the super-rich, economic and political predators. Controlling the levers of power they foment division, oppression, ecocide and wars while extracting the wealth created by some 7 bn humans by collecting rents, interest and taxes. Clive Menzies, Conway Hall Ethical Society.

Image Searches

Videos

  • Mark Blyth YouTube search: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22mark+blyth%22
  • Apr.2017: Mark Blyth: Why Do People Continue To Believe Stupid Economic Ideas? Mark Blyth is Eastman Professor of Political Economy at The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs of Brown University. Before becoming an academic, Blyth has been a stand-up comedian, a chef, and a funk bass player. Realizing that such pursuits where long options at best, he finished his PhD in political science at Columbia University in 1999. He then joined the Johns Hopkins University before moving to Brown University in 2009. His research focuses upon the causes of stability and change in the economy and why people continue to believe stupid economic ideas despite buckets of evidence to the contrary. The power of economic ideas is a common theme in Blyth's work, as seen in his recent award winning book "Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea" (New York: Oxford University Press 2015) and in his new projects on the economic legacies of the baby boomers and the politics of low growth. Mark Blyth, YouTube
  • Jun.02.2013: Austerity - The History of a Dangerous Idea. Governments today in both Europe and the United States have succeeded in casting govt spending as reckless wastefulness that has made the economy worse. In contrast, they have advanced a policy of draconian budget cuts -austerity - to solve the financial crisis. We are told that we have all lived beyond our means and now need to tighten our belts. This view conveniently forgets where all that debt came from. Not from an orgy of govt spending, but as the direct result of bailing out, recapitalizing, and adding liquidity to the broken banking system. Through these actions private debt was rechristened as govt debt, while those responsible for generating it walked away scot free, placing the blame on the state, and the burden on the taxpayer. Blyth is a member of the Warwick Commission on International Financial Reform. He is a member of the editorial board of the Review of International Political Economy Mark Blyth, YouTube


The following matches what's in MindNode as of Feb.25.2018

  • The ONS publishes the UK National Accounts every year, known as "The Blue Book". Here is The Blue Book 2017

Agriculture + Fishing (Agribusiness)

  • Agrifood Atlas – Facts and figures about the corporations that control what we eat.
  • DEFRA put out a "Compendium", there are some rather good graphics in it. Link
  • Who owns who? A farmer’s guide to seed company mergers and acquisitions (Syngenta, Monsanto), http://news.agropages.com/News/NewsDetail---23917.htm
  • The list of the world’s largest 500 companies by turnover contains a huge number of firms engaged in agriculture and food. And the trend continues towards a further concentration of power. Agrifood corporations are driving industrialization along the entire global value chain, from farm to plate. Their purchasing and sales policies promote a form of agriculture that revolves around productivity. The fight for market share is achieved at the expense of the weakest links in the chain: farmers, and workers.
  • The withdrawal of government from economic intervention is a major cause of the colossal environmental and climate damage and the global injustice that we see today. It is high time for a socially and politically oriented regulation of the agrifood industry. The Agrifood Atlas serves facts and shows why and how the road to a socio-ecologically oriented agricultural and nutritional industry must be taken.
History: Supersize me
Whether protectionism or deregulation – the Agrifood Industry keeps growing. Mergers are making firms bigger all the way along the value chain.
Mergers: One group to rule them all
A single private equity firm, 3G Capital from Brazil, controls some of the world's biggest food and beverage corporations. The company's aggressive takeover strategy is just the tip of the iceberg.
Plantations: Modern-day landowners
New corporations have emerged that buy or lease vast areas of farmland in developing countires. They grow monocultures to feed the industralized agriculture.
Agricultural technology: Digital manoeuvres – when tractors go online
Precision farming promises to revolutionize farm management. But it will only benefit large landholdings and capital-intensive agro enterprises.
Fertilizers: Chemicals for the soil
Synthetic fertilizers increase agriculture's productivity, but do not improve soil quality. Manufacturers want to sell more – despite the high energy and environmental costs.
Seed and pesticides: From seven to four – growing by shrinking
Mergers galore: Bayer wants to buy Monsanto and become the world's largest producer of seeds and agrochemicals. All top rivaling companies are pairing up.
Animal genetics: In the beginning was the patent
Genetically modified livestock are prone to disease and are difficult to market. But many labels are developing methods to further industrialize animal production.
Crop genetics: Juggling genes
In the coming years, seed companies plan to use genome editing to produce crops with new characteristics – and market them without having to state that they are "genetically modified".
Commodities: Agricultural traders' second harvest
Four Western corporations dominate the global trade of agricultural products. Now a Chinese firm has joined them.
Manufacturers: Brands dominating marktes
Fifty manufacturers account for 50% of global food sales in the industry. The big companies are growing fastest and are rapidly increasing their market share.
Retailing: Expanding aisles
Food shoppers in the developed world let the cash registers ring at the likes of Wal-Mart, Lidl, Carrefour and Tesco. The supermarket revolution is now expanding throughout the developing world.
Feeding the world: Chemical sprays, but hunger stays
Industry says it can feed the world. But total food production is not the issue; access to food is. The key solution is to fight poverty.
Meat: Herd instinct
They are largely unknown to the public, but they dominate the world’s meat supplies. Much of the beef, pork and chicken we eat is controlled by just a handful of big firms.
Alternatives: Looking for a new way
Agroecology is a successful concept which promotes farming methods that are attuned to local ecosystems. It is already used for growing rice worldwide.
Capital markets: Investors care about growth – not about the growers
Speculators are increasingly placing their bets on agriculture. Capital flows into stock exchanges are exacerbating price fluctuations in agricultural commodities – to the benefit of funds and banks.
Working conditions: Pile it high, sell it cheap
Labels on supermarket packaging trumpet all kinds of concerns for people and nature. But most have little impact on the miserable conditions endured by farm and plantation workers.
World trade: In control, not under control
International trade deals reflect the interests of the industry. Agrifood corporations want to keep a grip on the steering wheel.
EU Lobbying: Big business in Brussels
The crowds of industry lobbyists trying to infl uence European Union policy often find they are pushing at an open door. They combine legitimate lobbying with underhand methods such as hiring government insiders and publishing quasi-scientific studies. The EU must recognize such tactics for what they are.
China: Public and private companies are reaching out
The world’s new economic powerhouse is located in China. Its land investments in Africa and Latin America have attracted headlines, but Southeast Asia is where it is making its influence most felt.
Rules: Market power and human rights
Again and again, corporations fail to respect human rights. Voluntary measures are not enough: we need binding rules.
Resistance: Protests, boycotts and resistance
In many countries, people are resisting agrarian and trade policies that boost the power of the multinationals. Individual companies also come in for criticism.

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