03 Economy – Page 76 – Public Intelligence Blog

At Davos, Tech Executives Skirt the Real Issues

On the panel were Google chairman Eric Schmidt, Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. During the session I frequently felt that that neither the optimistic statements of hope or anecdotes of those whose lives have improved adequately dealt with the challenge of the digital economy. I was tempted to quote Bill Clinton: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

The Digital Economy has become THE Economy. Yes, technology has created many wonders, but if we look at the macro level, the scorecard on economic results of technology are so far troublesome. Technology has unquestionably been at the heart of some negative developments including massive structural unemployment; growing social inequality where the benefits and wealth generated by technology have been asymmetrical; a fracturing of public discourse; and the loss of privacy and the rise of a surveillance society to name a few.

Continue reading “Don Tapscott: Davos Tech Panel Disappoints”

2015/01/162015/01/16

SchwartzReport: Solar Creates More Jobs than Oil & Gas Extraction — Solar Jobs Up 80% in Four Years

03 Economy, 05 Energy, 07 Health, 11 Society

As predicted the shift to non-carbon energy is creating wealth as well as wellness, and it is gaining momentum. This development makes excellent news. Carbon energy will do everything it can to continue to control the production of energy but that industry is on the wrong side of history.

The Solar Industry Created More Jobs In 2014 Than Oil And Gas Extraction

See Also:

Solar @ Phi Beta Iota

2015/01/15

SchwartzReport: Monsanto Down 34%

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 07 Health, Commercial Intelligence, Earth Intelligence

I think this is fascinating. This report describes a change in the GMO trend. We have here millions of individual choices not in favor of Mansanto, but toward the life-affirming. Equally important we should note: all of this was accomplished even as Mansanto and other corporations poured multiple 10s of millions of dollars into controlling election outcomes and regulatory oversight.

Monsanto Earnings Fall 34% as Farmers Reject GMO Crops

2015/01/08

SchwartzReport: USA More Jails Than Colleges

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Idiocy, Law Enforcement

Here is the latest on the American Gulag Trend. This is one of the reasons we can no longer claim the moral highground, and every nation in the village of humanity knows this about us. Click on the line at the very beginning and it will take you to an interactive map of the U.S., where you can get the incarceration number for your county. It is quite revealing.

The U.S. has more jails than colleges. Here’s a map of where those prisoners live.

2015/01/06

Jean Lievens: Joseph Stiglitz on Income Inequality

03 Economy, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government

Joseph Stiglitz: Thomas Piketty gets income inequality wrong

The famed economist reveals the real reason the rich are getting richer — and what it means for the rest of us

Lynn Stuart Parramore, AlterNet

Continue reading “Jean Lievens: Joseph Stiglitz on Income Inequality”

2015/01/042015/01/04

SchwartzReport: $14M an HOUR “War on Terror”

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Government, IO Deeds of War, Military, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence

I don't know when I have been as angered by a story as I have been by this one. Fourteen million dollars an hour for 13 years. Imagine what could have been done with that money to ease the lives of the 17 million minor children who experience hunger each year, or the 2.5 million children who are homeless each year, or the destitute elderly living on dog food. What could have been done with that money to rebuild our failing infrastructure, or our crumbling schools, or to improve our poor healthcare system. And that money is independent of the over $400 billion spent on the grotesque F-35 project I reported on yesterday. All of this made possible by phony-patriot war criminals beginning with Bush and Cheney, and passed by a Congress of cretins, too weak and pusillanimous to serve the people who elected them. A government “by the people for the people,” not in anyway I can measure.

$14 Million an Hour for 13 Years: War on Terror's Astounding Cost

2014/12/31