Relationships important but no miracles Good relationships are crucial for well-being. A long-term Harvard study with that message, the New York Times recently highlighted. The research supports it. People with warm, stable relationships live longer and happier on average. Isolation, on the contrary, can be as harmful as smoking. More time with family and friends actually increases…
Category: Climate crisis
Pyrrhic victory for Western financial markets that breaks the US world power order
The Iran deal shows something bigger than a war The so-called peace deal between the US and Iran is a largely completed peace agreement, even if Netanyahu challenges it a bit by continuing to bomb Lebanon. But Israel will probably have to give in to Trump and the US can no longer afford the political and economic price of…
Insurance risks threaten the economic system
🌍 The next major financial crisis is born in the climate crisis – but a new economy can stop it As forest fires, floods and storms become everyday life, insurance companies are pulling back. Houses are becoming uninsured. Banks are stopping lending. Property values are falling. People are losing both their homes and their security. More and more people are now warning that this could be the start of a new global…
The crisis of hyperglobalization – and the path to a new green Bretton Woods
The crisis of hyperglobalization finally arrived. For several decades, the world had been governed by one idea: that more trade, more deregulation and more global capital mobility would automatically lead to prosperity. In the report “Out of the Ashes into the Fire,” Stefan de Vylder calls the period from 1980 to 2016 the era of hyperglobalization – an era in which the economy became increasingly…
Financialization a bigger price increaser than food shortages
When rumors rule more than reality Food prices have skyrocketed in recent years, and the reasons are more complicated than they first appear. Financial market speculation and stockpiling by major players control food prices more than actual shortages of raw materials. Sweden has also made itself vulnerable by eliminating its emergency stocks and becoming increasingly dependent on imported food….
Saving the world starts with local protests
How do we save democracy, world peace, the climate and nature? Democracy wins the people and vulnerable groups through local protests historically. If they are of sufficient public interest, they spread. Today's capital is built on fragile international systems such as just-in-time. These are very sensitive to disruptions. If local protests spread, this could have a major effect. Could red-green…
Cooperation, care and human success - from the Stone Age to today
Stone Age Stone Age people survived not because they were the strongest or fastest, but because they could cooperate and care for each other in unlimited numbers. Researchers have found graves that show that even people with disabilities were cared for and buried with respect. This tells us that society depended on everyone…
The worst consequences of neoliberalism - from economic to social disaster
The consequences of neoliberalism are profound and devastating. From greedflation and right-wing extremism to the risk of global war and climate catastrophe, this ideology undermines society's stability, health and future. Economic inequality and reduced democratic rights threaten future social cohesion and global peace. Greedflation after 2020 Companies raise prices well above their cost increases to maximize profits. This phenomenon,…