market
Transition Culture vs the Big Society
Alexis Rowell, Joint Organiser of Transition Belsize and founder of climate change and peak oil consultancy cuttingthecarbon, asks whether the Big Society addresses the underlying problems of our society
"...Let’s not throw out the Big Society model just yet. It has lots of good elements in it. But we need to be aware that it is far from fully formed. Therein lies the real challenge and opportunity – how to create a model that picks up where the Big Society leaves off and which deep green thinkers and Transitioners can agree with, a model which doesn’t simply mutate into a reworking of “sink or swim” Thatcherism wrapped in a shiny new language of community..."
Point and Laugh No More - Part One
ResPublica Fellow Tim Cowen explores the interface between privatisation and state provision
"...Some state services work very well. For example, in state provided public services such as defense one of the most remarkable feats of altruism is achieved where people lay down their lives for others. To say that they do this because they are motivated by their compensation, unusual strength of character or unusual mental attitude would clearly be wrong..."
Creating an Effective Cartel Busting Regime
As New Labour collapsed so did its system of economic regulation
"...Yesterday as Gordon Brown faced the final collapse of New Labour and the exit of his Adminstration from power one of the pillars of New Labour’s system of economic regulation also collapsed..."
Adult Economics
Chief Executive of the Urban Forum, Toby Blume, explains the logic of intervention in a market where irrationality is sometimes rational
"...Although it is seen as acceptable to lose money in a declining market, failing to match profits in the midst of a bubble is regarded by financial institutions (and their investors) as a cardinal sin. So instead institutions blithely follow the herd in offering products they know to be of dubious quality. It may be rational for an individual institution to follow this path in order to retain their investors, but the overall effect is anything but rational. The only way to sort out these perverse incentives is through positive, measured government intervention..."
