First Word
Growth misgivings
It is taken as a given that unless political parties of whatever stripe promise growth, they are dead in the water. Even within the green movement, anyone seeking to influence
Columns
Gone offline
Verity is uncomfortable with prospect of a virtual future for the end-of-life years. This last month has been exciting. Out of the blue, I was invited to give a keynote
Paradigm Shift
Our collective memories of the lessons learned from wars and crises past have faded. Frances Coppola looks for future guidance. The longer our financial and economic system goes without a
Interviews
Killer watts
Helen Thompson is a professor of international political economy who thinks that understanding energy can explain a lot (if not all as she is careful to say) that has happened
Beyond the pale?
Lebohang Liepollo Pheko is a South African activist academic who was one of the non-Europeans invited to speak at the recent Beyond Growth conference in the European Parliament. This conference
Talking Shop
Christopher Dent is an international political economist who has been observing how international institutions have talked the neo-liberal language on climate change, energy and environment for the past few decades.
Articles
Go West
The developed world’s delivery on commitments to help pull the poorest countries out of their tailspin into destitution is arguably as crucial as it is unlikely. Niko Humalisto suggests reflection.
Helping hand outs
Tom Neumark shares the value of giving where terms and conditions don’t apply. Having recently gone blind, Beatrice was not able to see her grandson’s diarrhoea on the packed-dirt floor
The Bumpy Ride
Roland Kupers argues that fixing the climate crisis will necessarily be turbulent. Our current approach to the climate problem falls well short of what is objectively required, but that does
Too Big to Succeed?
Is a coalition of more than 500 financial firms fit to race against climate change? Willy Diddens looks at the form. In April 2021, the UN Special Envoy on Climate
Risky Business in the Rag Trade
Muhammad Faisol Chowdhury explains how, in Bangladeshi clothing factories, safety is a side show when survival is at stake. This year is the tenth anniversary of the worst garment factory
Give and Take
The boycott is a vital tool for consumers to punish perceived corporate misconduct. But Ted Lechterman asks: under what conditions should firms use the same tool? In June 2020, over
Fighting inflation with flat-earth monetary policy
Blair Fix puts interest rates to the test in the treatment of inflation and raises a laugh. Advances in science almost invariably arise from questioning received wisdom — taking ideas
Book Review
A Brilliant Assault
Foundations of Real-World Economics: What Every Economics Student Needs to Know (Routledge, 3rd edition, 2023), by John Komlos. Review by Guy Dauncey One of the world’s hidden tragedies, happening every