by
JHK
Podcast
by
JHK
Executive Summary
- 'Smaller' will be the major theme in future development
- The general principles for resilient human settlement
- How redesigning our towns & cities offers liberation from the soul-sucking models we live in today
- What we can leverage from the New Urbanist movement
If you have not yet read (Un)Paving Our Way To Nirvana, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
Before I review some of the basic rules and principles for assembling a human habitat worth living in and with some prospects of enduring, a few words about demographic change. The failing suburbs will not drive everybody in them to move to the cities. The big cities of America face equal difficulties with resource and capital scarcity, failing infrastructure that won’t be replaced, and problems as yet off the radar screen such as water safety, public health, food shortages, and social turmoil. The big cities will have to get a lot smaller and that process will take decades to resolve.
I’m convinced that the action in this country will move to the existing smaller cities and small towns, especially places that have a meaningful relationship with food production because there ought to be no question that agri-business will fail, and with it the entire food production and distribution process as we currently know it. One implication of this is that we will restore a visible edge between what is urban and what is rural, and what these places are for. As that occurs people will redevelop an appreciation for the distinction. The human settlement will no longer endeavor to be a cartoon of the rural countryside. And rural places will be organized and inhabited differently.
Therefore, a first general principle is…
A Better Human Habitat for the Next Economy
PREVIEW by JHKExecutive Summary
- 'Smaller' will be the major theme in future development
- The general principles for resilient human settlement
- How redesigning our towns & cities offers liberation from the soul-sucking models we live in today
- What we can leverage from the New Urbanist movement
If you have not yet read (Un)Paving Our Way To Nirvana, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
Before I review some of the basic rules and principles for assembling a human habitat worth living in and with some prospects of enduring, a few words about demographic change. The failing suburbs will not drive everybody in them to move to the cities. The big cities of America face equal difficulties with resource and capital scarcity, failing infrastructure that won’t be replaced, and problems as yet off the radar screen such as water safety, public health, food shortages, and social turmoil. The big cities will have to get a lot smaller and that process will take decades to resolve.
I’m convinced that the action in this country will move to the existing smaller cities and small towns, especially places that have a meaningful relationship with food production because there ought to be no question that agri-business will fail, and with it the entire food production and distribution process as we currently know it. One implication of this is that we will restore a visible edge between what is urban and what is rural, and what these places are for. As that occurs people will redevelop an appreciation for the distinction. The human settlement will no longer endeavor to be a cartoon of the rural countryside. And rural places will be organized and inhabited differently.
Therefore, a first general principle is…
by
Adam Taggart
by
JW
A few simple tips and weekend tasks to accomplish to help you save this winter on your heating and energy bills.
http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/10-ways-to-reduce-your-heating-bill/
Also check out the frugal heating tips on the PP discussion thread: https://www.peakprosperitycom.bigscoots-staging.com/discussion/80273/those-cold-climates-how-are-you-keeping-your-house-warm-frugally
10 Ways to Reduce Your Heating Bill
by JWA few simple tips and weekend tasks to accomplish to help you save this winter on your heating and energy bills.
http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/10-ways-to-reduce-your-heating-bill/
Also check out the frugal heating tips on the PP discussion thread: https://www.peakprosperitycom.bigscoots-staging.com/discussion/80273/those-cold-climates-how-are-you-keeping-your-house-warm-frugally
by
JW
by
Gregor Macdonald
Improbably, the global economy has returned to growth over the past four years despite the ravages of a deflationary debt collapse, a punishing oil shock, ongoing constraint from debt and deleveraging, and stagnant global wages. The proof of this growth comes from the best indicator of all: the growth of global energy consumption.
What Happened to the Future?
by Gregor MacdonaldImprobably, the global economy has returned to growth over the past four years despite the ravages of a deflationary debt collapse, a punishing oil shock, ongoing constraint from debt and deleveraging, and stagnant global wages. The proof of this growth comes from the best indicator of all: the growth of global energy consumption.
by
Gregor Macdonald
Executive Summary
- The growing risk of disinflation
- Why instability in the U.S. is accelerating
- The danger of social rifts emerging in the near future between economic classes
- Why environmental constraints and social instability may trump energy issues going forward
If you have not yet read What Happened to the Future?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
If this is the case, it echoes the realization now dawning on economists in the U.S. that an acceleration in the economy, which many expected, is simply not going to arrive. As was discussed in previous essays, OECD GDP growth appears to be converging once again at a level below 2.00%. The U.S. is on track to achieve only 1.6% GDP growth this year. This is a primary reason why inflation, again – outside of natural resources – has still not broken out, or even appeared. Moreover, the U.S. and the OECD could once again be on the verge of disinflation.
One notable and important piece of the disinflation puzzle is the continued growth in inequality. As income growth narrows to a tiny vanishing point among workers, it’s become increasingly difficult to mount economic growth across many industries. Demand for goods from the 1% is robust. Demand from the rest of the populace continues to dwindle. It may be hard to believe, but policy makers, politicians, and – gasp! – even economists and financiers used to be deeply concerned about wealth inequality. Today, it’s as if enough time has passed for an entire generation to forget the destructive structural damage that long-term inequality can wreak on an economy.
For those of you who remember, one of the more severe cases of wealth inequality for many decades was the country of Brazil. Tellingly, it was not until Brazil elected a reformer, Lula, that the country left behind its days of boom-and-bust, debt crises, inflation, and general instability and embarked on its current path as a more balanced, sustainable economy. Coincidence? Not likely.
But what’s really scary is…
Why Social & Environmental Imbalances Are Becoming the Biggest Risks
PREVIEW by Gregor MacdonaldExecutive Summary
- The growing risk of disinflation
- Why instability in the U.S. is accelerating
- The danger of social rifts emerging in the near future between economic classes
- Why environmental constraints and social instability may trump energy issues going forward
If you have not yet read What Happened to the Future?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
If this is the case, it echoes the realization now dawning on economists in the U.S. that an acceleration in the economy, which many expected, is simply not going to arrive. As was discussed in previous essays, OECD GDP growth appears to be converging once again at a level below 2.00%. The U.S. is on track to achieve only 1.6% GDP growth this year. This is a primary reason why inflation, again – outside of natural resources – has still not broken out, or even appeared. Moreover, the U.S. and the OECD could once again be on the verge of disinflation.
One notable and important piece of the disinflation puzzle is the continued growth in inequality. As income growth narrows to a tiny vanishing point among workers, it’s become increasingly difficult to mount economic growth across many industries. Demand for goods from the 1% is robust. Demand from the rest of the populace continues to dwindle. It may be hard to believe, but policy makers, politicians, and – gasp! – even economists and financiers used to be deeply concerned about wealth inequality. Today, it’s as if enough time has passed for an entire generation to forget the destructive structural damage that long-term inequality can wreak on an economy.
For those of you who remember, one of the more severe cases of wealth inequality for many decades was the country of Brazil. Tellingly, it was not until Brazil elected a reformer, Lula, that the country left behind its days of boom-and-bust, debt crises, inflation, and general instability and embarked on its current path as a more balanced, sustainable economy. Coincidence? Not likely.
But what’s really scary is…
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