Blog articles from the Infrastructure section of The Big Idea

Infrastructure

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Agroecology, food sovereignty and the absolute need for economic democracy

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This blog is from a guest contributor, Professor Michel Pimbert of Coventry University — on the corporate takeover of the world’s farming and hence of our food supply, which is increasingly abetted and ratified by governments like ours and even these days by the United Nations. This power-shift is seriously undermining the principles of Agroecology … Read more

The greatest mistake of modern humanity

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The economic theory that now prevails worldwide – the capitalist offshoot known colloquially as “neoliberalism” – is killing us all, says Colin Tudge Human history to a great extent is a saga of heroism and endeavour and imagination and self-sacrifice and a search for truth but it’s also a saga of huge mistakes, and of … Read more

Is it time to break the law?

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The most serious divide in the present world says Colin Tudge is not between political parties or rival religions or between religion and science but between those who realise the gravity of the world’s present plight and want to do something about it and those who seek primarily to exercize their power and maintain the … Read more

Is politics more than a distraction?

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Asks Colin tudge May 6: A good day for the Lib Dems and the Greens in the local elections yesterday. Not bad though less than decisive for Labour. A bad day for the Tories, though not as bad as they deserve. After Cameron the spiv, May the interregnum, Boris the malignant clown, Truss the star … Read more

Never mind the evidence – feel the ideology!

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It’s not economic “growth” that matters, says Colin Tudge. It’s equality  Lest we thought the madness of Trussonomics had disappeared with her own assisted abdication a senior Tory MP popped up on Channel 4 News to tell us once more (a) that the only way to solve Britain’s mounting problems is by economic growth, apparently … Read more

The importance of being idle

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In a brief but brilliant soap-box speech (albeit delivered from a Paris balcony), and in the midst of on-going strikes, Jean-Luc Melenchon** argued that the present-day economy and the politics and mindset behind them are, quite simply, mad. We are all of us obliged to work harder and harder in effect to stay in the … Read more

Idiots and Gangsters

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And why in particular is the world’s agriculture so off-beam?

Of billionaires and bombs

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Extreme wealth is potentially as dangerous as any weapons of war, says Colin Tudge. So why are we so relaxed about it?

Green Economic Democracy: in place of “isms”

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A (fairly long) shopping list of what seem to be promising ideas.

It’s a huge mistake to treat economists as gurus

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Economists are wont to cluster in think tanks and pop up on television to explain not only what is wrong with the economy but what is wrong with the world in general. In other words, because they are good at what they do and are wont to dazzle us with jargon and acronyms and mathematical … Read more