But all this does serve to flag up one classic dilemma of sustainable development: namely, what happens when an initiative aimed at meeting people’s aspirations and improving their quality of life runs slap bang into environmental limits? When the social and economic pillars of sustainability, in other words, come crashing down onto the environmental one?
Source: Green Futures Blog
The basic idea: Boosting the cost of anything containing carbon – the main greenhouse gas – would compel industries and consumers to seek cheaper alternatives. They’d switch to cleaner fuels or consume less – either by adopting more efficient technologies or simply reducing their activity. Presumably, the alternatives would be better for the environment.
The problem: No government appears willing to impose a cost high enough to actually change behaviour. And while several industry groups argue pricing carbon is a good idea, their enthusiasm is less than it seems.
For more, The Oil Drum.
“I think the trick with clean energy is not to be able to charge more. Because you can’t see global warming, I don’t think people are willing to pay more for it. It’s got to be a viable investment if it’s going to be successful.”
- WSJ
When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at a college — that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared at me, incredulous, and said, “You mean they forget?” –Howard Ikemoto
Source: Daily Good Newsletter
“All this emphasis on statistics and calculations…,” he went on, rapping his silver-handled cane on the table for emphasis, “without a proper theory, it is all nonsense. And your economists seem to have no theory at all…they just think they can manipulate the system in order to get whatever outcome they want. They think economic growth comes from consumer spending and that they can control consumer spending by adjusting lending rates. It is unbelievable that anyone takes this seriously. It is capital formation that really matters. A rich society is one with a great stock of capital…one that builds capital and puts it to work to create more capital. A rich society is not one where people consume. Just the opposite. It is not what is consumed that creates wealth; it is what is NOT consumed. Yet, all the Anglo-Saxons focus on motivating consumers to consume. And now they are consuming more than they make. I tell you, in 70 years of studying economics, I have never seen such nonsense.
“I have always thought it was the duty of each generation to leave the next one a little better off. That means, each generation has to consume less than it produces. It has to leave a little something extra. The problem, you see, is not an economic one…what we are doing to our children with this use of credit and debt is deeply immoral. It is wrong. It is wrong to burden the future with our mistakes, our conceits, our ambitions. This is what we are doing, and it is shameful.”
Source: The Daily Reckoning. Newsletter on Sep 13th 2007.
You build a hotel and it’s going to be there for the next 50 years. In that time you are going to have economic cycles that go up and down, you are going to have trauma that the world experiences. You have to have to put your business model in place, where you can get through the good, the bad and the ugly. So, your whole purpose of developing a longterm business plan is to under stand, that is what you’re facing. The people that we have partnered with, these are professionals who know the real estate business really well.
Source: The Mint
But I’d love it if we one day eliminated the term “blogging” from the web lexicon (and that we stopped pursuing “CEO’s who blog.”). CEO’s who have cell phones aren’t “cell-phoners,” those who have email accounts arent “emailers,” those who give interviews on television aren’t “TV’ers” – they’re all leaders using technology to communicate. Communication is central to leadership – using words, written or spoken, to articulate strategy, guide organizations, engage in dialog, and… lead. Leading two or 200,000, you can’t do it without communicating. Using technology just leaves more time for everything else (I’m not saying stone tablets can’t be effective, they just take way longer to distribute).
- Source: Jonathan Schwartz
Can you prepare for a Black Swan? In one sense, no, at least not specifically; that’s the whole point. But you can, at a minimum, consider the degree to which your actions and procedures concerning damn near everything, and likewise those of your organizations, rest on assumptions of continuity. (Hint: They do.) Of course China is a “shock to the system”—but, in fact, it has taken and will take decades for its impact to unfold. I’m talking about the events of a day or a week that could unravel a life’s work—or make you president of the U.S.A.
Your life most probably will be made or unmade by the arrival by one, two, or three Black Swans.
One such Black Swan moment for me was the short time I spent with Atanu Dey and Rajesh Jain at Deeshaa.
Anyone developing new products and new technology needs one characteristic above all else: hope. This comes down to a few elements: -having high expectations that you will succeed – despite any setbacks or frustrations -having the sense to break down an imposing task into smaller, manageable ones -believing that you are able to achieve your goals, whatever they may be. Be dogged and determined – and don’t be afraid to be different.
Source: Fast Company Fast 50 ’04.
“We lowered our carbon footprint,” Kennedy said, pausing, “before we even knew what a carbon footprint was.”
Source: Green, if only by accident.
