The candidates are giving speeches on the economy, ranging from Obama’s correct diagnosis that corporate political power has driven much destructive policy to Clinton’s programmatic wonkishness to McCain saying speculators should receive no federal bailout. Unfortunately, he means individuals who face foreclosure, not the big financial institutions that caused the housing and mortgage collapse.
The nation faces more economic challenges than at any time since the Great Depression. But overall America is so wealthy that the stresses and dangers are concealed; their most severe consequences may not be felt for decades. Nobody has all the answers, but I will lay down some markers to watch. These are based on history, the test of time and the reality of today’s economy. I wonder if the candidates will address them (we already know McCain’s answer)?
I’ll start with the financial markets, and discuss other economic issues in future columns. Among the key reforms needed:
- Serious re-regulation of the financial markets, to ensure transparency, accountability and regulatory action before the barn burns down. This must extend to the so-called shadow capital markets of private equity and hedge funds. They are just too big and the public damage they can inflict too serious. The SEC and other agencies must regain their teeth; Bear Sterns should never have been allowed to make its exotic mortgage securities, which now must be bailed out by taxpayers. A new Glass-Stegall banking act, for the 21st century, should be enacted to ensure safety and soundness. Many sound laws are already on the books, but we need a White House that will enforce them.
- Anti-trust should again be a centerpiece of American policy. Consolidation hurts jobs, competition and communities. In certain industries, such as banking, it has put the entire economy at risk. Monopolies and de-facto destroy real wealth and innovation. Also, take away the tax advantages of mergers. In addition to ensuring competition, it will weaken the political power of monopolies and cartels, and take away some of the incentives to gin up bubbles by constantly merging companies that should stand on their own.
- Punitively tax high CEO pay. Many of these capitalist princes had presided over the death of their companies and the destruction of the wealth of the real owners — the shareholders. The guy in the mail room could do better. But the princes are rewarded at obscene levels — Bear’s chairman walks away with $61 million. I can wreck a venerable company and bring capitalism to the brink of destruction for half that!
- Financial "innovations" need heavy regulatory oversight. Even former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, one of the smartest men on Wall Street, told the New York Times he didn’t understand all of the exotic plays. Now we know many are worthless. Warren Buffet has called them financial weapons of mass destruction. In the past, the banks have "taught" the regulators about these derivatives, swaps, bundles, etc — true story. There must be a return to oversight for the public good. If regulators can’t understand the risk of a "product" — or even how it works — don’t approve it. If "innovation" gives way to transparent securities that really mean something — good.
- Use the tax code and regulatory system to reward companies that produce things and employ people, while punishing the M&A boys, the break-up kings, the off-shoring barons and the speculators. We need some of that in a market economy, but they should shoulder far more risk and accountability than now.
- Break up Citigroup and perhaps other giants.
- Return more power to shareholders to sue brokerages and companies.
- Go after tax havens aggressively. It’s one of the greatest scandals in business history how big companies and their top executives avoid paying taxes to fund the civil society in which they make their money.
- Campaign finance reform — can it ever really happen? Somehow we need innovative solutions to re-balance the system, which now totally favors big corporations; they make American policy.
- Return consequences. If the Federal Reserve must bail out Bear Sterns to avoid a complete collapse of the financial system (just think about that for a moment) — then heads should roll, and criminal prosecution follow (and I mean hard time with a heavily tattooed cell-mate named Tiny).
- Stop building bubbles. The American people have been whipsawed repeatedly by financial bubbles created by the Federal Reserve and deregulation. Make no mistake: most have been net losers, their jobs, retirement nest eggs, benefits, etc.
- As for average homeowners, I have a little of McCain’s skepticism. Taxpayers shouldn’t bail out the imprudent and foolish. Unfortunately, such behavior has been encouraged for years by the government, business and culture. Buy a bigger house! farther out! drive more! buy more! on credit! I guess something must be done if enough people are hurting. But this may be only the first of the bailouts for a profligate society when the bills come due. Too bad we did away with more generous bankruptcy protection for average Americans, at the behest of the banks.
Water is the source of life – treasure it! R4.
Water is the source of all life on earth. It touches every area of our lives. Without it, we could not thrive — we could not even survive.
Sustainability – “We strive to meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
We should discourage wastefulness and misuse, and promote efficiency and conservation.
“Conservation is really the cheapest source of supply,”
For the benefit of mankind, maintain the quality of life and preserve the peace and tranquility of world population. Water resources must be preserved – to sustain humanity. We must eliminate wasteful utilization of water, conserve our water sources and implement rigid conservation methods. We should utilize solar and or other source of renewable energy to operate desalinization projects from the oceans. Utilize renewable energy sources to purify and transport the water to its final destination. As world population increases the scarcity of water will become a cause for conflict, unless we take steps now to develop other sources of water for drinking, rainwater harvesting – storm-water and gray-water utilization. Designing of landscaping that uses minimal amount of water.
“With power shortages and a water scarcity a constant threat across the West, it’s time to look at water and energy in a new way,”
To preserve the future generations sustainability, we should look into urban farming – vertical farming. The term “urban farming” may conjure up a community garden where locals grow a few heads of lettuce. But some academics envision something quite different for the increasingly hungry world of the 21st century: a vertical farm that will do for agriculture what the skyscraper did for office space. Greenhouse giant: By stacking floors full of produce, a vertical farm could rake in $18 million a year.
Jay Draiman, Energy and water conservation consultant
May. 2, 2008
PS.
Hydro dynamics: forget oil. Sharing freshwater equitably poses political conundrums as explosive and far-reaching as global climate change.
Quoted from other sources
Anyone who has ever stood on a beach and looked out into the vast expanse of an ocean knows that there is a lot of water on this planet. In fact, 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water. It may seem like water is all around us, but safe, clean, reliable drinking water is not a cease¬less resource. The problems facing drinking water range from failing infrastructure, to climate change, to insufficient supplies.
Personal Conservation
Preserving our water resources is not a job for water industry professionals alone. We all have a vested interest in ensuring that water remains safe, af¬fordable and available. Therefore, each individual American has a responsibility to monitor and control their water use, There are many simple ways for people to reduce excess water use, lower water bills and protect the environment, espe¬cially in die spring and summer months, Beyond the standard constraints of watering the lawn only when neces¬sary and washing car wisely by using soap and a bucket of water, some steps include: draining water lines to outside faucets, disconnecting hoses, shutting off outdoor water sources during cold weather and running a small trickle of water on whiter nights to prevent pipe from freezing.
Conclusion
Water supply management is an issue that affects us all. It may not be apparent to every citizen today, but with climate change and population shifts transforming the United States, it soon will be. Effective solutions need to be put into place today before we are faced with a water crisis. A focus on careful planning, treatments, innova¬tions and conservation measures will help to create stability for long-term water management. Commitment to keeping water at the top of the list for communities and citizens will better prepare us for whatever the future of water holds.
WATER!
The indispensable source of life-without water there would be no industry, no agriculture and, most importantly of all, no life. In dry parts of the world this essential commodity is even more precious. Almost all human actions involve water from taking a shower to reading a newspaper to driving a car or simply eating a sandwich – almost everything we do or touch is somehow related to this precious treasure. We ask that you stop and think how you use water and what you can do to conserve this essential natural resource.
*Water, beliefs and customs,
*Water as a vehicle of the economy,
*Water, source of art and life, irrigation and cultivation.
The people have decided to act to try and develop a real awareness program on the theme of water preservation and distribution in an attempt to help maintain the original purity of rivers and streams.
In many parts of the world water sources and wells are not equally distributed. Water as a source of life can also be at the source of conflict.
Whether we live in India, Iceland or the Atlas… we have always tried to trap and tame water. Dams, pumps, canals, water treatment centers; there are so many different ways to exploit this resource that we often forget how fragile this unique and essential treasure actually is.
Unfortunately, many of the things we do every day can harm our water. That’s why all people and government should be working with municipalities, farmers, business leaders and developers just like you to take action to protect our water and clean it up.
Small changes can make a big difference. This guide outlines practical things we can all do to preserve and protect our water. We all need to be part of the solution.
Concentrated Solar Power, which requires no solar panels at all. It works by concentrating sunlight onto a small pipe using cheap parabolic reflectors. The pipe contains a liquid that’s heated to very high temperatures by the sun and drives a steam boiler that rotates a turbine to generate electricity (much like nuclear power plants, but without the nuclear waste). It’s cheap, low-tech, and far more affordable than solar power. Plus, it can be built in practically any desert, so it doesn’t take up valuable land. As another bonus, when CSP operations are built near the ocean, they can desalinate ocean water as a side effect, providing fresh water for irrigation to grow food. This is the only renewable energy technology I know of that can produce cheap energy, fresh water and crop irrigation all at the same time. Plus, it has no emissions, no toxic chemicals, no nuclear waste and very little environmental impact..
“You can’t escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today” – Abraham Lincoln said it.
“That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest” – Henry David Thoreau.
“To waste, to destroy, our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed” – Theodore Roosevelt.
“When the ‘study of the household’ (ecology) and the ‘management of the household’ (economics) can be merged, and when ethics can be extended to include ‘environmental’ as well as human values, then we can be optimistic about the future of mankind. Accordingly, bringing together these three E’s is the ultimate holism and the great challenge for our future” – Eugene Odum.