Author: Deirdre kent

The price of petrol and climate action

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Climate change groups were noticeably absent from the recent public discussion about the rising price of petrol. Nobody was saying publicly that if we are to turn emissions around, we have to make it more expensive to drive. Not the Greens, not Generation Zero or 350.0rg. Nobody. It had been a unanimous outcry of pain against high petrol prices. Why? Surely lower petrol prices would clog up our roads, get people off public transport and adversely impact our emissions? Continue reading “The price of petrol and climate action”

Which do you fancy – Economic Growth or Financial Collapse?

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I have now watched a TED talk on this topic twice and can’t help but respond. Ecological economist Marjan Van Den Belt is right when she says “we are mindlessly addicted to economic growth, we are growth junkies.” She advocates reciprocity in economies and says that is the key to a circular, sharing, regenerative economy. So far so good. Continue reading “Which do you fancy – Economic Growth or Financial Collapse?”

Sarah vs the Govt – thoughts after first day in court on climate targets

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Sarah Thomson poses for media outside Wellington High Court. She is taking the Government to court on their climate change targets

Continue reading “Sarah vs the Govt – thoughts after first day in court on climate targets”

Designing a new economy without addressing money system or tax system is futile

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If you want to design a political economy that works, you actually have to go to the roots. That means the money system the tax system, the welfare system and the governance system. So I was shocked to read the six winning essays in The Next System’s essay competition to discover that so few of them had addressed the money system or the tax system. Continue reading “Designing a new economy without addressing money system or tax system is futile”

Two books ten years apart and the theme is the commons

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Today I found a photo from the launch of my book Healthy Money Healthy Planet –Developing Sustainability through New Money Systems and I post it here. It was a good book, took a long time to write and Helen has sold a great many through Living Economies shop. Continue reading “Two books ten years apart and the theme is the commons”

Summary of The Big Shift: Rethinking Money, Tax, Welfare and Governance for the Next Economic System

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The Big Shift: Rethinking Money, Tax, Welfare and Governance for the Next Economic System by Deirdre Kent

This important little book is a very dense read. The current growth-dependent economic system is not only broken must be completely replaced with a new paradigm. Continue reading “Summary of The Big Shift: Rethinking Money, Tax, Welfare and Governance for the Next Economic System”

Trapped in Wellington due to fog

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So great plans to get to Lyttelton early didn’t work out because of the fog at the airport, in fact fog all over Wellington, most unusual. Lots of people going to the Expo are similarly trapped, some going tomorrow and some the day after. Here is the programme. I don’t get there till Friday now.

That gives me an extra day to practise my talk and work on this website.