After Capitalism

I have been thinking a lot about the fight over economic systems that took place over the last 150 years. Capitalism clearly beat communism, though socialist democracies which attempted to combine the free markets efficiencies with the emotional appeal of communism, repeatedly score best in international surveys. But capitalism greatest flaw is that it has not accurately priced in the ecological destruction humanity has caused over the last century. Because of this, all things are artificially cheap. Add this to the fact that economic growth is bourne either of population growth or increased productivity and it seems that there is inevitable decline built into the system. Why do I say this? We are already seeing that as societies develop & women have further control over their bodies, population growth sinks below replacement levels. on the productivity side, we seem to have plateaued on continued productivity gains. More tech might help productivity, but since time is the limiting factor, productivity gains seem like they will continue to slow.

With this in mind I have been pondering what a post-capitalist society would be like. I think there will have to be two main elements.

1. A sustainable society, so no new inputs or outputs
2. A move from an economic growth model based on consumption growth, to a model of economic growth as knowledge and/or well-being growth.

I will develop each of these points in future posts.

Polar Bears are Screwed

Hemp Versus CO2

Scientific America thinks that legalising weed has a range of positive environmental effects, including:

The legalization of pot in the U.S. would also likely open the door to the legal production of hemp, a variety of the same Cannabis plant that contains much lower amounts of the psychoactive drug, THC. Proponents say hemp could meet an increasingly larger percentage of our domestic fiber and fuel needs. Cannabis, the plant from which marijuana and hemp is derived, grows quickly without the need for excessive amounts of fertilizer or pesticide (it’s a “weed” after all) and absorbs carbon dioxide like any plant engaged in photosynthesis. The fiber and fuel derived from hemp would be carbon neutral and as such wouldn’t contribute to global warming—and in fact could help mitigate rising temperatures by replacing chemical-intensive crops like cotton and imported fossil fuels like oil and gas.

Seems good to me, though a proper study would be nice.

Wallstreet’s Next Big Thing?

Climate Change is going to mean a hell of a lot more money traded in the commodity futures markets. I would imagine a few hedgies are going to pop up using various strategies to make big bucks out of Climate Change. Its only then will we see political will to combat a problem that will have gotten too bad to mitigate.