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Tackling Worklessness - Yes/No? Who?
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Unemployment and worklessness have been in the news again this week, raising three important questions. Are they different names for the same thing? Do they need to be tackled? Who should we be looking to for a solution?
Unemployment and worklessness – different names for the same thing?
No, they are not the same thing, and some reports described this very well. In fact the figures launched this week made it clear simply because they were different: unemployment fell slightly, but worklessness rose to 21.3%, according to the BBC’s report of the ONS data. The measure of worklessness includes not only those who are unemployed but also those who are sick or disabled, students, and people looking after the family and home.
Do unemployment and worklessness need to be tackled?
With a clear answer to the first question, the second becomes more interesting. I imagine most of us would agree that eliminating unemployment is a good thing, ensuring that there is work for all those wishing to be employed. But worklessness is a more controversial issue. Read the rest of this entry »
Is green the new blue?
Friday, December 11th, 2009
How cleantech could be our latest industrial revolution
I know that it might look like I’m jumping on a bandwagon, in the wake of Copenhagen, but I really do believe that this carbon reduction business has potential to be good business. Last week I attended a very promising event hosted by the Met Office and organised by the South West Regional Development Agency (responsible for the first Low Carbon Economic Area designated by UK government) and the South West Science and Industry Council. There were good speakers, most of whom were already developing products and breaking into the new markets which the low carbon economy is bringing forward. The delegates were an eclectic mix of public sector purse holders, academics, and businesses, small and large, generating turnover from inspirational new technology. Read the rest of this entry »
Dealing with the debt
Friday, November 27th, 2009
We are now experiencing the longest recession since the 1950s. Interestingly there has been a recession roughly once a decade since then, but the cycle times of recession is the subject for a different blog. This week Dubai got me thinking about the part that debt has played in getting us here, and the role that debt will play as we scramble our way out of this rut. Read the rest of this entry »
Life after recession - a new economy?
Friday, November 20th, 2009
This week has been full of news about an end to recession. Examination of the small print reveals that it is an end to global recession, and recession in Europe. Closer inspection still shows that the UK is lagging behind some of its European neighbours, so we’ve got to keep going a little bit longer before we get to breathe that sigh of relief. And when we do come out the other end, what will the economy look like? After all, when we came out of the 1980s recession we found we weren’t making things to sell like we’d been doing since the industrial revolution. Our economy was evolving from a manufacturing base to one built on services. Read the rest of this entry »
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