An adage of uncertain origin is front of mind for
many today.
 |
| Tim Jackson has written about "Prosperity without Growth". |
America is shivering and the world, including many Australians, is afraid it
will sneeze.
The axiom, attributed by some to a newspaper editorial says that when American sneezes, the world catches a cold.
Today some in the world watch on breathlessly as American politicians attempt to negotiate the country into a position from which it can avoid falling off what is colloquially known as the “fiscal cliff”.
Australia is geographically remote from America, but considered financially we live in its hip pocket and some are arguing that if the U.S. trips and falls over the imagined “cliff”, the impact will be felt tomorrow in Australia’s financial markets.
The “cliff” is about budgetary matters and the legislative need for that country’s politicians to inject some imagined stability into its finances, which could be significantly worsened if existing laws remain unchanged.
America has the world’s biggest economy and when the U.S. falls into recession, which is possible if laws remain unchanged, the resultant domino-like slowdown effect on other economies, including ours, sweeps around the world.
To restore some balance to its troubled economy (its national debt presently exceeds $US16 trillion), the U.S. had legislated laws the come in effect from tomorrow to introduce possible tax increases and spending cuts and to reduce its budget deficit or; the country’s leaders could act to repeal the several laws to resolve the immediate difficulty, or simply postpone an inevitable confrontation with reality.
Any attempt to argue “this” or “that” would resolve the U.S. difficulties and so ease the domino-like trouble Australia can expect would be hollow and pointless, but what we can do personally is consider our attachment to an economic way of living that has clearly overwhelmed the human beauty of life and eroded social equality and our natural sociability.
Life has evolved to become intricately entwined with the economy and today the quality of life is wrongly judged by an accounting process called “gross domestic product” (GDP), which includes as “good” even costs associated with efforts to counter and repair such damage as that caused by floods in north-eastern Victoria, including Numurkah, Nathalia and Rochester.
Economists sensitive to what is happening in the world argue for a more enlightened approach to growth; oxygen the present and dominant ideology urgently needs for sustenance.British ecological economist, Tim Jackson, wrote about a fresh approach in his book “Prosperity without Growth”.
The axiom, attributed by some to a newspaper editorial says that when American sneezes, the world catches a cold.
Today some in the world watch on breathlessly as American politicians attempt to negotiate the country into a position from which it can avoid falling off what is colloquially known as the “fiscal cliff”.
Australia is geographically remote from America, but considered financially we live in its hip pocket and some are arguing that if the U.S. trips and falls over the imagined “cliff”, the impact will be felt tomorrow in Australia’s financial markets.
The “cliff” is about budgetary matters and the legislative need for that country’s politicians to inject some imagined stability into its finances, which could be significantly worsened if existing laws remain unchanged.
America has the world’s biggest economy and when the U.S. falls into recession, which is possible if laws remain unchanged, the resultant domino-like slowdown effect on other economies, including ours, sweeps around the world.
To restore some balance to its troubled economy (its national debt presently exceeds $US16 trillion), the U.S. had legislated laws the come in effect from tomorrow to introduce possible tax increases and spending cuts and to reduce its budget deficit or; the country’s leaders could act to repeal the several laws to resolve the immediate difficulty, or simply postpone an inevitable confrontation with reality.
Any attempt to argue “this” or “that” would resolve the U.S. difficulties and so ease the domino-like trouble Australia can expect would be hollow and pointless, but what we can do personally is consider our attachment to an economic way of living that has clearly overwhelmed the human beauty of life and eroded social equality and our natural sociability.
Life has evolved to become intricately entwined with the economy and today the quality of life is wrongly judged by an accounting process called “gross domestic product” (GDP), which includes as “good” even costs associated with efforts to counter and repair such damage as that caused by floods in north-eastern Victoria, including Numurkah, Nathalia and Rochester.
Economists sensitive to what is happening in the world argue for a more enlightened approach to growth; oxygen the present and dominant ideology urgently needs for sustenance.British ecological economist, Tim Jackson, wrote about a fresh approach in his book “Prosperity without Growth”.
In the final analysis, whether America goes over the “fiscal
cliff” or not, and whether we follow, is substantially irrelevant, for what
really matters is being able to look beyond this impending forest of troubles,
to see and understand that the ultimate solution is in ideas like those of Tim
Jackson.
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