Every minute of the thousand minutes of meeting time by the G20 muckety mucks costs Canadian taxpaying hosts a million dollars, critics complain. But the Return on Investment could be as high as 557 to 1 if G20 governments gathered in Toronto follow their own pledge from last year’s meet in Pittsburgh, which pledged to cancel billions in global subsidies…
Category: Economics
First Lady Obama Will Have Weightier Impact on Health Debates than Hubby
President Barack Obama’s efforts at reforming the U.S. approach to medical care won’t win many imitators in other countries. Indeed, he’s likely to be upstaged in global health debates by First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity. Lady Obama launched a Let’s Move anti-obesity campaign on February 9, and is already catching up with the UK’s naked chef, Jamie…
The Unknown Earthquake in Haiti’s Countryside
March, when next season’s crops are due to be planted in Haiti, is less than a month away. For the tens of thousands who have left the rubble and despair of Haiti’s capital to find shelter in some 500 camps throughout the countryside, it could be their chance to plant a new life for themselves – if only a trickle…
Red Ink: A Canadian View of Food Inc.
I read about Chef Jamie Kennedy possibly going broke on the front-page news (not bad profile for someone who’s not a banker or carmaker getting bailed out by the government) at the same time I got an invite to see the preview of Food Inc. So the chance to think about the two food happenings together gobsmacked me. Food Inc and Food…
Feed the economy by eating locally and sustainably
If a friend said he’d like to give up tobacco or booze but it cost too much to switch to alternative pleasures, most people would call that a sorry excuse for addiction. But people can still get away with saying they can’t afford the switch to healthier and more sustainable foods. That’s usually considered a reasonable, if unfortunate, explanation, not…
Buycotting
On the occasion of its 40th birthday in November 2006, This Magazine asked 40 past and present contributors—and some distinguished guests—for a big idea whose time has come. This is my idea. In a knowledge economy, few people know how to make things that can actually be used. That’s why shopping has a bright future, especially among the intelligentsia and other specialists…
Sharing Food and Work Creates an Upside to the Economic Down
Unlike most people, Thomas Homer-Dixon doesn’t think today’s world economic crisis is very complicated. He thinks it’s very complex, which makes for a world of difference in understanding which government anti-recession programs will fail (most of them) and deciding which ones can help.Homer-Dixon, who chairs a centre for global systems analysis at the University of Waterloo, is one of the…