“Roughly two billion people participate in the money economy, with less than half of those living in the wealthy countries of the developed world. These affluent 800 million, however, account for more than 75 percent of the world's energy and resource consumption, and also create the bulk of its industrial, toxic, and consumer waste.” PeopleWorldTwoCountryEnergyHalfMillionsEconomyWastePercentResourcesAccountsBillionsConsumersWealthyToxicConsumptionConsumerismOverconsumptionAffluent Author:Stuart L. Hart
“I don't mean to imply that we are in imminent danger of being wiped off the face of the earth - at least, not on account of global warming. But climate change does confront us with profound new realities. We face these new realities as a nation, as members of the world community, as consumers, as producers, and as investors. And unless we do a better job of adjusting to these new realities, we will pay a heavy price. We may not suffer the fate of the dinosaurs. But there will be a toll on our environment and on our economy, and the toll will rise higher with each new generation.” WorldMayMeanDoeRealityEarthJobsFacesSufferingNationsCommunityPayEconomyEnvironmentFateGenerationsDangerHigherMembersAccountsProfoundClimateClimate ChangeHeavyProducersConsumersGlobal WarmingInvestorsOur EnvironmentDinosaursNew GenerationTollsBetter JobsAdjusting Author:Eileen Claussen
“Big banks churn out page after page of incomprehensible fine print to obscure the cost and risks of checking accounts, credit cards, mortgages and other financial products. The result is that consumers can't make direct product comparisons, markets aren't competitive, and costs are higher. If the playing field is leveled and the broken market fixed, a lot more money will stay in the pockets of millions of hard-working families. That's real stimulus - money to families, without increasing our national debt.” IfsRealHardBigsResultsMillionsRiskFieldsProductsHard WorkBrokenFineHigherCostPagesDirectAccountsFinancialCreditDebtCardsConsumersFixedPocketsComparisonPrintMore MoneyObscureStimulusMortgageCredit CardPlaying FieldsNational DebtFine PrintChecking Accounts Author:Elizabeth Warren
“There is no reason products and services could not be swapped directly by consumers and producers through a system of direct exchange – essentially a massive barter economy. All it requires is some commonly used unit of account and adequate computing power to make sure all transactions could be settled immediately. People would pay each other electronically, without the payment being routed through anything that we would currently recognize as a bank. Central banks in their present form would no longer exist – nor would money.” PeopleReasonFormUsedPayEconomyProductsDirectAccountsProducersConsumersNo ReasonMassiveUnitsAdequatePaymentTransactionsComputingCentral Banks Author:Mervyn King
“It used to be that you needed a $500-million-a-year company in order to reach a worldwide audience of consumers. Now, all you need is a Steam account. That changes a whole bunch of stuff. It's kind of a boring 'gee, information processing changes a stuff' story, but it's going to have an impact on every single company.” NeedsYearsKindWholeStoriesUsedOrderStuffCompanyMillionsAudienceInformationNeededAccountsImpactBoringBunchUsed To BeConsumersSteamProcessingInformation Processing Author:Gabe Newell
“We do not take into account the value of the stream. We see the number of streams as a measure of consumer demand, not the value. As it is, we think streams are under-monetized, and we are complaining loudly about that. If the value of a stream changes, we won't alter the count because we don't want to alter the history of the program because that would impact these milestone achievements.” IfsThinkingWantValuesNumbersDemandAchievementProgramAccountsImpactComplainingConsumersStreamsMilestone Author:Cary Sherman
“When I first decided to be a writer, that meant dealing with preoccupations and concerns that took little account of Indian traditions. I saw India's past as part of an antiquity rendered irrelevant by modernity, which with its science, nation states, free enterprises, and consumer societies was supposed to have solved all problems.” FirstsLittlesStatesProblemPastNationsSawsConcernTraditionDecidedAccountsIndiaConsumersIndianEnterpriseIrrelevantModernityAntiquityPreoccupationFree Enterprise Author:Pankaj Mishra
“The ninety-nine cent price of a fast-food hamburger simply doesn't take account of that meal's true cost--to soil, oil, public health, the public purse, etc., costs which are never charged directly to the consumer but, indirectly and invisibly, to the taxpayer (in the form of subsidies), the health care system (in the form of food-borne illnesses and obesity), and the environment (in the form of pollution), not to mention the welfare of the workers in the feedlot and the slaughterhouse and the welfare of the animals themselves.” CareFormAnimalEnvironmentCostAccountsWorkersIllnessOilNineHealth CareConsumersWelfareMealsSoilEtcPollutionCentsNinetyTaxpayersPursesObesityPublic HealthFast FoodHamburgersSubsidiesNinety NineHealth Care SystemSlaughterhouses Author:Michael Pollan