Roots To Shoots

The world’s economy works at different levels, from the international to the personal.
Like the layers of an onion, they are separate but part of a whole,
each affecting the other.
To understand the whole we have to examine the parts.
All rely upon the fertility and health of a common environment.

Capital roams the world chasing the highest returns, using modern technology to go faster. Representative institutions and the labour movement have been left behind. They have a lot of catching up to do.

States may not be good at running businesses, but markets rely on states to control their taste for self-destruction. People, however, need democratic government to counteract the gross inequalities markets always create.

Real economies function regionally, within and across national boundaries. Nation- states imprison them, so regional break-outs are happening everywhere.

Cities can be ‘green’ and pleasant to live in. But without efficient services and democratic participation they are virtually uninhabitable.

The wealth of the world is the diversity of its localities and their ability to generate ways and means of living which fit their resources and suit their cultures.

Individuals need a sense of human engagement and influence to connect to the whole; success or failure measured in material terms alone has no lasting significance.