Category Archives: Economy

Clean LNG – A Conjuror’s Climate Trick

Climate, Economy, politics, , ,

There is a craziness afoot in British Columbia, and I’m not referring to the legions of homeless people who are camped out on our streets. I’m referring to the $3 billion of public money that is about to be spent on a transmission line to carry electricity from the Site C Dam to Prince Rupert. Are the good folks of Rupert planning to mine cryptocurrencies? Build a nuclear power plant? No. It’s a cryptocarbon-busting innovation they want to build, using a digital deception to transform fracked fossil gas into “the world’s cleanest LNG”. 

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Calling all CCCU Members!

Democracy, Economy, ,

Do you bank with Community Coastal Credit Union? If you do, congratulate yourself. A credit union is a financial cooperative that is – or could be, if you vote – controlled by its members, for your benefit and the benefit of the wider community. 

As a shareholder, you have the right to vote for CCCU’s Directors – and the 2024 election is happening NOW!

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The Economics of Kindness

Books, Climate, EconmicsofKindness, Economy, Nature, , , ,

by Guy Dauncey  

Palgrave MacMillan, January 2026

Chapter 1: The Great Mistake

(Draft: Not the final version)

“Because we all share this planet Earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other, and with nature. This is not just a dream. It is a necessity.” – The Dalai Lama[1]

Our world needs more kindness. People need more kindness. Nature needs more kindness. But we need it deep within our economies, where so many of our troubles begin. 

We have been told a thousand times that the free-market economy is the best and only kind of economy that works, but for so many people, and for nature, it’s not working. Surely, there must be a better way. Our capitalist economy has been built on the primacy of selfishness, and all around the world, because of this, things are going off the rails. What is the alternative? It’s the economics of kindness – and it’s not just an idea. It’s a very real thing. 

Before we begin, we must answer the question that’s causing so much anxiety: 

“What’s going wrong? Why is our world in such a mess?”

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How Can We Stop The Looming Climate Disaster?

Climate, Economy, energy, ,

This is an extract from Chapter 12 of my forthcoming book The Economics of Kindness: How to End the Economics of Selfishness and Build an Economy that Works for All, for which I am seeking a publisher.

So much has been written about the urgency of the looming climate disaster that I’ll skip straight to the solutions. I am a climate alarmist, just as Churchill was a Nazi alarmist in the 1930s. But I am not a climate doomer. I am of one mind with Paul Hawken, author of Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation, who believes that we can do this if we put our minds to it. The alternative is too dire to contemplate. 

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Seven ways governments can reach their COP15 goals to save the oceans

Economy, Nature, Uncategorized,

Guy Dauncey’s Big Solutions: Negotiators at COP15 in Montreal agreed to protect biodiversity in our oceans. Where do governments begin?

https://www.corporateknights.com/category-climate/seven-ways-to-save-oceans-biodiversity/

Seven ways to tackle inflation without raising interest rates

Economy, ,

Corporate Knights Magazine, January 2023:

Guy Dauncey’s Big Solutions: Raising interest rates is a cruel cudgel that hurts the most vulnerable. There are other responses that governments and central banks should consider.

https://www.corporateknights.com/category-finance/seven-ways-to-tackle-inflation-without-raising-interest-rates/

Can We Solve the Farm Housing Problem?

Economy, , , ,

First Published in Planning West (PIBC), Summer 2022

By Guy Dauncey PIBC (Hon); Rob Buchan Ph.D., FCIP, RPP; Jack Anderson MCIP, RPP; Heather Pritchard; Kent Mullinix Ph.D. August 2022

There’s a global food catastrophe coming our way, and we’re not ready for it. It’s being caused by a disastrous combination of climate-induced deluges, droughts and heat waves; the war in Ukraine; supply-chain disruptions; and food export bans by leaders who are worried about popular insurrections if they can’t feed their people. Meanwhile, farmers’ profit margins are being squeezed by the rising cost of fuel, fertilizer and animal feed.

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Hawai’i Kōnea: A Story from the Future  

business, Climate, Democracy, Economy, Education, energy, Nature, politics, Spirituality and Science, , , , ,

Honolulu, January 16th, 2193

Click here to download this as a printable PDF:

hawaii-ko.nea_Download

It’s sunset, at the end of another beautiful day in Honolulu. The high tide is arguing with the seawall, which was raised another metre last year to protect the Capitol Building – but what’s new? They’re still not on good terms with each other.

My name is Ben Danner-Pualani, and tomorrow I will give the biggest speech of my life in front of all my peers. They say it will be broadcast to every schoolchild. I’m 87, and for my sins I have been granted the pomposity of being a Senator, so I’ve seen a bit, but this has the butterflies crawling all over my poor weak heart, under my great grandfather’s ancient robe.

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Central Concerns

Books, Climate, Economy, , ,

In his book, Value(s): Building a Better World for All, former governor of The Bank of England  Mark Carney,  looks at value beyond dollars and demands your attention.  Review by Guy Dauncey. First published in The MINT Magazine, September 2021.

When the world’s best-known central banker writes a new book, we should sit up and pay attention, especially since Mark Carney is one of the few central bankers who really gets the climate crisis.

It’s a quite personal book; his writing reveals a deep commitment to ethical values, and service to the wider community. He makes me feel that I know him, and we’d get along well over a pint of beer. He often shares stories from his time at the Bank of England, and as chair of the Financial Stability Board, which was set up after the 2008 financial crash, resulting in over 100 reforms. Will they work? Time will tell.

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Hamlet’s Ode to the 21st Century

Books, Climate, Economy, Nature,

To grow, or not to grow: that is the question,

Whether ’tis nobler on Earth to suffer

The filth and waste of outrageous production

Or to take arms against a toxic sea of troubles,

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