The Blog

A collection of resources i have come across during my internet travels. The focus is on quality video content, interesting data visualisations and raw data from reputable sources. Check out the tags and category menus to the right of screen to filter the results.

Why Do Banks Make So Much Money?

Posted by Matt Beer - February 10, 2013 - Communication+, Economics, Economics Level 1, Level 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOa8U0yixgQ

It’s hard to believe but banks have the licence to print money, or rather the licence to type it into a computer screen every time some one takes out a loan. It defies common sense but stop and think about it. If an economy grows, the money supply must grow too. Someone needs to inject this new money into the system. Normally you would think it would be the government, but they only create a small fraction of new money (physical money and electronic base money). Money has to be created from nothing, that’s what creation is. The unbelievable fact is that banks are licensed to have this ability. The more unbelievable fact is that no one talks about this in all the economic debates.

If you stop and think about it, the implications are mind boggling. Banks have huge control on the direction an economy takes. They like to loan to safe investments such as property and not to risky investments such as small businesses. This is why house prices are so unaffordable. Also when they create money through a loan, they charge interest. This interest does not exist. There is a mathematical flaw in the system which means our level of debt will always get bigger. And then there are the ethical concerns. What is the moral obligation to pay back a debt of money that was created out of thin air? Why does a sovereign nation need to borrow money from banks and be charged interest when they could create this money themselves at no interest. Why do we need to bail out the banks that provide this money creation when governments could claim back this power? Why don’t governments stimulate their economy by giving money directly to it’s citizens instead of handing it to banks to lend out to it’s citizens.

I’m still wrapping my head around this but it’s clear that this is a massive story that would shift the whole “cut government spending” debate on it’s head. Ask yourself why this issue of money creation is not talked about in the mainstream media.

Ever Heard of Climate Change? Over 40% of the world says “no”

Posted by Matt Beer - February 9, 2013 - Climate Destabilisation, Climate Level 4, Communication+, Level 4

This presentation entitled “Climate Literacy in Global Perspective” by Anthony Leiserowitz, Ph.D. was recorded at a side NOAA/NASA/NSF event at COP 15 Climate Summit in Copenhagen on December 9, 2009. He reports on the results from a global study of public climate change awareness, knowledge, and support for climate policy conducted with the Gallup World Poll, an annual survey of 150-plus countries.

Global Warming’s Six Americas

Posted by Matt Beer - February 9, 2013 - Climate Destabilisation, Climate Level 4, Communication+, Level 4

Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, discusses the divergent views of Americans over climate change.

Ending the Silence on Climate Change

Posted by Matt Beer - February 9, 2013 - Climate Destabilisation, Climate Level 4, Communication+, Level 4

In this truly excellent (46 min) interview Bill Moyers talks to climate change communication expert Anthony Leiserowitz (PhD) from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. He explains why climate change is largely ignored, and what we should do about it.

More specifically he talks about how “You almost couldn’t design a problem that is a worse fit with our underlying psychology.” Climate change is an almost invisible problem and our flight or flight instincts do not work with this slow burn threat. It involves abstract ideas and reasoned thought. As a result we all react to this problem in largely 6 different ways and for different reasons. He then goes on to talk about who these “Six Americas” are and how we need to speak to these groups in different ways.

This helps explain how the current political situation in the US has come to be. He also talks about how the lack of reporting from the media causes the issues to be “literally out of sight, out of mind” and how a highly organised disinformation campaign, similar to that of the tobacco industry, has further clouded the issue for the public. But broad support for climate action does not trump a smaller, but more dedicated group who is happy to make political waves. Until the public demands action little is going to change.

But given that only 6 out of 10 people in the world are aware of the concept of climate change and probably around 1 out of 10 understand it enough to be truly alarmed there is an awfully long way to go on the communication front. I see this as the principle hurdle that needs to be cleared if we are ever to get enough political momentum to make the huge changes to our economic system we desperately need and this is why i am doing what I am doing. I hope more of you will take up this mission of getting organised and communicating the message. For those of you who are “alarmed” this is mandatory viewing.

Anthony, I’m a big fan.

How It All Ends

Posted by Matt Beer - February 9, 2013 - Climate Destabilisation, Climate Level 1, Level 1

Science teacher Greg Craven succinctly (and amusingly) explains the central ideas that I am trying to get across with climateexperiment.com, most notably the idea that the science of climate change is uncertain and just like businesses who deal with uncertainty all the time, we should use risk management to decide what course of action to take. In this context the argument for action is undeniable. The great tragedy is that the mainstream media rarely puts climate change in this context.

This is the update version of the video The Most Terrifying Video You Will Ever See that has had over 7 million views. It spawned a website, a book and a further 7 hours of video (broken into chapters).

You can probably see the influence this video has had on this site, so cheers Greg for clarifying these ideas so well (and for all the hard work).

PBS Frontline – The Untouchables

Posted by Matt Beer - February 9, 2013 - Economics, Economics Level 4, Level 4

Frontline spends 54 minutes examining why no Wall Street execs have been prosecuted for any fraud related activities despite their clear knowledge of the toxicity of the bad mortgages contained within the complex financial products they were selling. There seems to be little political will to go to trial and win the tough to prove cases. Is it a case of “too big to jail?”

Watch The Untouchables on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

PBS Frontline – Climate of Doubt

Posted by Matt Beer - February 9, 2013 - Climate Destabilisation, Climate Level 4, Level 4

Frontline in this 54 minute expose, talks directly with the groups and individuals who have helped shift the climate change debate in the US. It shines the light on the strategy these climate change skeptics have used to leverage members of the Republican party to reject the science of climate change and who has funded this political engineering.

Feel free to watch this slightly more embed friendly version from youtube or direct from the source.

Watch Climate of Doubt on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

PBS Frontline – Money, Power & Wall Street Part 4

Posted by Matt Beer - February 9, 2013 - Economics, Economics Level 4, Level 4

In the final instalment of this four part PBS special the culture of Wall Street and investment banking is explored. It was a culture of making money and everyone was in on it. Bankers, really glorified salesman, were encouraged by management and a system of lucrative bonuses to sell derivatives to everyone, from municipal governments, countries trying to get into the EU, even nuns.

Ethical boundaries were deliberately crossed in the stampede to sell these complex products to unsuspecting customers. Hell, even the bankers themselves didn’t really understand what they were selling. It all looked good on the surface until the market changed in 2008 causing the subprime crisis in America to spread throughout the world.

People around the world felt the pain and the occupy movement rose up out of the millions of unemployed and disillusioned. But despite the resilience of this movement the banks and their lobbyists are still firmly in control and have successfully watered down any attempts to reform the system. So we are still where we are before the crash began. The big banks are still too big to fail and the risky derivative market is (mostly) hidden from regulatory oversight. It appears that the lessons have not been learned.

For me it is only a matter of time until another bubble pops. Again I think a spike in oil prices will prick this bubble just as it has the last several recessions. Add in climate change and the fact that a huge part of the global stock market value is based on fossil fuel reserves that cannot be extracted if we are to have a safe climate, the events of 2008 are just a taste of things to come.

Watch Money, Power and Wall Street: Part Four on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.