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The Mesh, Collaborative Consumption, The Sharing Economy. These are important social trends that are at the forefront of many socially and ecologically responsible companies today. The prin- ciples of sharing and redistribution are powerful trends that do not just include manufactured goods but also commodities like special- ized skills and free time. Benefits of these innovative approaches to business include: lower costs, less waste and the creation of global communities with neighborly values. In this episode we meet the founders of two companies that have put these collab- orative values into practice: Task Rabbit and Relay Rides.
With Juliet Schor
Economist and bestselling author Juliet Schor lays out a positive vision for rethinking our relationship to consumer goods in this accessible and timely analysis of the devastating ecological, social, and personal costs of mass consumerism. Ranging from cutting-edge developments in economic theory, social analysis, and ecological design to real-world examples of these ideas being put into practice around the world, Schor makes a compelling case that preserving dwindling natural resources and enhancing economic security should have less to do with managing scarcity and learning to sacrifice than with envisioning new forms of plentitude. The result is a bold and practical vision for replacing the old dead-end, debt-financed, work-and-spend cycle with a new paradigm of sustainability fueled by the abundant and infinitely renewable resources of time, creativity, and community.
DVD (With English Subtitles) / 2013 / () / 46 minutes
By H. James Gilmore,Carolyn Kraus
In Detroit, the most segregated American city, vast stretches of boarded-up storefronts and weed-choked lots evidence decades of white and middle-class flight from the black central city. In the last 60 years, Detroit has lost more than half its residents, falling from a zenith of two million in the '50s during its heyday as an automotive mecca to a population of 700,000. After decades of factory layoffs and amid aftershocks of the current economic crisis, more than a third of Detroit's remaining population and nearly half of its children live below the poverty line. Twenty-nine Detroit schools closed recently, and nearly half of the city's adults are functionally illiterate.
Particularly hard hit are Detroit's men, with an unofficial unemployment rate hovering near 50% and a third incarcerated or on parole. Not surprisingly, Detroit, which recently came in first on Forbes magazine's "Miserable Cities Index," is viewed as the national reference point for all that has gone wrong in the urban landscapes of America.
But abandonment and decay are not the only stories in the poorest, most dramatically shrinking major American city. Detroit is also a tale of ingenuity and reinvention born of necessity. This thought-provoking and richly discussable documentary profiles a number of the original and creative individuals who are finding ways to survive in a time of turmoil.
This is the story of how, in an economic climate apparently designed to ensure their failure, some resilient men find work on their own terms, get food and shelter, and raise their children -- often making up the means to do so as they go along.
Men at Work focuses on eight essentially well-meaning men and explores their efforts to improvise a reality that succeeds for them. Although their survival strategies are largely "off the books," most have been willing, even anxious, to tell their stories. In one example, a handyman gives a new slant to the concept of "living off the grid," as he explains the dangerous process by which many residents jury-rig utility meters to pirate electricity and gas. Like many others he knows, he is a squatter in a bank-foreclosed home and says of himself: "I'm not in the system. I don't exist."
There are stories, too, of recycling and reassembly, but not in the sense that the mainstream uses these terms. A craftsperson pulls down the cornice moldings and copper wiring from an abandoned house and fashions them into tables and sculptures, selling the leftovers on the junk market. This is what day-to-day life looks like in many Detroit neighborhoods ¡X the reassembly of a city, being piloted solo and without a map or navigation system. Men at Work provides viewers an opportunity to hear these stories told in the voices of those who live them and listen, for once, to the full explanation.
Men at Work will open students' eyes and hearts to stories ignored by the mainstream media and hidden from the national consciousness. It will inspire thought and discussion in a wide variety of classes in sociology and social issues, ethnic studies, urban studies, psychology, social work, and gender studies.
Global economies are evolving at different speeds and facing both opportunities and challenges. Knowing the major markets and the stage of development for each allows businesses to determine how best to enter and expand. This video will review what is meant by the developed and developing worlds as well understand how to evaluate the expanding set of emerging market countries, which started as BRICs and has now expanded to include 28 countries or more depending on the classifications used.
Hardly a day goes by when we do not hear or read issues in the news of 'consumer spending down', the 'Australian dollar rising', and 'business sentiment at a five-year low'. We also often hear a politician or editorial writer advocating a change in economic policy. If you think these issues are very complex ¡K you are correct ¡K they are complex. But those who think these issues have little to do with them need to think again. Whether you can find a job or afford an overseas holiday depends on events in the macro economy. This program provides a useful starting point to explore the nature and purpose of macroeconomic activity in contemporary Australia, and the implications for our standard of living and long-term economic prosperity. It will assist students to understand the nature and importance of the Australian Government's key economic goals including low inflation, strong and sustainable economic growth, full employment, external stability and equity of income distribution.
Please contact us for primary and secondary schools pricing.
A fundamental proposition in economics is that people have unlimited wants, but there are limited resources, which leads to the problem of scarcity. Hence the central question in economics is how best to allocate limited resources to produce goods and services. In this program we introduce the market system, the law of demand and supply, price elasticity, market structures, market failures and government response, and many more key concepts. Featuring clear explanations, excellent graphics and examples from all over the world, this program introduces the classic concepts of microeconomics in an engaging and thought-provoking way.
Please contact us for primary and secondary schools pricing.
The benefits of carbon emission reduction go beyond environmental considerations. They affect future economies, agriculture, sustainability and energy security. Each country is entering sustainability economics with its own history of environmental problems. Local business startups around the world are responding to the demand for sustainable products and provide much needed employment. But, despite being the least responsible for carbon emissions, sub-Saharan Africa remains the most unprepared to face the challenges of climate change.
Develop an understanding of the economic history, progress, and ups and downs, of the United States, since the 1800s. This module reviews the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, sharecropping, and the roaring 20s and the Great Depression.
Covers These Topics
~ Colonial economy
~ Post-Revolution Economy
~ The Market Revolution
~ Southern Cotton Economy
~ The Gilded Age
~ The Progressive Era
~ The Roaring 20s
~ The Great Depression
Directed by John de Graaf
Ecological economist Dave Batker questions whether GDP is an adequate measure of society's well-being and suggests workable alternatives.
Fame, ecological economist Dave Batker presents a humorous, edgy, factual, timely and highly-visual monologue about the American economy today, challenging the ways we measure economic success--especially the Gross Domestic Product--and offering an answer to the question: What's the Economy for, Anyway?
Using Gifford Pinchot's idea that the economy's purpose is "the greatest good for the greatest number over the longest run," Batker compares the performance of the U.S. economy with that of other industrial countries in terms of providing a high quality of life, fairness and ecological sustainability, concluding that when you do the numbers, we come out near the bottom in nearly every category.
Batker shines a humorous light on such economic buzzwords as "productivity," and "consumer sovereignty," while offering ideas for "capitalism with a human face," a new economic paradigm that meets the real needs of people and the planet.
Reviews
~ "An extremely accessible analysis of the current economic crisis that is perfect for classroom use." - Melinda Messineo, Associate Professor of Sociology, Ball State University
~ "This is the news that everyone needs: you don't have to live in exactly the world you grew up in. What's the Economy for, Anyway? Shows that there are other possibilities, and they're well worth considering. It's completely great!" - Bill McKibben, visiting professor at Middlebury College, Author of Deep Economy and The End of Natur
~ "An entertaining and humorous account of the ways in which the U.S. economy doesn't necessarily work to make our lives better. This film should cause people to think about the economy in a very different way." - Dean Baker, economist and co-Director of The Center for Economic and Policy Research, Author, Plunder and Blunder
Presented by Richard Wolff
Director: Sut Jhally
With breathtaking clarity, renowned University of Massachusetts Economics Professor Richard Wolff breaks down the root causes of today's economic crisis, showing how it was decades in the making and in fact reflects seismic failures within the structures of American-style capitalism itself. Wolff traces the source of the economic crisis to the 1970s, when wages began to stagnate and American workers were forced into a dysfunctional spiral of borrowing and debt that ultimately exploded in the mortgage meltdown. By placing the crisis within this larger historical and systemic frame, Wolff argues convincingly that the proposed government "bailouts," stimulus packages, and calls for increased market regulation will not be enough to address the real causes of the crisis, in the end suggesting that far more fundamental change will be necessary to avoid future catastrophes.
Richly illustrated with graphics and charts, this is a superb introduction that allows ordinary citizens to comprehend, and react to, the unraveling crisis.
Review
~ "With unerring coherence and unequaled breadth of knowledge, Rick Wolff offers a rich and much needed corrective to the views of mainstream economists and pundits. It would be difficult to come away from this viewing with anything but an acute appreciation of what is needed to get us out of this mess." - Stanley Aronowitz, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Urban Education, City University
DVD (With English Subtitles) / 2008 / () / 57 minutes
Five years ago, the office furniture market hit a slump due largely to the dot-com bust and the 9/11 disasters. Herman Miller Incorporated, an office furniture manufacturing company in Michigan, may have overcome this slump better than most. With assistance from Toyota, the company has created the Herman Miller Production System, modeled after the Toyota manufacturing system of lean production. The company has also adopted Economic Value Added, or EVA accounting methods to more accurately measure performance.
Beyond Petroleum. You've seen the tagline in advertising for BP. But like most people, you probably think of BP as a company which just refines oil and sells gasoline. What does beyond petroleum mean? And what forces cause a company to reorganize its business strategies? In the late '90s, BP underwent a series of mergers. The rebranding process allowed the company to reposition itself. While the company remained a major oil producer, it also wanted to be known as an energy company.
Economics is not only about money or goods and services. It is about people. This Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation addresses how governmental laws and services affect the consumer in criminal protection, taxes, free enterprise, global markets, welfare and immigration. The presentation analyzes civil rights and responsibilities of individuals and families and the renowned concept of "opportunity costs."
Marketing is set in motion with a basic understanding of economic concepts. This Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation illustrates and explains basic economic concepts, from economic wants and needs to goods and services. Students learn aspects of the economic system, concepts and types.
This Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation provides a basic introduction to the economic process by explaining the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics, wants and needs and exploring supply and demand. The presentation illustrates the four factors of production and other important economic topics, such as opportunity cost and business cycles. Students will learn the importance consumers, distributors and producers play in the economic process.
Today's economic systems include communism, socialism, capitalism, traditionalism and a mixture of the various systems. This presentation studies the various economic systems with an emphasis on the private enterprise system. Students also will learn the history of the United States economy, including its operation under Agricultural, Industrial, Service and Information economies.
Focuses on Uganda's successful economic recovery in the wake of Idi Amin's regime.
In 1986 Uganda was bankrupt-a byword for corruption and economic mismanagement. Six years of civil war in this former British colony in East Africa had followed the ousting of former President Idi Amin and its social and state institutions were near collapse. But today Uganda's economy is widely seen as a success story and over the last ten years the number of Ugandans living in absolute poverty has been cut by half. This edition of Life looks at how Uganda has achieved this remarkable turnaround, and questions whether the country could now be on course to meet the Millennium Development Goal by 2015.
Many coffee-producing countries like Ethiopia are facing economic disaster even as the demand for coffee increases worldwide.
Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world-a major cash crop for many poor, developing countries trying to trade their way out of poverty. Coffee promises to increase developing countries' share of income from agricultural products on world markets-in line with Millennium Development Goal No 8's commitment to a global partnership for development. But for the last 10 years the international coffee industry has been in crisis-and many coffee-producing countries are facing disaster. The world's 25 million coffee farmers receive less than one per cent of the price of a cup of coffee sold in a coffee bar. Life visits Ethiopia, the cradle of coffee cultivation, and speaks to players in the international coffee trade to find out how individual coffee growers can survive the boom and bust of the global coffee market.
Economic growth is a sacred cow, ardently worshipped by our political leaders and leading institutions. Only by growing the economy, say the many supporters of growth, can we help the poor, save the environment and satisfy the urge of all human beings to better themselves. On the other hand, the increasing army of opponents claim that growth is actually damaging our society. Sure, we use a growing quantity of resources to produce an increasing volume of goods and services, but, they argue, all the activity is not leading to an increase in the sum total of human happiness on a sustainable basis. It is these same opponents who are critical of the use of GDP as a measuring rod and instead favour measures such as the Genuine Progress Indicator. The GPI takes into account environmental damage and such things as the cost of car accidents and drug use. In this program, with the aid of colourful graphics, arresting footage, a young presenter and interviews with economists and federal politicians, we attempt to sort out the debate over economic growth.
Please contact us for primary and secondary schools pricing.
By Chris Capossela
Program Highlights
~ Resetting employees' minds about what constitutes success.
~ How to choose which projects to cut or fund.
~ Why it's critical to concentrate on customer care.
After reinventing itself years ago from a software-for-PCs producer to a software-for-the-enterprise producer, Microsoft is now in the midst of a multi-year initiative to transform itself again¡Xto a software-plus-internet-services provider. And Microsoft remains committed to that transformation, notes Chris Capossela, despite the global economic downturn. In fact, it sees the crisis as an opportunity to rally all parts of the company behind its "big, big bets" for the next five to ten years.
For the short term, Microsoft's strategic direction to employees comes down to four simple guidelines: understand what they can and cannot control, prepare for an unknown length and depth of downturn, strengthen customer and partner relationships to grow market share, and act with a sense of urgency. For the longer term, the single-minded focus on its software-plus services initiative¡Xwhich led to Xbox LIVER and Exchange Online, for example¡Xwill continue to demand innovation on all fronts: technology, new business models, global pricing plans, and even naming and packaging practices.
With Susan Athey
~ The technological innovation behind Bitcoin and its broader applications.
~ Crypto-currency's potential impact on financial systems, industries¡Xeven world economies.
Bitcoin has made its presence known. After the initial hype and volatility (and now some legitimate buy-in), a number of unanswered questions remain. How will global corporations and national governments deal with the regulatory and security issues surrounding efforts to raise new currencies? Whether Bitcoin flourishes or something else takes its place, it is clear that an e-economic shift is on the horizon¡Xand e-currency of one form or another is in our future.
Recommended by university professors and teachers nationwide, The programs are the perfect resource for academic success. With videos ranging from English Composition to Organic Chemistry, The programs' entertaining and enjoyable teaching style breaks down difficult subjects into a clear, step-by-step format.
Recommended by university professors and teachers nationwide, The programs are the perfect resource for academic success. With videos ranging from English Composition to Organic Chemistry, The programs' entertaining and enjoyable teaching style breaks down difficult subjects into a clear, step-by-step format.