Tags: Future

By: David Petch
Jul 02, 2009

At the present, governments around the globe are printing money as if there were no tomorrow in order to try and prevent debt-laden banks from going under and trying to stimulate the fractional reserve banking system. The past 20 years of economic growth has been based on a “Pay it Forward” basis…someone gets a new couch or car and ends up paying for it over a defined period of time. The expansion of credit in turn allowed for false consumption because most people never really had the money in hand.

In the past, whenever any purchases were made, most people either saved up until they had money in hand or used “Lay Away” programs for purchase (an individual would make biweekly payments until an item was paid for in full and then taken home). As the global economy continues to shrink and get worse, the first knee-jerk reaction is to start saving, which is evident in the US as reached 6.9% year over year. When prices decline, it makes sense to save money as it does not make any sense to buy things when there is economic uncertainty.

During periods of economic contractions, the absolutely worst sectors to be in are retail or any consumer-related businesses that people do not absolutely require, such as getting manicures and pedicures, furniture, cars, etc. Areas that tend to maintain somewhat of a stable environment are Pharmaceutical (especially those that provide life-saving drugs), food and energy sectors. One of the hardest sectors that will get hit in Canada in the coming years will be the government sector. There is so much money being pumped into government up here at present that it is serving as an artificial inflator of the economy.

When the S&P eventually bottoms in late 2009/early 2010, the economic bottom should follow history and be in place 12-18 months afterwards. This suggests that mid to late 2011 should mark the bottom of the global economic recession from a bottom in residential real estate…note: commercial real estate has recently succumbed to the global recession, so it is likely the consumer will bottom before businesses do. In other words, the bottom of the economy could be flat for a subsequent 1-2 years until consumers retrench from their bunkers and again begin spending.

Analysis today will focus on the 10 Year US Treasury Index and how it should behave over the course of the next 6-12 months.

The Rest…MarketOracleUk

http://revolutionradio.org/2009/07/02/in-the-future-interest-rates-will-soar-and-consumers-will-be-sore-also/

reviewed by Moishe Alexander, CFC CEO

An advantage of using IDP for design firms is reputation. Once competent at IDP, architects will be able to deliver better projects more consistently than their competitors. As a design professional, it will enhance your reputation, which will not only bring more business, but higherend business. An enhanced reputation also makes recruiting and retaining new talent easier. Most of the leading-edge architectural and engineering consultancies that have gained a reputation for delivering sustainability using the IDP do very little recruiting. The best and the brightest seek them out.
The future of building design is found in IDP. A recent search of the American Institute of Architects website for “IDP” turned up 481 hits. AIA’s Design and Environment committees sponsored a three-day sustainable design conference in Sheperdstown, W.Va., in 2006, with one day devoted to process, in which IDP features prominently.
The implication is clear—if you don’t become competent at IDP, you will be left behind your competitors. Reviewed by Marty Lapedus.

A sustainable human society has been imagined in many ways. One of these is the definition of sustainable development in the Bruntland Report, Our Common Future (1987) as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
While the Bruntland definition provides a high-level vision, more is needed to apply the concept. Basic principles for social and ecological sustainability, based on physics, have been articulated by the science community and are captured in a framework known as The Natural Step The Natural Step principles are the “system conditions” that society must embrace to be sustainable.
In the sustainable society, nature is not subject to the systematic increase of:
1. concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust
2. concentrations of substances produced by society
3. degradation by physical means
4. in that society, people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs.
Together, the Bruntland definition and The Natural Step Framework system conditions provide the sustainable development goal that buildings must strive to reach. Other decision-making tools for sustainable community development include “Smart Growth” and the “One Planet Living” frameworks. Reviewed by Guiseppe Strazzeri.