alberto_cottica

alberto_cottica, 3 days ago to Economics

"The Great Retrofit is a near-future version of the city of Messina, in Sicily. Its science fictional element is the rise, and success beyond expectations, of a new type of economic agent, a form of for-benefit company that follows a quintuple bottom line approach, having the objective to improve its own performance across five dimensions: surplus (rather than profit), people, planet, beauty and truth, or knowledge sharing."

https://edgeryders.eu/t/the-great-retrofit-world-start-here/20052?u=alberto

#economics #sciencefiction

alberto_cottica, 10 days ago to Economics

With my sisters and brothers from the Science Fiction Economics Lab, we prototyped a method to develop economically consistent science fictional "imperfect utopias" that are within reach (maybe). The secret sauce is a group with good balance of economists, science fiction authors, and "doers" (activists, policy makers).

My group produced the Great Retrofit world: https://edgeryders.eu/t/the-great-retrofit-world-start-here/20052. Proper blog post coming up.

#economics #sciencefiction

alberto_cottica, 18 days ago to random

I am travelling by train from Brussels, in Belgium, to Messina, in Sicily. I am used to international rail travel, but this is my longest one-way trip yet at 2,500 km. Day one was Brussels - Paris - Geneva - Milan. Day two is today, Milan - Messina with an early start that should take me to Messina by dinner time. Beautiful early morning light! #rail

alberto_cottica, 25 days ago to random

"From where I'm standing, the American Climate Corps has the potential to be the flagship Green New Deal policy. It delivers climate action, workforce upskilling, workers’ rights and Keynesian benefits, all at the same time. It has the scale and the lineage. If the CCC’s experience is anything to go by, it will lift the morale of those participating in it, and will be hugely popular."

http://www.cottica.net/2024/04/28/green-new-deal-redux-reflecting-on-the-american-climate-corps/

#greenNewDeal #ClimateAction

alberto_cottica, 25 days ago (edited 25 days ago) to random

[New post] "There is a refreshing absence of HR overhead, multiple interviews and tests and so on. The purpose is clear and collective. People will need to adapt, so the main ingredients to succeed are will, ingenuity and teamwork. [...] There is plenty of work to be done, so labour demand is no issue."

Reflecting on the American Climate Corps

http://www.cottica.net/2024/04/28/green-new-deal-redux-reflecting-on-the-american-climate-corps/

#greennewdeal #ClimateAction

alberto_cottica, 26 days ago to random

Love Robin's definition of "conservative". And the dovetailing of conservatism and financialization is a powerful - and terrifying - concept to understand the world.

@pluralistic 's post is mostly about America, but Europe has the same direction of travel.

Pluralistic: The tax sharks are back and they’re coming for your home (27 Apr 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/27/for-the-little-people/#alden-capital

alberto_cottica, 28 days ago to climate

Very inspired by the American Climate Corps initiative. It captures the spirit of the #greennewdeal , even in the @pluralistic version in "The Lost Cause". I am jealous of the Americans, a rare occurrence. Joe Biden has really grown into his role; his presidency might be the best one I witnessed in my adult life (I am 58). @EU_Commission , could we have this too?
https://www.acc.gov/
#ClimateCrisis

alberto_cottica, 1 month ago to Economics

"The economy will not grow in a socially desirable direction on its own. " Mariana Mazzucato in August 2023, calling for more assertive and human-centric economic policies. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/growth-entrepreneurial-state-direction-more-important-than-rate-by-mariana-mazzucato-2023-08
#economics

alberto_cottica, 1 month ago to ai

"But I find one common thread among the things #AI tools are particularly suited to doing: do we even want to be doing these things? If all you want out of a meeting is the AI-generated summary, maybe that meeting could've been an email. If you're using AI to write your emails, and your recipient is using AI to read them, could you maybe cut out the whole thing entirely?"

https://www.citationneeded.news/ai-isnt-useless/

alberto_cottica, 1 month ago to Brussels

I am part of a group building a #cohousing in #Brussels. We are getting ready to purchase a site, and are accepting new members. If you or someone you know is interested, come to an in'-person public presentation on April 17. Info and registration link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1526505357911161

alberto_cottica, 1 month ago to random

Little help: can anyone recommend a setup based on a feed reader, that also works well with Mastodon? I could use it to read my masto feed AND some other stuff, like in the bad old days.

alberto_cottica, 1 month ago to random

Climate change looks especially grim as seen from the Global South.

And yet, people pull together, fight back, and adapt. Collective intelligence in the Global South is an amazing resource: abundant (though not free! It needs, and deserves, support), and largely UNTAPPED.

In this report, my co-authors and I try to learn from the courage and ingenuity of Global South communities, and reflect on how to support their work.

https://undpacclabs.com/untapped

#ClimateAction
#collectiveIntelligence

alberto_cottica, 1 month ago to Brussels

Signal boost! I am part of a group building a #cohousing in #Brussels. We are getting ready to purchase a site, and are accepting new members. If you or someone you know is interested, come to a public presentation on April 17: https://www.facebook.com/events/1526505357911161

alberto_cottica, 1 month ago to random

Beautiful: the time that @pluralistic "did his own research" and became "opioid hesitant".

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/25/black-boxes/#when-you-know-you-know

alberto_cottica, 1 month ago to random

@rysiek you seem to be a bit of a Mastodon ninja. Can you help me find a new server that does not plan to federate with Threads? Where I am now: EU-based, interested in climate, lots of European languages (German, Dutch, French, Spanish...) I pay a little every month. Huge thanks!

alberto_cottica, 2 months ago (edited 2 months ago) to medical

On the difference between academic research and policy research, from an African perspective.

"Combined, all these factors reinforce the preponderance of incrementalist apolitical/technocratic tweaking and household/individual-centric interventions as the smart way to make development policy, rather than valiant quests towards broad-based macroeconomic transformation."

https://www.africanistperspective.com/p/there-is-a-lot-more-to-policy-research

#development #policy #globalSouth

alberto_cottica, 2 months ago to Economics

If you live in the European Union, I would ask, as a personal favour, that you consider signing this petition for a tax on great wealth. It is reasonable; it would have major impact if put into place; it is very feasible (no revision of the Treaties needed). It is the brainchild of French economist Thomas Piketty, a leading scholar of inequality. https://tax-the-rich.eu #economics #ClimateCrisis

alberto_cottica, 2 months ago (edited 2 months ago) to random

NEOCLASSICAL ECONOMISTS: Here’s an elegant model. It says that the economy rewards us on the basis of our productivity.

EVERYONE: Nice! But your assumptions are bizarre (Murray Gell-Mann: “You guys really believe that?”).

KAHNEMAN AND TVERSKY: Yep, assumptions conflict withobserved behavior in the lab.

POLANYI: That model never existed, and can never exist. Human societies treat it as extreme dislocation and react by producing fascism.

1/2

#economics #anthropology #sciencefiction

alberto_cottica, 3 months ago to random

Wow, "The Bezzle" by @pluralistic ... What a great, great book. And Martin Hench is far and away my favourite hero. Cory seems intent on becoming to private equity funds what Charles Dickens was to sweatshops. My hat is off to him. https://craphound.com/category/bezzle/

alberto_cottica, 3 months ago to climate

It's just transitions all the way down. Decarbonising the economy will be socially just, or will not happen at all.
"The E.U.’s reversal on agriculture-specific climate goals highlights the need for a meticulously-planned ‘just transition’ — a shift toward climate-friendly farming that doesn’t ignore farmers’ economic needs." https://grist.org/agriculture/europe-farmer-protests-eu-climate-progress/
#ClimateCrisis

alberto_cottica, 3 months ago to random

@pfefferle @fediblogs.wordpress.com@fediblogs.wordpress.com I don't quite understand how the activitypub plugin for WordPress (self-hosted) works. Does the plugin transform my blog into its own instance, with one user per author? If not, should I create an account for my blog? Checked the GitHub Readme, but it seems the point is to obvious that it is not worth mentioning... but not to me!

alberto_cottica, 3 months ago to sciencefiction

The Science Fiction Economics Network. "What if we turned the sci-fi economics wiki into data?"
https://edgeryders.eu/t/what-if-we-turned-the-sci-fi-economics-wiki-into-data/19688?u=alberto

(image unrelated to this dataset)

#sciencefiction #economics

alberto_cottica, 3 months ago (edited 3 months ago) to random

All I want is for people to pull together and tackle this climate mess, whatever it takes. Is that too much to ask? Yes, it's going to be hard, but, by the Gods, what an adventure. What a way to make our lives count.

#amoccollaps
#amoc

alberto_cottica, 3 months ago to sciencefiction

I like doing economic analysis of #sciencefiction work (man needs a hobby, I guess). Looking for advice: what do I read next? Preference for recent work depicting #solarpunk economic systems.

Background: I am part of a collective, the Science Fiction Economics Labs. We maintain a list econ-sci fi work here: https://edgeryders.eu/t/economic-science-fiction-a-selection-of-works-and-authors/8582?u=alberto

Illustration by Nadia E. Alter

alberto_cottica, 3 months ago to random

@gerrymcgovern hello and thanks for the info you share. I work for a UN agency, and would try to lobby it for greener computing. I am by no means a powerful person, so it's probably going to be a dud, but I am curious to try. Could you help me by:

1. pointing out to a low-hanging fruit, some change that would not be too difficult and would reduce the impact of computing? We are in Microsoftland.
2. providing a reference I can pass it on?

Huge thanks!