Economy

It seems that the majority of people, economists and policy makers still view economic growth as the holy grail of social well-being. Whatever the news may be on other fronts, first and foremost the economy must be strong; and the way to ensure economic strength is by encouraging consumerism.

Headlines like "Weak consumption hits growth" are not surprising because growth and consumption are always a concern:

Homelessness and the Social Economy

Homelessness – ‘they’ are not going away – ‘they’ are ‘in your face’. ‘They’ are downtown, annoying business owners, depressing property values, and hassling pedestrians. If you drive ‘them’ out of one locality they will settle in another. The homeless, like all humans, have followed the food, their addictions, or the availability of people to support them. Bottom line - it is likely the hard core homeless, will always be with us. What are we going to do with ‘them’?
What’s got our attention are the visible homeless - the ten per cent hard core chronically homeless and chronically ill - the heavy users of expensive public systems, hospital, jails, and detoxification centers – those who require long term subsidization. Visible homelessness gets our attention but it is only the tapering end of a spectrum of poverty.