Tag: economics

How America’s food giants swallowed the family farms / The Big Tech takeover of agriculture is dangerous / (Video) The reason the world is running out of farmers

When the vast expanse of rural Iowa was carved up for settlers in the 19th century, it was often divided into 160-acre lots. Four farms made a square mile, with a crisscross of dead-straight roads marking the boundaries like a sprawling chess board. Within each square, generations of families tended pigs and cattle, grew oats… Read More How America’s food giants swallowed the family farms / The Big Tech takeover of agriculture is dangerous / (Video) The reason the world is running out of farmers

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A moment of moral and political nihilism: Theologian Adam Kotsko on our current crisis

Rather than rail against the overheated apocalyptic rhetoric of others, Kotsko undertook his own cool-eyed, analytical version, saying, “I will follow my prophetic and apostolic forebears in diagnosing the root cause of that corruption and decadence as a failure to recognize the truth, which has resulted in a thoroughgoing moral and political nihilism.”..    Neoliberalism… Read More A moment of moral and political nihilism: Theologian Adam Kotsko on our current crisis

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Anju Agnihotri Chaba: Debts due to poor income, suicides, high interest loans — Punjab farmers don’t paint a rosy picture

If Punjab’s farmers are so prosperous then why are they leaving farming? Twelve per cent farmers have left farming and the number of small and marginal farmers has come down from five lakh in 1991 to three lakh in 2001…they have either migrated to urban areas/overseas to become labourers or sold their lands…. 9,300 farmers… Read More Anju Agnihotri Chaba: Debts due to poor income, suicides, high interest loans — Punjab farmers don’t paint a rosy picture

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Julia Conley – Amid surging worldwide poverty, planet's 500 wealthiest got $1.8 trillion richer in 2020

Bloomberg’s year-end report on the wealth of the world’s billionaires shows that the richest 500 people on the planet added $1.8 trillion to their combined wealth in 2020, accumulating a total net worth of $7.6 trillion.  The Bloomberg Billionaires Index recorded its largest annual gain in the list’s history last year, with a 31% increase in the… Read More Julia Conley – Amid surging worldwide poverty, planet's 500 wealthiest got $1.8 trillion richer in 2020

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Matthew Taylor: Global food industry on course to drive rapid habitat loss // Laura Spinney: Time for some home truths about deforestation

The global food system is on course to drive rapid and widespread ecological damage with almost 90% of land animals likely to lose some of their habitat by 2050, research has found. A study published in the journal Nature Sustainability shows that unless the food industry is rapidly transformed, changing what people eat and how it is… Read More Matthew Taylor: Global food industry on course to drive rapid habitat loss // Laura Spinney: Time for some home truths about deforestation

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Jairus Banaji on the Indian corporate strategy of subordinating farm households and family labor

NB: Continuing the discussion of issues raised by the ongoing kisan agitation, here are some observations made by Jairus Banaji on the nature of corporate domination and subjugation of peasant agriculture. They appeared on his Facebook page, the dates of which are appended. A long-standing dodge in mainstream commentary on economic policy as well as in political… Read More Jairus Banaji on the Indian corporate strategy of subordinating farm households and family labor

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Sam Jawed – “Too much democracy”: NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant denies what he stated twice

What exactly did Kant say?   To find out what exactly Kant said, Alt News listened to the recording of the event and found that he had indeed said India is “too much of a democracy” not once but twice. First, at 25.43, Kant can be heard as saying, “In India we are too much of a democracy… Read More Sam Jawed – “Too much democracy”: NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant denies what he stated twice

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STATE OF RURAL AND AGRARIAN INDIA REPORT 2020. By the Network of Rural and Agrarian Studies

This report is an attempt to provide a comprehensive and critical overview of the state of contemporary rural India. It focuses on the key structural factors, especially policies and trends, that have marked rural India’s economic and ecological conditions. Through this report we wish to share alternative ideas, paradigms and methodologies to address these entrenched… Read More STATE OF RURAL AND AGRARIAN INDIA REPORT 2020. By the Network of Rural and Agrarian Studies

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Amandeep Sandhu on Arthiyas – extract from PANJAB: Journeys Through Fault Lines

PANJAB: Journeys Through Fault Lines   One of the biggest argument the government is putting forth for new Farm Laws is that it will eliminate middle-men. These middle-men, per the government are the arthiya – the commission agent and money-lender. The Farmer Unions are defining the arthiyas as ‘service providers’. Here is a peek from my book… Read More Amandeep Sandhu on Arthiyas – extract from PANJAB: Journeys Through Fault Lines

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