FTSE back to Aug 2010

Unless you have been asleep for the past week you will be aware of the panic in stockmarkets across the world. The FTSE 100 fell another 146 points today making around 10% fall in the past week (5817 to 5247). This puts the FTSE back to Aug 2010 levels which are still much higher that the 2009 levels but nowhere near 2007.

Global capitalism was always going to go this way. The economy will swing to where the resources and fuel are, i.e. China and the stable parts of the Middle East. The US and European economies are built on fragile foundations and no amount of knowledge / high tech / banking industries will be able to keep them afloat for ever, just as unsustainable argiculture or manufacturing can't. Unsustainable agriculture is er... unsustainable - damaging the soil and wildlife needed to support the industry. Manufacturing is only sustainable if it has a constant flow of resources from which to manufacture and a constant flow of energy to run the facturies. None of this looks likely over the coming years with the current direction of our governments.

What is needed is a fundemental rethink of where to base our economy and how to fund it. We have to concentrate on local resources, local goods and local economies.