Economy

As a dissertation at the Charles University in Prague, it wasn’t good enough, but as a book, it’s a bestseller. The author won a scholarship to Yale. Even as a relative youngster, he belonged to former President Václav Havel’s team of advisers on economic matters. Today he’s a lecturer in economic history and philosophy at the Charles University, chief economist at CSOB, the biggest Czech bank, and a columnist. His book is a journey through 4,000 years of cultural and economic history, as well as a sharp analysis of the fact that economics and language are never value-free. The book is …

 People. Planet. Profit. New bankers are what the country needs. We approach the topic of MONEY from the air. As we sit in the climate killer, well aware that each of us is burdening the atmosphere with a further 1.2 tonnes of CO₂ for this edition, the Airbus 320 from Lisbon prepares to land in Berlin. In its luggage, the magazine ECO123 has an invitation to the annual meeting of the GABV – the Global Alliance for Banking on Values. We want to find out how sustainable bankers aim to change the global economy for the better. Of course, two …

The Algarve depends mostly on the tourist industry; in order to achieve growth, it has developed rapidly to the point where the beauty of the coast has been destroyed and the very reason most people come here on holiday is in danger. The Algarve desperately needs to diversify its economy, to open up and widen the market for farm produce and to attract new businesses producing modern, high-tech products. The Algarve does not need heavy industries but it does need to become a centre for innovation, engineering and technological research to encourage the development of new ideas, designs and the …

Specialist in the economics of happiness 33-year-old Gabriel Leite Mota is the first Portuguese person to hold a doctorate in the Economics of Happiness. The title was awarded to him in 2010 by the Faculty of Economics of Porto (FEP), the institution where got his first degree in 2002. He teaches Economics, Politics and Happiness at ISPA – the Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences and he’s a researcher at the Applied Microeconomics Research Centre of the University of Minho. He is also a columnist and commentator. His research interests range from the economics of well-being to behavioural and …

Bochum (D). When people pursue a common goal, they can achieve a great deal. A parents’ initiative involving just over 1,000 people wanted to do something meaningful with their money. They founded a bank, which in itself is not something that happens every day. But then they started compiling a checklist for the securities and credit business. They apply the following negative investment criteria: breaches of human rights, breaches of basic and labour rights, child labour, animal experimentation, controversial environmental activity, controversial economic practices, nuclear power, biocides, chlororganic mass production, embryo research, agro-genetic engineering, pornography, armaments, narcotics. Instead, they invest …