"Unless banks can better demonstrate their usefulness to society, they face a debilitating battle against new regulation," John Gapper wrote in the Financial Times last week. His analysis of "capitalism in crisis" presented some shocking numbers. Since 1977 trading in foreign exchange went up by 23,000 percent. And...

Do you really believe in change? Do you really think that you can transform your life?

These are important questions, especially at the beginning of a new year when most of us have, once again, made "New Year's resolutions." We are going to go to the gym regularly. We are...

Ever since I was in charge of the economics desk of a newspaper in The Netherlands almost 20 years ago, I have been convinced that recessions are substantially a product of fear. There are always objective factors like supply and demand. It is a fact that Greece has borrowed too...

Should animals be kept in zoos? That's a hot question after the SeaWorld tragedy. I think I may share in the debate for two good reasons: (1) We have a rabbit that freely lives in our home and (2) I come from the only country in the world - The...

The shift from our current fossil fuel based economies to sustainable renewable energy economies is usually presented as a great challenge. That is also the message coming from the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen. Oil companies tell us that it can be done but that we need decades...

Leaders of developing countries walked out of the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen yesterday to protest what they called an attempt to kill the Kyoto Protocol.

Rich nations are trying to reach a new climate agreement that includes emissions targets for the developing world. Developing countries are...

For the past week a team of Ode volunteers has been handing out free copies of our special "Solutions We Need Now" issue that presents a series of inspiring and innovative solutions to the challenge of global warming (you can get you free digital copy here). Our volunteers...

Last night I went to see the new movie Invictus and I learned an important lesson about the challenge of global warming. That may seem an unexpected experience as the movie is about rugby in South Africa. The film tells the true story of the world championships rugby in...

After four days the picture already becomes clear: it is going to be very hard for the world community as assembled at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen to reach the desired consensus necessary to halt global warming. African countries cannot even agree amongst themselves, Brazil, India,...

The well-timed news is out: the 2000-2009 decade is likely to become the warmest since records began in 1850. The U.N. weather agency, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), presented fresh statistics on the second day of climate conference in Copenhagen.

The decade 2000-2009 "is very likely to be the warmest...