Alan Fortuny Sicart

 I am tremendously fortunate. In the peak of the financial crisis in 2008, I got a very decent job at consulting firms with great colleagues and projects. Now, in the midst of an evitable yet tremendous health crisis, I am working in the industry of my dreams applying science. Despite last years with jobs opportunities, I am prepared for failure, like I am prepared for death. It is not something I am looking for, but it is definetely something likely, I would even say inevitable. Although is not proven that failure, nor death must come! We have seens businesses closing, delocalization,  and automated jobs. I think some sectors will be more and more concentrated, it is more efficient in many cases, and it also provides a better service. The question remains, if that is good in the long term for our prosperity and democracy. This trend observed in distribution, music and film services, software and phones, will and does not apply to all. That means that there are many activities, where c

 In many countries as my own, housing is becomming prohibitely expensive. This ,together with stagnant wages and unemployment is a recipe for disaster. We cannot fullfill our promise from the constitution to make housing access an equivalent to health and education in such context. Why is this happening? And what are the solutions?  In a liberal view the problem is of market nature. A very high demand in certain cities, with not enough supply, hence the solution is increasing the offer. That clashes a little if you nail down the details, as it is not always feasible in countries bounded by infraestructure, geographical limits. It is surprising that there are 1.3M of housing units in Spain it are empty for a long period of time, and phenomenons like touristic apparments and huge ownership concentration are making housing even more scarce in hot spots. Progressive parties claim that public housing is yet the solution, yet hardly covers 5% of the total offer, and it requires a significant

 I was reading the Daly News, a blog about steady state economics, and I found brilliantl the link proposed by the author between ralentless growth and political instability and even war. It is pretty easy to accept that with growth in consumtion, there is a growing demand in raw materials, and hence in the struggle to satisfy the needs of all. Conflict and rivaly is more common with growth that without, specially when overall scale is like what we have today. Without being a policital scientist or an expert in geopolitics, we can  confirm a relationship of casuality between resource access and political distress: whether is for oil, rare minerals, food or water, the more pressure we put on resource demand, the higher the likelihood of conflicts and rival interests. It is already happening, and war is far from gone in the world, specially on those countries who are "blessed" with fossil fuels and a lot of natural resources.  Currently many of those are treated like colonies o

  You help your brothers, sisters, parents and neighbours, even those whose name you barely remember. You take what you need, nothing less, and nothing more. You grow, accepting the time great things normally take. You live surrounded by diversity, in peace and respect. You create beauty, no hate, no envy You know much about chemistry but little about waste You are part of the music of silence, touching the wind with you delicate fingers You hardly complain, sleepy in winter, brilliant in spring, radian in summer, elegant in fall You breath like no one, giving more than you take You live the long life, abundant in time and pacience You are my home, perfect and cosy My playground, meditation mat, my secret I owe you the life and the freedom of your surroundings My friend, my brother, my family... You FOREST, far more perfect, than any human creation