Warwick Smith

Harnessing the people power of co-ops to stave off privatisation | The Business | ABC NEWS YouTube video by ABC News (Australia)

There's a good news story on the ABC about how the town of Castlemaine, in northwestern Victoria, formed a member-owned co-op to keep a community hub in community hands:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS7t...

#auspol #coop #cooperatives #Castlemaine

A 'broken' property market spurred hundreds of locals to buy a building For its passionate members, saving a historic goldrush-era pub to protect their cooperative was about "economic democracy" and keeping the property out of developers' hands.

Our Community Investment Co-op got a write up from the ABC!

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-08/castlemaine-cooperative-privatisation-economic-democracy/106103270

#cooperatives

Instagram story from the ABC on out co-op

www.instagram.com/reel/DSOZnTT...

😆

Thanks Andrew.

‘Doughnut economics’ shows how global growth is out of balance - and how we can fix it A new economic update shows it’s more important than ever to think carefully about what progress means.

My article in @aunz.theconversation.com today on the update of #DoughnutEconomics by @andrewlfanning.bsky.social and @kateraworth.bsky.social in @nature.com. It's well past time we reoriented the economy to serve people and the environment instead of profit and rent extraction. #WellbeingEconomy.

We did it. The Castlemaine Community Investment Co-operative borrowed $2m in small loans from 330 community members and bought our first building. We will permanently remove the building from the market to be managed by the community for the community #CommunityWealthBuilding
www.castlemaine.coop

The moment has arrived. The Castlemaine Community Investment Co-operative is now raising capital for this exciting #CommuntyWealthBuilding project. We want to buy The Hub and make it community owned for good. Like a term deposit, we're borrowing money and repaying with interest
www.castlemaine.coop

On 1 June we will open our first debenture offer for a beloved building… | Jeanette Pope On 1 June we will open our first debenture offer for a beloved building 'the Hub' in Castlemaine that is full of environmental/sustainability organisations, small businesses not often availabl...

Our #CommunitWealthBuilding #cooperative in Castlemaine is building up to its first capital raise in June. We're looking to borrow money from the community to buy the iconic Hub building in town. More details at castlemaine.coop.
www.linkedin.com/posts/jeanet...

A good one from Matt Golding in The Age today.

Large areas of WA’s Ningaloo corals could die in ‘weeks ahead’ after widespread bleaching documented Conservationists call for urgent government action as prolonged heatwave affects renowned reef, including Turquoise Bay, Tantabiddi and Bundegi

Catastrophic bleaching of #Ningaloo reef in WA with fossil fuel driven global warming record sea surface temperatures is absolutely gut wrenching - but no one should be surprised. This has been long predicted by the scientific community.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

I'll be speaking on Friday on a great panel at the Community Tax Summit in Melbourne and online. You can still get tickets. The summit has a really impressive lineup of contributors - a real who's who of tax in Australia. Really looking forward to it.

“Patriotism is an arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.”
George Jean Nathan
#AustraliaDay #InvasionDay

Council reimagines the economy | Midland Express Council changing the way we look at the economy

Great article here from the Midland Express on Mount Alexander Shire Council's work towards a #WellbeingEconomy. Thanks to Katherine Trebeck for coming to our little town of Castlemaine for this screening of Purpose.
midlandexpress.com.au/latest-news/...

Let’s find a new perspective starting with poverty.

The Wellbeing Economy in Brief that Katherine Trebeck and I wrote early last year made APO's 2024 top 10 list for economics publications. Good company to be in with publications from ACOSS, the Productivity Commission, Impact Economics and Policy etc. #WellbeingEconomy
apo.org.au/top-10s/econ...

Thinking of these 20 Just Stop Oil protestors spending Christmas in prison - here’s to a brighter future where profits and dividends are not considered more important than the fragility of our living planet #juststopoil

“I never learned maths, so instead I had to think”
Joan Robinson

Mimbres School 2025 Courses:

SPRING:
Slavery and Unfreedom
When is Capitalism?
Philosophy: Friend or Foe?

SUMMER:
Domestication Syndrome
Anti-Kant

FALL:
Political Arithmetic
Prehistory of Islam
Childhood

Tuition $250. Registration open soon.

See thread for descriptions

You actually can though, that’s the whole point.

Thanks John, good to be reconnected to you here.

Here is a list of (semi-)economists on BlueSky who work on climate change impacts, adapation, mitigation, strategies, policy, etc. Suggestions for relevant omissions are welcome.
go.bsky.app/B8TM2GS

Here's a list of people on BlueSky contributing to the debate about economic growth vs environmental sustainability. This includes those writing specifically on growth positions, such as green growth, degrowth and agrowth. The list also covers folks promoting beyond-GDP metrics.
go.bsky.app/NKz1ex3

Albanese told parliament that he want to make sure "children have a childhood and parents have peace of mind"... and so he is raising the rate of govt assistance to ensure children will not live in pover...oh wait, sorry I am being handed a note...

Looking forward to speaking with Kim Shore and Graham Boyd at this online RSA event tonight at 7pm AEDT. We'll be talking #WellbeingEconomy, regenerative economy and, presumably, ergodicity (come along to find out from Graham what that is).
www.eventbrite.com.au/e/re-designi...

Sorry, missed this earlier - notifications went a bit crazy. Am in the process of gathering interested folks to do some work on economic narrative(s) next year. Don’t have clear answers yet but planning on working on it. Desperately needed.

Love those 2 as well

Book Review: ‘Herald of a Restless World,’ by Emily Herring (Gift Article) Henri Bergson enjoyed a cult following on both sides of the Atlantic in the early 20th century. A new biography explains what the fuss was about.

My book about Bergson! Reviewed! In the New York Times! What a time to be alive! My book is described as "lively and deft"! 🤓
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/b...

“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead” - particularly if you’re into Shakespeare but not essential. Whimsical, interesting and intelligent.