Ted Trainer
Ted Trainer is a retired lecturer from the School of Social Work, University of New South Wales. He is developing Pigface Point, a sustainability educational site near Sydney, and a website for use by critical global educators.
Ted's recent articles
7 February 2025
The situation – and why we can’t fix it
Many are drawing attention to the alarming state of things. Within Pearls and Irritations, David Spratt and Julian Cribb have recently provided clear and powerful summary statements of the trajectory we're on, heading towards catastrophic global ecological and social breakdown. But they proceed as if the problems could be solved. They’re wrong about that.
3 November 2024
The 2024 Nobel Prize shows the bankruptcy of conventional economics
The 2024 Nobel Prize for economics has gone to two economists for work on why some poor nations prosper while others fail and remain poor. But it is their 540 page account that fails, by not mentioning the real causes that are foundational in the global economic system.
22 August 2024
A critique of 'a world call to action' on the multiple crises now enfolding humanity
This initiative is important in making a strenuous plea for urgent action on the global “poly crisis”. But it fails to make clear the fundamental cause of the problem, or the way out of it.
12 June 2024
Planetary overshoot: How much should we degrow?
Global rates of resource consumption and ecological impact are now far beyond levels that are sustainable, or that all people in the world could rise to, or that technical advance could make sustainable.
27 January 2024
Has capitalism failed?
Anyone who thinks so is just plain dumb. It has obviously been stunningly successful. It has produced huge increases in wealth, for instance in the last few years the three richest people in Australia doubled their wealth. It has worked like a dream. The trouble is that it does not and is not designed to work for you. It works for the rich, not you.
15 February 2023
"Values capitalism Good luck with that Jim
Jim Chalmers Monthly essay is an attempt to prepare us for a shift in the coming budget, from the era of neoliberal domination to giving more attention to non-economic factors. But we need far more than that given we are headed for catastrophic global breakdown.
9 July 2022
Ted Trainer: Ross Gittins thinks capitalism can save us. Heres why it cant
We are racing towards the catastrophic collapse of our bio-physical and social systems, driven by the capitalist economy. Gittins illustrates the trained incapacity of the conventional economic mind to get it.
29 January 2022
Our obsession with economic growth will destroy us
Capitalist societies refuse to recognise there are limits to growth, resulting in inequality and ecological destruction it will lead to collapse.
19 November 2021
It will take more than a Green New Deal to save a planet in peril
As the climate crisis worsens, some progressives have seized on a way to save capitalism from itself. But that task is impossible.
28 August 2021
Why does the US behave like that? The core issue is the nature of capitalism.
In the last few years, there has been a remarkable increase in the readiness to question and criticise the behaviour of the US. We seem to be rapidly moving away from the idolisation and All the way attitude that prevailed since World War 2. John Menadue documented the USs record of thuggish behaviour well in his recent Pearls and Irritations article, referring to for instance the 70+ wars it has started since WW2.
14 August 2021
Review: 'Human Kind' by Rutger Bregman
What a marvellous book! A powerful refutation of one of the most deeply entrenched and mistaken assumptions built into our taken-for-granted world view that human nature is nasty.
16 February 2021
Move over neoliberalism; rentier capitalism is now king
Because the average persons prosperity is shrinking, they can't buy so much stuff. Companies are instead generating profits by getting hold of assets to rent out, such as housing and roads. This financial capitalism has huge political ramifications for the Left, but it is not listening.
12 December 2020
The German experience - running everything on renewable energy
Could we run our society on renewable energy sources, which now deliver electricity cheaper than fossil fuel produced power? Vaclav Smil has just published figures on Germanys efforts to move towards a high penetration renewable system, showing that the cost is likely to be very high.
14 November 2020
Andrew Leigh and disconnectedness good on documentation but poor on explanation
There has been reduction in acquaintance with neighbours, volunteering, giving to charity, blood donation, membership of organisations such as Scouts and unions, satisfaction with democracy, and number of trusted friends.
10 September 2020
Ross Garnauts Superpower case is not impressive
The book tells us we can run everything on renewable energy and get rich exporting it. Unsurprisingly it has been met with much fanfare and enthusiasm. But on the crucial issues it either provides flimsy and unconvincing analyses or fails to deal with them at all.
21 April 2020
COVID-19: Another consequence of exceeding the limits to growth
Consumercapitalist society is blindly committed to limitless growth in production and consumption. This is unsustainable and is generating a range of alarming global problems. However, little attention has been given to how is a cause of viral pandemics.
11 March 2020
TED TRAINER.-Why the rich and powerful want Assange silenced.
Now you will understand why it is so important to prevent people like Ellsberg and Chelsea Manning and Snowden and Assange from exposing the nasty things that are done to secure our empire.
29 December 2019
TED TRAINER. Whats wrong with Economics?
The answer is, conventional economic theory and practice are only about this economy, not economics in general and this economy is a bad economy.
3 October 2019
TED TRAINER. Greta, climate, affluence and growth when will they join the dots?
Global concern about climate change has now reached a remarkable level, thanks in large part to Greta Thunberg and her team. There is however, in my view, little understanding of what the underlying problem is or how to solve it. The climate problem is just one of many factors driving consumer-capitalist society to its imminent destruction.
28 August 2019
Green Growth and De-Coupling Resource Use From GDP Growth Can't Be Done.
Another heavy report confirms that efforts to achieve GDP growth while reducing resource and ecological impacts have failed and will continue to do so. The implications for sustainability are profound but will be ignored. The finding means that unless there is dramatic De-growth all the big global problems will get worse, but this economy cannot tolerate reduction in GDP. What to do?
21 December 2018
TED TRAINER. The case for De-growth -- will continue to be ignored.
A De-Growth movement has emerged, mainly in Europe, in response to the fact that global levels of production and consumption are now grossly unsustainable. A vast literature documenting this has accumulated over almost fifty years. But the official world of politicians, governments, economists and media completely ignore it and devote themselves to growing the economy that is, to accelerating us to our doom.
22 November 2018
TED TRAINER. The case for de-growth will continue to be ignored.
A de-growth movement has emerged, mainly in Europe, in response to the fact that global levels of production and consumption are now grossly unsustainable. A vast literature documenting this has accumulated over almost fifty years. But the official world of politicians, governments, economists and media completely ignore it and devote themselves to growing the economy that is, to accelerating us to our doom.
18 January 2018
TED TRAINER. The Catalan integral cooperative ... the Simpler Way revolution is well under way!
Many would agree it is now abundantly clear that a just and sustainable world cannot be achieved unless consumer-capitalist society is basically scrapped. It involves levels of resource use and environmental impact that are already grossly unsustainable, yet growth is its supreme goal. The basic form the alternative must take is mostly small, highly self-sufficient and self-governing communities in which we can live frugally but well, putting local resources directly into producing to meet local needs without allowing market forces or the profit motive or the global economy to determine what happens.
27 July 2017
TED TRAINER. Terrorism and Our Empire: Some Neglected Questions.
There is a very strong tendency to avoid asking some key questions about terrorism, thereby maintaining various myths and delusions that prevent a number of unpleasant realities from being faced up to.
19 April 2017
TED TRAINER. Oil wake-up call.
Almost no one has the slightest grasp of the oil crunch that will probably hit them within a decade. When it does it will literally mean the end of the world as we know it. Here is an outline of what some recent analysts are saying. We had better think carefully about their claims. Nobody will of course take any notice.