farmdoc's blog post number 428

I’ve previously written of Corporate Darwinism vis-a-vis the Global Financial Crisis [GFC]. Well, folks, it looks like the GFC’s arrived in F1 land. Last Friday eight F1 teams, including Brawn, Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Toyota and BMW Sauber, via their Formula One Teams Association [FOTA], announced their intention to leave F1 and start their own breakaway series, after they’d failed to resolve their dispute with F1’s governing body, the FIA. The dispute was due to the FIA imposing a US$60M (A$75M) budget cap for each team. FOTA says the new series will have transparent governance, encourage more entrants, and listen to the wishes of the fans including offering lower prices for spectators. Good stuff. The major drivers, stars, brands, sponsors, promoters and companies historically associated with F1 will all feature in this new series. Whoopee. The Australian Grand Prix Corporation’s contracted to hold the F1 Grand Prix in Albert Park until 2015. Whilst the Corporation and the Victorian Government are sounding brave and optimistic, they know that without the major teams and drivers, F1’s dead. It remains to be seen if FOTA’s move is brinkmanship or fair dinkum. Bernie Ecclestone won’t send his cash cow to the abattoir. All will become clear in the next few months. The days of the winning drivers spraying Moet may be over. Perhaps the GFC will achieve what Save Albert Park couldn’t. Oh what fun.

farmdoc's blog post number 371

This planet of ours currently has two simultaneous global crises – the global financial crisis [GFC] and the global warming/climate change crisis [GW/CCC]. Many world governments, at least in first-world and second-world countries, have implemented financial stimulus packages primarily aimed at the GFC. As a corollary of Occam’s Razor, it’d be more efficient to help both crises with one intervention rather than two. So the more enlightened governments have aimed their packages at the GW/CCC too – by targeted spending on green transport, buildings, jobs and energy. This graphic shows the volume and percentage of the packages and their green component for 11 nations. Hovering your cursor over each country’s circle provides detail of that country’s package. Australia comes miserably far down the list – seventh of the 11 in terms of green percentage. As a member of the AMA, each month I receive Pulse+IT – a health information technology magazine. An article in the March 2009 issue’s titled ‘If we are to have a stimulus, let’s have one that makes a difference!’. It means making a difference to health; but it’s infinitely more applicable to a GW/CCC difference. The GW/CCC response of my country’s Rudd government has been, and continues to be, so very disappointing. Last Monday I wrote I was proud of Australia’s decision to boycott Durban II. But vis-a-vis its GW/CCC response, I can but despair.