I am about to go on a spending spree and inject my $300 tax rebate on books.

I would really appreciate your suggestions.

1. The Corporate Sufi

EDIT: formatting. I am an idiot.

Development is a concern to each of us here, of that I am sure

Globalization is something that is happening, promoted by those in the developed world particularly the Big Three: The IMF, WTO and the World Bank. Maybe it is is self propelling by now.

Culture is (in many places) becoming an artifact to be found at the feet of globalization as the world becomes homogenized.

Well-being --- maybe the one thing that all of us are seeking but haven't a clue as to how to identify it or certainly can't agree on what it is.

The one thing that all of these have in common is economics, like it or not.

Let the discussion begin.

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French joie, from Latin gaudia, plural of gaudium, from gaudēre to rejoice; probably akin to Greek gēthein to rejoice

Date: 13th century

1 a: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion : gaiety

2: a state of happiness or felicity : bliss

3: a source or cause of delight

Function: verb

Date: 14th century

intransitive verb

: to experience great pleasure or delight : rejoice

transitive verb

1 archaic : gladden

2 archaic : enjoy

I have no idea why the latter part of this entry is bolded. If anyone can see, please tell me so I can fix it.

This is the schedule for the Conference in Cambridge that I am attending next week. If there are sessions that interest you and you want a report or further information, please say so and I will see if I can't get it for you.

Association for Heterodox Economics 10th Anniversary Conference Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, Thursday 3rd-Sunday 6th July, 2008

Programme of Events

Thursday 3rd July

Time:	Event:	Venue:
15.00-16.30	AHE Conference: Business Meeting & Planning Session	Dav014
16.30-17.00	Tea/Coffee	Recital Room
17.00-18.30	Ruskin Annual Lecture: Nicholas Garnham on The Economics of Culture. Chair: Alan Freeman. Welcome from Martin Reynolds, Dean of AIBS	Mumford Theatre Theatre
19.00-20.30	AHE Reception (Wine and canapés); Speakers: Paul Downward and Wendy Olsen; Bronwen-Rees and the presentation of Interconnections	Ruskin Gallery

Friday 4th July

Time:	Event:	Venue:
09.00-10.30	Panel Session 1	Multiple locations
10.30-11.00	Coffee	Recital Room
11.00-12.30	Plenary: Sustainable Development: Ali Douai, Joan Martinez-Alier, Inge Ropke, Miriam Kennet.	Mumford Theatre Theatre
12.30-13.30	Lunch	Recital Room
13.30-15.00	Panel Session 2	Multiple locations
15.00-15.30	Tea/Coffee	Recital Room
15.30-17.00	Panel Session 3	Multiple locations
18.30-20.00	Prize-giving reception: Short welcome by Ioana Negru and Alan Freeman; Book launch by William Mitchell and Joan Muysken	Downing College

Saturday 5th July

Time:	Event:	Venue:
09.00-10.30	Panel Session 4	Multiple locations
10.30-11.00	Coffee	Refectory
11.00-12.30	Plenary: Pluralism and Heterodoxy - Speaker: Tony Lawson, Chair: Andrew Mearman	Mumford Theatre
12.30-13.30	Lunch	Refectory
13.30-15.00	Panel Session 5	Multiple locations
15.00-15.30	Tea/Coffee	Refectory
15.30-17.00	Reflections on the Past and Current State of Heterodoxy: Victoria Chick; Geoff Harcourt, Ha-Joon Chang, Gary Mongiovi, Alan Freeman	Dav014+016
19.00-21.00	CONFERENCE DINNER: Speaker: Geoff Harcourt	Downing College

Sunday 6th July

Time:	Event:	Venue:
09.30-11.00	Panel Session 6	Multiple locations
11.00-11.30	Coffee	Refectory
11.30-13.00	Panel Session 7	Multiple locations
13.00-14.00	Lunch	Refectory
14.00-15.30	Plenary Session: Reflections on the Economic Crisis: Giuseppe Fontana, Jan Toporowski, John Grahl, Victoria Chick	Mumford Theatre

Association for Heterodox Economics, 10th Anniversary Conference Anglia Ruskin University, 3rd-6th July, 2008

AHE CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Friday 4th July Panel Session 1 9.00am-10.30am

Panel A: Financial Markets Venue: Hel 251

• Financial developments and Post-Keynesian economic growth: advancing theoretical and empirical grounds, Taha Chaiechi;
• The political economy of meritocracy: A Post-Kaleckian, Post-Olsonian approach to unemployment and income inequality in modern varieties of capitalism, Arne Heise;
• Pedagogical Lessons from the Financial Crisis: The need for Pluralism, Maria Alejandra Caporale Madi and Jack Reardon

Chair: Stuart Wall

Panel B: Welfare and Rationality Venue: Hel 252

• Redistributive impact of public policies in Turkey, Özlem Albayrak;
• A reformulation of the foundations of welfare economics, Randall G. Holcombe;
• Inheritance and the intention to bequeath: an examination of different aspects of intergenerational wealth transfers, Martin Schürz.

Chair: Ioana Negru

Panel C: Ecological Economics I Venue: Hel 251

• Growth dynamics, social inequalities and environmental quality: an empirical analysis applied to developing and transition countries, Matthieu Clément and André Meunié;
• Whither sustainable development? A Post-Keynesian perspective, Eric Berr;
• The relations between ecological economics and political ecology, Joan Martinez-Alier.

Chair: Ali Douai

Panel D: Marxian Economics and Money Venue: Hel 118

• Marx, subjugated banking and an emerging corporate monetary system, Simon Mouatt;
• Money, credit and state: Post-Keynesian theory of credit money and chartalism, Atsushi Naito.

Chair: Brian Roper Discussant: Michael J. Murray

Panel E: Economic History and Adam Smith Venue: Hel 106/107

• Systemic decline in British shipping 1870-1960, Greg Clydesdale;
• “I have little faith in political arithmetic”, Hugh Goodacre;
• Variations on a theme by Adam Smith: Culture, creativity and innovation in the internet age, Alan Freeman.

Chair: Alan Shipman

Friday 4th July Panel Session 2 13.30pm-15.00pm

Panel A: Ecological and Environmental Issues Venue: Hel 110/111

• Environmental policy in Turkey: an Institutionalist critique, Selin Efşan Nas, Eyüp Özveren and Emre Özçelik;
• The insurance value of biodiversity: effects of genetic diversity versus high-productivity crops on long-term agricultural performance, Sylvie Geisendorf;
• Migration and ecological consequences, V. P. Raghavan.
• Limitations in Orthodox Economic Analysis of Urban Reality, Shann Turnbull

Chair: Joel Magnuson

Panel B: Teaching Heterodox Economics Venue: Hel 251

• Explaining Mainstream Economics’ insistence on mathematics, Vinca Bigo;
• Comparative versus competitive advantage: how the Mainstream got that way, Alan Shipman;
• Mainstream Economics: searching where the light is, Rogier de Langhe.

Chair: Jeffrey David Turk

Panel C: Globalisation and Economic Cycles Venue: Hel 115

• Globalisation and the upward long wave, Bill Jefferies;
• Long cycles, long waves and expansionary phases, Keith Hassell.

Chair: Alan Griffiths Discussant: Arturo Hermann

Panel D: Consumption Theory Venue: Hel 252

• (Quasi) scarcity and global hunger: a sociological critique of the scarcity postulate with an effort to synthesis, Adel Daoud;
• Context and choice: a pluralistic approach to consumer behaviour, Peter E. Earl and Tim Wakeley;
• An evolutionary perspective on the economics of energy consumption: the crucial role of habits, Kevin Maréchal.

Chair: Josef Baum

Panel E: Marxian Economics I Venue: Hel 118

• Pasinetti, Marx and simple commodity production, Andrew B. Trigg;
• Valuation in the presence of stocks of commodities: exploring the temporal single system interpretation of Marx, Nick Potts;
• Dependency theory: How valid is it today? Amit Jyoti Sen.

Chair: Julian Wells

Panel F: Russian Roundtable I: Economic Problems and the Energy-Ecological Shift of the 21st Century Venue: Hel 106/107

• Presentation of the Part IV of a global forecast up to 2050s: “The Energy-Ecological Future of Civilizations”, Yakovets, YU V;
• Shaping national policies at the time of global technological change, Glazyev, S.Yu;
• The technological shift at the start of the 21st Century, Badalian L.

Chair: Victor Krivotorov

Friday 4th July Panel Session 3 15.30pm-17.00pm

Panel A: Green Economics and Ethics Venue: Hel 110/111

• Will climate change enforce global justice – the turning point for the North-South divide, Josef Baum;
• Mindful Ecology and Economy, Joel C. Magnuson;
• The political economy of the human right to water, Manuel Couret Branco and Pedro Damião Henriques.

Chair: Bronwen-Ann Rees

Panel B: Philosophical Debates I Venue: Hel 115

• Socialism, knowledge and the instrumental valuation principle, Andrew Cumbers and Robert McMaster;
• Traction in the world: economics and narrative interviews, Jeffrey David Turk.
• Capital Accumulation in less developed countries, Prabirjit Sarkar.

Chair: Bill Jefferies

Panel C: Book Discussion: Full Employment Abandoned: Shifting Sands and Policy Failures, William Mitchell and Joan Muysken Venue: Hel 251

• The abandonment of full employment: why sovereign governments have a choice, William Mitchell and Joan Muysken;
• Relevance of the book for economic policies in the integrated EMU with a common currency, Philip Arestis;
• Relevance of book for understanding ‘innocent frauds’ in modern policy making and how full employment and price stability can be achieved, Warren Mossler.

Chair: Mark Hayes

Panel D: Marxian Economics II Venue: Hel 106/107

• An instrumental approach to political economics, M. J. Murray;
• Cosmopolitan social democracy: a Marxist critique, Brian S. Roper.

Chair: Simon Mouatt Discussant: Gary Mongiovi

Panel E: Ecological Economics II Venue: Hel 118

• An inquiry on power and ecological economics, Bengi Akbulut and Ceren Ilkay Soylu;
• Are we ready to understand individuals and organizations as political actors? Peter Söderbaum;
• The ontology of environmental values: the contribution of historical institutionalism to (socio-) ecological economics, Ali Douai and Matthieu Montalban.

Chair: Martha A. Starr

Saturday 5th July Panel Session 4 9.00am-10.30pm

Panel A: Ethics in Economics Venue: Hel 118

• Towards an understanding of organizational transformation through ethical enquiry, Bronwen Rees and John Wilson;
• Cohen’s interpretation of Rawls’ theory of justice: an integration of mainstream in welfare economics, Tarrit Fabien;
• Philosophy of measurement of inequality: plural approaches in economics, David Vázquez-Guzmán.

Chair: Martin Schürz

Panel B: Philosophical Debates II Venue: Hel 251

• John Dewey’s theory of democracy and its links with the heterodox approach to economics, Arturo Hermann;
• Process philosophy and the critique of critical realism, James Juniper;
• The Althusserian challenge in retrospect and prospect, Erik Olsen.

Chair: Tony Lawson

Panel C: Finance and Methodology Venue: Hel 106/107

• Aspiration paradox in micro-finance: a difficulty and an opportunity, Wendy Olsen;
• The state of economic heterodoxy in research on the financial sector fragility and bank failures in Africa, Radha Upadhyaya;
• From credit crunch to depression, Brian Grogan.

Chair: Maria Alejandra Caporale Madi

Panel D: Institutionalism Venue: Hel 252

• Economics and historical specificity: a study in comparative analytics, Valentin Cojanu;
• Are conventions solutions? Contrasting visions of the relationship between convention and uncertainty, John Latsis.
• Flexicurity capitalism, Peter Flaschel and Sigrid Luchtenberg.

Chair: Jack Reardon Discussant: Ceren Soylu

Panel E: Ecological Economics III Venue: Hel 110/111

• Debated universes and environmental conventions, Valérie Boisvert and Franck-Dominique Vivien;
• Environmental conventions: the case of agriculture, Clarisse Cazals;
• “Toward partial reorientation of Land Management for Sustainability in view of material circulation”, Sylvie Ferrari, Kozo Mayumi and Atsushi Tsuchida.

Chair: Miriam Kennet

Saturday 5th July Panel Session 5 13.30pm-15.00pm

Panel A: Pluralism in Economics Venue: Hel 251

• Economics and the real world: students’ perceptions of economics and the role of heterodoxy in changing them, Andrew Mearman, Tim Wakeley and Gamila Shoib;
• Pluralism and green economics, Ioana Negru;
• Withering pluralism in Germany: Heterodox economics after five years of the post-autistic movement in Germany, Thomas Dürmeier.

Chair: Rogier DeLanghe

Panel B: Finance and Inflation in Latin America Venue: Hel 106/107

• The present Argentine inflation. The need of an heterodox vision to analyze its causes and specificities, Juilo Eduardo Fabris, Pablo Julio Lopez and José Villadeamigo;
• The Bank of Brazil: the path since the mid-90s, Rogerio Andrade and Simone Deos;
• A macroeconomic analysis of inflation and stagflation in less developed economies, Hamid Nazeman.

Chair: Arne Heise

Panel C: Markets and Firms Venue: Hel 110/111

• On companies’ microeconomic objectives; profit rate versus pure profit, Louis de Mesnard;
• Markets, prices and market power, Thomas Lines.

Chair: Carmen Costea Discussant: Steve Keen

Panel D: Marxian and Sraffian Approaches Venue: Hel 118

• Towards a generalized Marxian approach: a synthesis of heterodox economic approaches, Takashi Satoh;
• The capital controversy in historical perspective, Gary Mongiovi.

Chair: Steven Pressman Discussant: Simon Mouatt

Panel E: Ecological Economics IV Venue: Hel 252

• The social construction of normal standards in consumption, Inge Ropke;
• Global warming and high consumption: habits, needs and social values, Martha A. Starr;
• The environmental impacts of changing consumption patterns: evidence from Turkey, Bëgum Ozkaynak, Fikret Adaman and Unal Zenginobuz.

Chair: Sylvie Ferrari

Sunday 6th July Panel Session 6 9.30am-11.00am

Panel A: Russian Roundtable II: Economic Problems and the Energy-Ecological Shift of the 21st Century Venue: Hel 252

• Return to the Classical paradigm: the theory of Coenoses: Malthusianism with a Schumpeterian twist, Krivotorov V.;
• Sustainable global development and the principle of self-organization of complex systems, Chistilin, D.;
• Technology and psychology: a mechanism of anthropogenic crises, Nazaretyan, A.

Chair: Lucy Badalian

Panel B: Challenges to Neoclassical Economics Venue: Hel 110/111

• Anti-empiricism in economics: the case of Neoclassical axiomatism, Tamás Dusek;
• Pluralism about rationality in economics: theories as tools, C. Tyler Des Roches and Thomas Wells.
• Neoclassical Economics: determinism, choice and agency, Fran Smith.

Chair: João Rodrigues

Panel C: Theory of the Firm Venue: Hel 106/107

• Marshall’s theory should be discarded, Steve Keen and Carmen Costea;
• Prices and price strategies, James Case;
• Mexican multinational firm expansion: A heterodox microeconomic analysis, Gustavo Vargas.

Chair: Colin Richardson

Panel D: Post-Keynesian Economics Venue: Hel 118

• A critique of Post-Keynesian economics applied to the political economy of the Euro zone, Riccardo Bellofiore and Joseph Halevi;
• A Post-Keynesian approach to microeconomic policy, Steven Pressman;

Chair: Andrew Trigg Discussant: Giuseppe Fontana

Panel E: Doctoral Students’ Contributions (poster session) Venue: Hel 115

Contributors: Shira D. Jones, Alicia Giron, Vanessa da Costa Val Munhoz.

Chair: David Vázquez-Guzmán

Sunday 6th July, 11.30- 13.00 pm Panel Session 2

Panel A: Austrian Economics and Markets Venue: Hel 118

• Drawing the line: Mises, Hayek and the antinomies of neoliberalism, João Rodrigues;
• Computer grids and the catallaxy paradigm, Colin Richardson;

Chair: Randall Holcombe Discussant: Andy Denis

Panel B: Book Session: “Mindful Economics: Understanding American Capitalism, Its Consequences and Alternatives” by Joel Magnuson Venue: Hel 252

Contributors: Joel Magnuson, Alan Griffiths, Bronwen Rees.

Chair: Valentin Cojanu

Panel C: Ecological Economics VI: Final Roundtable Venue: Hel 251

Contributors: Joan Martinez-Alier, Miriam Kennet, Begüm Özkaynak, Martha A. Starr, Franck-Dominique Vivien, Peter Söderbaum, Ali Douai

Chair: Andrew Mearman

Panel D: Book Session: ‘Reclaiming Marx’s “Capital”: A Refutation of the Myth of Inconsistency’ by A. Kliman Venue: Hel. 110/111

Contributors: Andrew Kliman, Ioana Negru, Alan Freeman, Andrew Trigg

Chair: Erik Olsen

Panel E: Teaching Heterodox Economics II Venue: Hel 106/107

• Why do mainstream economists lie to students? Michael Joffe;
• Minds and Markets: Challenges to heterodox teaching in contemporary Brazil, Maria Alejandra Caporale Madi and Ricardo Gonçalves.

Chair: Jeffrey D. Turk Discussant: Alan Shipman

DISCLAIMER This is rambling. This is thinking. Call it (at this point) individual brainstorming. I have posted this here because I want to work with each of you and share these ideas to build an organized vision and maybe lead to an insight in a positive forward direction. I speak of Buddhism not being a Buddhist but admiring much of what I see. I am not an expert.

I believe deep in my heart that every person on the globe wants to move their life forward toward something better.

The problem is figuring out the direction. We wander. We look around us to see what others are doing and kind of figure the direction most people is going is the right direction.

Some of us travel that path and find that it really isn't going anywhere that we want to go and screw up enough courage to try to swim upstream.

I guess I feel like I have always been swimming upstream. I mean I gave my first doom and gloom speech on the environment to a large church group in 1966. (About the same time I was protesting the war in Vietnam.)

I got into this mode of thinking by the constant comments when I speak about Sufficiency Economy here in Thailand (remember, this is a philosophy developed by the King of Thailand) that I must be crazy. How could I get into the Sufficiency Economy thing when I am an American?

People in Thailand and much of the rest of the world, believe that the west (most visibly and audibly America) has the answers to happiness and well being. They don't have a clue. But why should I be surprised that Thais and Africans don't understand that the western goal of mindless consumerism and endless accumulation is not the answer when those who are living in the middle of that and know that it is not really the answer keep chasing it?

When I came to first learn about Buddhist Economics, it grabbed me. Most simply stated it is economics where ethics matter. Where people are central. Where having a job is more than making money; it is honing a skill and having pride in your work and knowing that you are contributing to society with your work. It is an economics where the focus is not on the accumulation of wealth but rather a measure of how you distribute your wealth.

One of the biggest problems with it is that it is still, in many ways, a regional, cultural concept that is fully shrouded in Buddhism. That is not to say that there is anything wrong with that. It is to say that it is my belief that as long as it wears that outer layer, not many people will look at the beauty inside it. I have more than once joked with Aj. Apichai that I thought I was called to take the Buddhism out of Buddhist Economics. I am just not sure how to do that so that it can speak to millions of people in the west who I believe are searching for the answers it points to.

The hub in Buddhist Economics is the Buddhist concept of relieving suffering. Relieving suffering for oneself and for all those around us. The goals of the Buddhist Philosophy are to examine (in your own life) the causes of suffering. The central cause of suffering is identified as attachment. Attachment to things and people and ideas - attachment to anything - limits our satisfaction.

Buddhism seems to be focused on awareness: self awareness, awareness of others and awareness of our actions and their effects....looking for causes.

Mindfulness.

It is a term that was focused into my vision last year when I went to the conference in Budapest. There was another conference participant, Joel Magnuson who is from Portland. He is an economist who teaches at Portland State University and Portland Community College. He has written a great textbook "Mindful Economics".

mindfulness
thinking about what you are doing
thinking about why you are doing it
thinking about what the effects of doing it are going to be

Mindfulness.... It makes me think of all the times I would get in hot water with my mother and would land up saying "... but I didn't think it would matter" or "I didn't think you would care" and she would come back with "That is precisely the point: you didn't think." She used that phrase often. I hope she knows that now I at least try to think.

Your turn...

Tomorrow is Visaka Bucha Day.

THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT holy days of the year for Thai Buddhists all include the word "Bucha", which means to pay homage. Asahara Bucha commemorates the day the Lord Buddha preached his first sermon. Makha Bucha marks both the occasion when 1,350 of the Buddha's disciples gathered without prior notice and listened to the Buddha elaborate some of his most important teachings in a sermon, as well as the day he foresaw his own death and attainment of Nibbana (Nirvana). But the most auspicious of the three is Visakha Bucha, which simultaneously commemorates three important anniversaries in the life of Siddharta Gautama, the Lord Buddha: his birth, his enlightenment, and his death.

This time last year I was in Bangkok. I had gone to spend Vesaka Bucha Day with Thich Nhut Hanh. So much has changed since then. But not really. What does that mean?

My life goes up and down. All the time. Sometimes it goes rather calmly. Other times it takes huge dips. I guess in some ways I am lucky that there are not swings from those lows to unmaintainable heights. None the less, I try to lear

I have found that meditation is distinctly helpful. Meditation is not a technique that is restricted to Buddhism. My fist experience with it was in the Christian tradition where I am most comfortable. Meditation here is just a much more acceptable tool.

The week that I spent in Bangkok this time last year was a week of reflection. I was by myself most of the time. And each day I had an incredible teacher guiding me to look at the content of each moment. Not spending time looking at yourself and your problems is refreshing. Just looking at how you breathe and considering the complexity of that task and the miracle that it happens without you. The operation that keeps you alive does not need your conscious participation. Breathing continues whether you are good or bad, lazy or busy, happy or angry. It doesn't judge. It just does what it is supposed to do.

Today I was talking with a friend of mine who was struggling with some bad times in his life. He is fasting with me for the IAct Fast for Darfur. He was having a hard time and was blaming his bad mood on not eating. It was so clear to me that his bad mood had nothing to do with not eating. I dug out the link to the TED presentation by Mathieu Ricard that I had dug out for John P. earlier in the week in another thread. In getting it for him, I found another video link to a talk that Mathieu Ricard gave at Google. And there I found a link to a talk also given at Google by Jon Kabat-Zinn. (This is an outside link to the video below) That is how I have spent the last 3 + hours of my day.

What a refreshing time. In the Ricard Google talk, he presents some evidence on meditation actually being reversely related to depression. I really should have known that deep inside me. Maybe I did.

The second point I am focusing on right now is Kabat-Zinn's presentation of meditation and being gentle with yourself. Not judging but just being aware. Knowing that the real problems come when we keep our focus on I, me, mine rather than just being aware.

My greatest successes with meditation have been with the control / coping with chronic pain. I have lived with chronic pain most of the last 15-20 years. I have had severe arthritis in my hips. I have severe bone spurs in both of my heels that go into the Achilles tendons. Then there is a torn ligament in my right knee and a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder. It has been of immeasurable value to me to realize that the pain is a pain of my body, not a pain to me. This has allowed me to release the pain so that it does not (usually) influence my attitude. That makes an incredible change in my life. All of these things though create a spiral of deterioration. favoring my right knee puts undue stress on my hips, all of them limit my mobility and my exercise which makes keeping weight off nearly impossible which increases the stress on the knee and continues.

This downward spiral is not unlike the downward spiral of depression. And the time today reminded me that like physical pain, the pain of the depression is most acute when I focus on the me. When I can remember that the depression is not me, that the depression is a physical response to stimuli that are usually a function of focusing on "ME" and why is everyone so cruel, and why can't someone help me, and yada yada yada... When I can turn the focus out and work toward loving kindness, I cope and I smile and I forget the pain of the body and the mind.

This video is 72 minutes so be forewarned. But I believe I can promise you that the last 3 minutes make it worth listening to the talk in its entirety. (an aside - can you imagine working at a place that has these kinds of lectures as part of the work day? I kind of do! :-) . )

EDIT - fixed the link location

It has been confirmed that I will be going to a conference in England (The 10th Anniversary conference of the Association of Heterodox Economics) at The Ashcroft Business School of Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England. The conference looks exciting and it is precisely what I teach and where my research is centered.

That is not the most thrilling part of the trip.

Some one special lives in Cambridgeshire. This person lives in Buckden, St Neots, Cambridgeshire. He is one of my heros.

I am going to get to meet David Bale! After working on several projects with David on omidyar.net and here, I am so overwhelmed!

In addition to the conference I am going to get to travel to visit St. Andrew's University in Scotland to help establish Ubon Ratchathani University as a node of the Center for Social ad Environmental Accounting Research. (CSEAR) (Is this what they are talking about when they talk about creative accounting?)

A bit more than a week away from Thailand in an English speaking country where I can find cheese and bread. Wait....having met a few folks from Scotland, I am not sure they qualify as English speaking!

OK...so much for having all of my lectures and everything prepared. Now I have to shuffle things around to take off a week!

The sun has come out from behind the clouds.

Depression is a confusing condition for doctors as well as people who suffer with it and their families. There are still arguments that rage over whether it is a disease or a disorder. There are still people who believe that people who are suffering with depression are just sad, or lazy or emotionally, psychologically weak.

I struggle with all of those things but I just don't care what it is called. I know it is real. I know it is devastating. I know that it strains and even destroys families and friendships. Been there and done that. I am also pretty much convinced that unless you have suffered with this condition yourself, you will never really be convinced that it is real.

I have been an over-achiever and a work-aholic all of my life. I no longer make either of those confessions with any pride. I have no scientific evidence to back me up but I believe that they are (at least in my case) coping mechanisms or maybe better, coping avoidance mechanisms.

I was first diagnosed with clinical depression some 12 years ago when I was still married and living a "normal" family life. At that time, I was working full time, doing about 40 hours a week of volunteer work, and still running a household, doing hobbies like gardening and embroidery and lots of reading as well as making all of or my own clothes and doing lots of entertaining.

Then one day I found myself sitting in the center of the floor in the bathroom unable to clean it. I was paralyzed. At that point I sought medical/psychiatric help. I then went through the anti-depressant drug therapy and psychiatric counseling routine.

I know that the drugs helped. To a point. I hated being on them. I couldn't think clearly. arggghhh.... I don't even want to think about those times.

I was on drugs for about 2 years. I finally went to my psychologist and told him that there had to be another way. I had read all of the statistics that once you were diagnosed with depression the chances of recurrence increased and the period of time between episodes decreased. I told him that I needed something other than drugs to cope. I needed to know how to recognize the early symptoms and have some coping mechanisms in place so that I could actively help myself not to get in the hole. He smiled and took on the challenge. Within a couple of months I was off of drugs and feeling better than I had in years. I was strong again and was able to endure the agony of a divorce, the failure of a business and a move to Thailand.

I will be the last person to tell you that the last 10 years have been depression free. I have had episodes but I really do recognize the symptoms and have been able to deal with it all amazingly well.

The reason this is coming out here now is that I am in the middle of the biggest battle I have faced in that time and I am trying to negotiate my way through it. One of the biggest problems I face is that I am isolated here. This is term break through the end of the month and almost all of the 9,000 students on campus and most of the faculty members are gone. I have virtually no one to interact with and everyday is filled with frustration as I deal with the typical daily problems I face here - no transportation, the library is closed, the internet goes down, no one understands my English and my Thai is not sophisticated enough to communicate what I want to communicate.

Last night I found myself sitting staring out the dark window into the night and trying to pull my thoughts out of a downward spiral and I couldn't find a single good thing that happened yesterday to grab on to...I have things to do and I can not do them.

I am writing this not because I want any sympathy. I am writing it for much more selfish reasons. I need to focus on something and feel like I have accomplished some small thing.

Please, if you have someone in your life who is suffering like this, don't minimize it. Hold on to them and help them focus on the little good things in their life that they just can't see at the moment. It's not going to bring world peace or end world poverty or feed children who are starving but then again....if they come out of it stronger than they were before, maybe it will help all of those things.

This is the latest project that is semi-complete.

Buddhist-Economics.info

• We got University funding.
• Aj. Sulak has confirmed!
• I now have a mailing list that almost includes contacts in all of the Economics faculties and any faculty related in any way to Buddhist Economics or Sufficiency Economy in all of the universities in Thailand. (Is that enough "in's" in one sentence?
• I have two complete committees now to do the work: an international committee to supervise and a Thai committee to do all of the grunt work (plus one lovely lady, Yully, who is going to promote the conference at a conference this month in Hanoi.
• This may be the only thing in my life that is under control!

The month I spent in Mae Usu working with the Karen children has told me that I can not stand by talking about the needs and not work to do something about supplying those needs.

Currently the Abbot (Luang Por Thammasak) of Wat Mae Usu (the local Buddhist temple) is fostering almost 200 Karen children from villages all over the area. He is providing them a place to live so that they do not have to walk back and forth to school 2 hours each way. He has gotten some charitable support. Tsu Chi purchased land and built a dormitory for the girls several years ago. A dormitory for the boys has been built under the main sala (temple building). Usually several times a year a foundation from Bangkok comes in and provides medical/dental support and other charitable contributions. They are also contributing toward feeding the children. The school at the children are attending has provided some support with mats and blankets and perhaps most importantly with a lunch meal 5 days a week.

When I left, we heard that the government support through the school is stopping for some un-explained reason.

Currently, the girls cook their own meals in a living situation where they are largely unattended and unsupervised. They badly need an adult living with them to help provide guidance particularly for the younger girls (kindergarten ad early primary). This person would also provide some one to overseen school attendance and be there to help sick children. Currently, the food that the children eat each day is delivered while they are at school. With no one there, sometimes some of the food turns up missing. The supplies that they get are already meager and the loss of a package of meat can cut their already inadequate protein allotment.

I estimated that currently the children are getting something like 10 grams of protein a day. They should be getting, on average, more like 20-45 grams. They get no fruit in their diets and all vegetables are cooked to a point where their vitamin content is questionable.

I believe that the following additions would help to make the situation better in the short run while long term plans are developed and implemented.

1 A mother of one of the children or perhaps a group of mothers rotating into the position could stay at the dormitory with the children to provide supervision and security. I believe that this could easily be accomplished with a wage of 5,000 baht a month.

2 1 Fruit portion could be provided each day for each child at a cost of 7,500 baht per month

3 The protein in their diets could be doubled for the same 7,500 baht.

The major problems facing 200 children right now could be dealt with for 20,000 baht a month or about $670 US. This would not only deal with the malnutrition that fall of the children are suffering from but would also generate a job paying 5,000 for someone in a community where the average income is about 6,000 baht a year. The local purchase of food would further stimulate a weak economy.

I can not do this myself. I only bring home a bit more than that 20,000 baht a month with my job. If anyone is interested in supporting this project, please contact me and I will arrange some way that we can manage the funding.