Government Responsibility

The term “Government” seems to be widely misused, by the media and hence, the population, to refer to various agencies designed and charged to deliver public services. There are only three branches that form a democratic Government; the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. Noting that in some systems, it is difficult to separate an elected servant, who as part of the legislature must speak on behalf of a geographic constituency, from an appointed officeholder, who as part of the executive must oversee the national interest.

Business Women

Society has defined roles for its males and females; base primarily on muscles and courage, empathy and creativity, but as mechanization and technology makes physical work easier, the roles have become an individual decision, with women successfully entering traditionally male dominated fields and being wage-earners, society is losing its caregivers. Many writers on this topic take a side as to the many disadvantages women faced and that men have become weak, this article however takes the view of a parent wanting the best from both sons and daughters. More importantly are these changing roles best for society, a growing economy and business activities?

Business Ideas

Business plays an important role in the development of society; by developing natural resources and human talents, markets and brands, by creating jobs and collecting and paying taxes into the local and national treasury. The treasury, in turn, funds the public budget for healthcare, education, security, infrastructure and other key social programs to benefit all inclusive of workers, managers and of course, the business.

Business Education

Most developing economies put very little emphasis on developing new industries or sectors, focusing instead on strengthening existing revenue streams. Business is the driver of economic expansion, investing funds, time and effort into opportunities for a calculated return. Yet, so call business educational program produces mostly managers and other specialists in management such as, accountants, HR, procurement, etc., conservative by nature. Risk is at the root of returns, and without risk-takers, an economy is at the mercy of current foreign and domestic market forces without the essential component, hope.

Financial Crimes

An uninformed and risk adverse public, in an expanding economy, is fertile ground for financial crimes. It is when the economy slows and expectations fail to materialize that the blame games cause financial runs and court matters.

The rules and regulations governing the financial sector must not only police the institutions and their products, but must educate and in fact, test the financial literacy of each and every investor or depositor via the products prospectus. Mandated by law and administered by an independent organization without any vested interest in promoting one product over another. Failure to achieve and demonstrate a minimum standard, as to how a particular instrument should work, must lead to the disqualification from participating in such products, hence protecting a vulnerable public and avoiding future bailouts or legal actions.

Minimum Wage

Educating the public, from a very young age, as to what is involved in a decent and acceptable standard of living, along with their collective and individual responsibilities to maintain, grow and develop their society. No one should be left behind; education must reach all, with meals and healthcare provided, and other social services to reach the most vulnerable. No one should be too far in front; taxing the richest ten percent of the population, will reduce immoral activities, and help finance social programs.

A standard of living that is firstly, made possible by marketable production, not just productivity for the sake of reducing unemployment statistics, generating revenue from the sale of goods and services that are financially viable to produce and is clearly in demand. A standard of living that is secondly, evenly divided geographically, across all preferred economic sectors and, more importantly, seen to be fairly distributed amount all in the society, building a majority of middle class citizens.

Public vs. Private

Governing is a difficult responsibility, especially with declining tax revenues and if the population does not understand the system, whether caused by gaps in the education curriculum or by errors in media pronouncements; rumors rather than facts fueling public opinions. The driving force in a free market economy is ideas; dreams that any citizen can become a leader, imagining that anyone can become a role model and thoughts that every employee can become an employer. Many in public service, an institution that runs on trepidation and nepotism, feel stuck with their ambitions shattered. Yet, these are the people that are empowered to implement policies and facilitate economic development and growth.

Defining Politics Clarification

Our most sincere apologies to all in the audience that have to exercise the mind, through the ranting of the document titled “Defining Politics”, some got it, others did not. These documents continue to be edited down to five hundred words, sometime removing large, complex and important sentences. The objective remains to reach and encourage a mass audience, of varying educational backgrounds, with an interest in understanding business and its surrounding issues. The publisher of these ideas has first rights, which means they edits and disseminates to all others, but the responsibility of the topics are solely ours.

Defining Politics

It is said, “Politics is about the distribution of power”. This maybe idealistic but in practice, is a necessary immorality and comfort for a fool. I believe that it is a control mechanism set out to divide the masses, using any means necessary so that the minority groupings with never have equal power, clearly discriminating against the individual and focusing to protect wealth. Many examples exist, in all types of political systems, to support this believe but it all comes down to the majority of wealth, to purchase influence.

No Politics Zone

Within the hallow chamber of the legislature, where laws are made giving effect to decisions of the executive, there must be no mention of political allegiance while debating issues that will affect the entire population. Party politics has it place and purpose, this having been done; brings on the serious work of building a society, which should be seen by all as an exchange of ideas to strengthen policies and programs, and to be above the attacks of party politics.

Wealthy Legacy

Wealth is more about power and influence than about being rich or having money. A popular joke says; a rich person gets paid a lot of money but a wealthy person signs that pay check. This implies that commitment, training, opportunity and sound financial management can and will make you rich. The joke also implies that one person can be wealthy. The truth however, is that all economic systems, presently in existence, rely on controlling the masses, by fear or by favor. That horrid knock on the door in the middle of the night, seizing all things of value, simply because you visibly have more than others, in some systems is not a crime.

Parenting

The very survival of society must focus on problem solving rather than social differences. With common challenges such as, climate change and its rippling effects, deadly and highly infectious diseases and other doomsday projections looming, individual distinctions can only distract from the mission. Well thought out and practical solutions can only come from fully engaged and informed minds.

Teaching children respect, not just for each other but for themselves, allows for another creative member of society, that when trained in the systems under which society functions, becomes more focus on communal solutions as opposed to self gratification. Education cannot take place in a vacuum, learning is universal. So when a child ask about the purpose of a particular lessen, each and every member of society must be able to answer, it is about the collective quality of life.

Re-Sectioning

Many international economists are presently speaking of a double dip recession, as some G20 countries turn inward, reducing imports, and essentially closing traditional export markets to each others’ products. These austerity measures aimed at reducing public sector waste and boosting efficiency has also resulted in cuts in some social programs. Noting that when I first coined the word “re-section”, it was in response to an insignificant debate on the definition of a recession and how the private sector uses the resulting media frenzy to reduce staff, tighten budgets and refocus its operations.

Rewarding Risk

In the present global economic situation, where vast amounts of monies are chasing very few viable opportunities, country’s traditional export and tourism revenues are drastically down and declining, driving Governments to seek to diversify and find new niche markets. Some experts are promoting think tanks, business incubators and entrepreneurship as a solution to increase foreign revenues and create jobs.

In every aspect of society, risk taking has been rewarded as a natural course of events. Soldiers and other security personnel being awarded medals and promotions, sport and culture personality winning endorsement contracts and others, who perform above the call of duty, are given bonuses in some form or another. These rewards are primarily used to motivate others, hence the lavish presentation ceremonies, to be creative, innovative and analytical.

Choosing Associates

Every business must have a highly, confidential plan containing market intelligence and marketing strategies that gives an organization its competitive advantage. Addressing present market conditions, analyzing the market to spot viable opportunities and planning detail actions to respond to and win market share.

The Business Consultancy and Management Services sector is a multi-discipline, highly competitive field which, due to advances in technology, is no longer restricted by geographical borders and is presently experiencing growth across cultures, religions and many other social boundaries. Led by economists specializing in international marketing, seeking and identifying new and feasible opportunities, to win or increase market share. Followed by financial experts, involved in venture capital, private equity and other forms of mezzanine funding, who are in search of superior returns on investment, and supported by corporate lawyers and accountants, strategies are designed and implemented to penetrate, merge or acquire a market presents.

Confidence

In the last contact hour of each and every conference, seminar, workshop, retreat, camp, planning session, etc. that I have in the last twenty-five years had the privilege in which to present, where other presenters would schedule a feedback session, I have always found it useful to interact with participants on the topic of ‘Confidence’. Please note; No mention of this word appears anywhere. I would normally start by losing my jacket, fining a position in the center of the group and posing the question, while participants decide how to react and gather themselves, “Do you get it?”

Many answers come at once, most on the topic(s) I have presented on and some, as you would expect, ask for clarification. From these signals, I point to one who asked “What do you mean?” and repeat “Do you get it?” I let the rumbling continue for as long as a minute as participants now turn to each other for help. Then I resume pointing and questioning “Do you get it?” until one participant would stand and ask “Yes! I get it.” Then I ask, “So, can you give it to the others?” This individual is normally one of the fastest thinkers in the room and has already impressed the other participants of such, now I will see how quick a thinker. I remain expressionless and silent. The answer itself does not matter, I time how long it takes for the answer to gain wide spread acceptance.

A Valued Partner

A few weeks ago, a friend and I got an opportunity to spend some time together in a mostly one-on-one social setting, something we did very often but had not had the chance to do in many years. This person and I have amazingly agreed on many topics or at the very least, agreed not to discuss insignificant issues. One topic we successfully seem to avoid is on the value of a spouse. Very few people admit to having selected a partner purely for economic reasons, most confess to being in love but all, in the heat of an argument, will contest financial control. Money is chiefly responsible for the destruction of most committed relationships.

Water Cycles

Water, H2O, Gift of Life, Essential Human Right or any other term commonly used to describe the natural cycle of ice, sea or lake. Surface water evaporating forming clouds, moving to higher altitudes, condensing as rain and maneuvering through the land surface, where it adds to many biological processes and returns to its largest storage condition, ice, sea or lake. Man-made progress has added to the natural cycle of water, for pure convenience (pun intended), capturing rain in reservoirs fed by diverting rivers or drilling well to the water table, treating it and distributing via pumps and pipelines to homes and industries, and in most cases, releasing the waste carrying water back into the water table or directly to the sea.

Invest or Buy

Cash is king in a recession; leveraged to expand its purchasing power can result in long-term wealth creation. Finding oneself with hefty savings in this “re-section or re-cast” (terms coined to address a job-less recovery based on technological efficiencies driving corporate growth) period, can be easily compared to a lottery winner; questioning how to preserve it, how much of it to spend and how much of it to keep.

Make yourself comfortable by satisfying your basic needs. Shelter, the most basic need, does not have to be expensive as you can reduce the operating cost by sharing the expense. Investing in a guest house or renting accommodations can bring in income to offset the expense. The same premises can house a restaurant reducing your food bills. A vehicle sale, rental and repair shop strategically located on the same property will also reduce your transportation cost. And if these and other basic operations are well managed, you can find yourself in a comfortable situation for the rest of your life.

The Next Big Thing

Great business ideas have always made a targeted individual feel special, a member of a select group, standing out of a crowd, ahead of the curve.

Approximately twenty years ago, the Chief Executive Officer of a successful advertising agency asked about the next great trend in advertising, the answer at that time was referred to as Secret Rewards. This was described as a discount or benefit program to win and sustain customer loyalty, with very little promotional cost. It worked in the retail environment by simply allowing a manager to select a particular type of customer and, without fanfare, bestow a significant discount or reward on them. The resulting word-of-mouth advertising led to what is referred to today as Social Marketing. A network of reward based recommendations that reduced the cost associated with direct promotions, media advertising and telemarketing strategies.

Global Growth

Both the G8 and G20 meetings, of the leaders of the world’s largest economies, recently held in Canada, pointed toward ‘Small Business’ as the driving force for growth out of this present global resection. Leaders all called for ‘Small Business’ programs to stimulate economic growth; to create more sustainable jobs, to develop new or lesser developed industries or sectors, to penetrate export markets and reduce import bills.

Destroying Tomorrow

Many countries desperately attempt to inflate or, at the very least, maintain their international credit rating, to access cheaper credit as they borrow to continue to fund current deficits. Not by directly influencing the rating agencies, but by hiding unemployment figures and literacy rates. These actions are seen by many in power as essential, in their short-term thinking, to weather the hard times.

Statistically unemployment can be counted with the use of; the number of persons actively seeking jobs through a unemployment benefits system, a count of new registrants in a national insurance scheme, and/or numbers calculated from business closures and field reports. The delay in data collection can cause significant misinterpretations and its accuracy can only be challenged by auditing, which, in itself, is a very costly and lengthy process. Developed countries have settled on a competitive approach by which Governmental agencies’ data is constantly compared to data derived from economic intelligence units attached to universities or private sector associations.

Hard Times

As major economies’ national budgets try to address existing high levels of debt, brought on by the essential financial sector bail-out and the current unsustainable growth in social programs investment, Governments must facilitate public sector reform. Effecting change toward higher efficiency levels, reducing waste and corruption, while increasing sustainable jobs, changes that politicians would instinctively avoid.

Poor wealth distribution systems have always encouraged people to seek power, political power with control of the public purse, to invest in strategies and programs that would benefit their supporters and keep them in power. Of course, the supporters of the group not in power, wishes to be and many recent elections have brought about that change. Reality, however, brings a different change, change to campaign promises, change in responses from assigning blame to taking responsibility and change from “Yes We Can” to “We are looking into it”.

Inspiring Joe

A recent comment from a regular reader of this column said that the standard of these articles were declining, one would think such a remark brought negativity but quite the opposite, I am pleased to have affected at least one reader. Meeting and listening to people generally as I travel has had a devastating effect on my views as to the future of society, so it is great to hear that my single efforts to educate and inform, to offer an opinion and to provoke thought has been met with some success.

Money or Ideas

Which comes first, Money or Ideas? This common question has always justified hopelessness – a poor person is someone without education therefore with limited access to income (jobs and opportunities) and is trapped in a cycle of poverty.

Here is some money – buy your way out of poverty. This approach has be tried and tested numerous times by well meaning institutions seeking goodwill and publicity, and claiming to be helping, with highly educated and experienced people talking down to and disrespecting the very people they are supposed to be helping up. Micro loans have been seen as a success but this system is widely misunderstood. Gifts and Loans do not help without the guiding support of education.

Stupid Voters

It is very clear that politicians would like to keep its electorate as uninformed as possible, actively employing strategies that bar serious policy discussions and informed decision making; engaging in gutter politics instead of voter education, vigorously blocking moves to monitor or limit campaign financing, dragging on debate on constitutional reform, all in a desperate attempt to hold on to power.

Marketing

An economist focusing on a particular company, not on a country or a sector, is practicing marketing. Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably. And very much like the public misuses of the terms ‘Management’ and ‘Business’, ‘Marketing’ is generally misunderstood and mistakenly used for ‘Public Relations’, ‘Promotions’ and ‘Sales’. The practice of marketing focuses on information processing, strategic planning, communications and distribution.

Forging Consensus

A diverse set of skills are needed on the road to successfully accomplish any ongoing business or schedule project mission. Molding an idea into an actionable strategic plan, involves bringing together suitable professional individuals and forming them into a focused team, organizing efficient working meetings that take various point of views and forge consensus. Outlining the plan, starts with a clear, attainable and measureable mission statement whether self-serving or altruistic (serving many), divided into several goals and objectives and further scheduled into tasks with assignees sorted by dependency.

Free Thinkers

It is societal issues, identifying problems and choosing solutions, that drives free thinkers not personalities, political parties, financial rewards or any other allegiances. This is the demographic politicians do not like and labeled swing voters. Independents; whose only thought is on securing a better future and vote on the issues. Security, education and healthcare, which are funded by taxpayers, whose jobs and business are dependent on growth in the economy.

Security, including well monitored social assistance and make work programs to help reduce poverty and petty crime combined with training in the discipline of choice, adequately funded with highly trained staff and well maintained and supplied police stations, court houses and prisons, driven by crime prevention techniques, strong laws and penalties, speedy detection and justice, a reconciliation philosophy and parole back into society. A well funded strategic plan to reduce crime, calls for policy decisions that strengthen on numerous fronts while reducing waste and corruption, is needed.

Trust

It is Not trust that binds a relationship but mutual benefits. Hope that goals and objectives will be realized and shared. Fear that bad things may happen. Rules that restrict or guide actions enforced under penalty of law. Kindness that leads to improved social development.

Hope is comfort for a fool. Many organizations, religious, political, business and criminal, use hope to bind members and members in turn find solace in that belief. This common belief system has its roots in basic survival, shared risks and rewards, tribal thinking that if one member of the group is successful, the success will be shared. Hence the fool, for this goes against basic human nature. Analogies, such as, greed is good and power corrupts, teaches that those that attain leadership, do so on the backs of the vulnerable, must cut off the preceding leader’s head and constantly guard their own head. This message of hope must from time to time result in some benefit trickling down, if simply, to attract new members and sustain the organization.

Money Migration

As many developed nations grapple with immigration issues, trying to protect their own social security and healthcare programs, underdeveloped nations are being targeted as financial engines of growth. From the sale of infrastructural works by specialty engineering firms to support services involving high technical equipment, development is good business offering high returns. Funded by inter and multi-national agencies, pooling money from donor countries under the premise that by developing a poorer country it will reduce illegal immigration from, and increase trade with, that particular country, to lay the necessary foundation for economic stability.

Cash Rich, Income Poor

So you saved, inherited, profited from the sale of assets or won money, what’s next? Firstly, you need to understand that having a large cash position can be as bad as having no cash. Secondly, finding a home for your cash is not as simple as just buying things, things you purchase must give you a return that you personally need or want. Finally, your fortune must be shared to further develop your family, your community, your country, a relevant sector and the world.

Invest Long-term

It is very difficult to sell life insurance (long-term savings) to someone in their early twenties, now in their first job. Increasing reports of natural disasters killing thousands and destroying cities, crime and violence on the increase, the growing lack of a family unit in society for security and support, the uncertainty of jobs and the ever increasing cost of living; which would lead to questions about access to funds to deal with the effects of these situations. Savings must be proportion into different investments; an amount you can afford to lose, an amount set aside for emergencies, and of course, the main portion to grow your savings faster than inflation. This allocations changes as you get older and as the size of your total portfolio (savings amount) grows.

A Few Good Men

Not speaking up makes you complicit. Do you agree or disagree; silence is generally accepted as consent, so you must have and express an opinion. Strong opinions for or against must be sold to influential persons and communicated to a wider audience. Documenting your ideas or criticisms with supporting facts, offers a professional legitimacy and builds a record of respect, which is important to access policy and law makers. How do your suggestions affect the many as opposed to the few? That is all it really takes, a few good people of independent thought to prioritize and implement, with clear benefits for the majority.

True Development

Building a society is not as simple as providing well paying long-term jobs, modern basic infrastructure or support services. Developing a society involves, raising the level of poverty. Housing the homeless, training the unskilled, treating the addicts, is only part of the journey. Giving hope, where none exist, is a tried and tested motivator used by criminal enterprises to recruit and keep members. Social scientists, having studied the criminal enterprises, have recommended such a give-hope program. This technique involves make-work, training, treatment and reward programs, without all components, especially the reward portion it simply does not work as intended. Relocating from a high crime area to a newly designed community with jobs, training and treatment, in which five year old workers are rewarded with their own rental apartment and after resident for ten years, a house, designed with the possible effects of earthquakes, hurricanes, climate change and on indigenous people in mind. These new residents will help reduce crime both in their old and new communities.

A Clear Disconnect

Professional qualifications, business and political success can cause even the most, well intension individuals to disconnect from the majority in society. This happens slowly and quietly as one’s world condenses into caste. One’s standard of living can make one the envy and hence target of others. One’s skills and abilities can present one as being financially secure attracting both the salesperson and the criminal. One’s success may earn one the status of role model, always speak very sensitively.

Why Invest

The world economic system is driven by growth or declines in productive activities or sectors. Hence, what is commonly referred to as savings is the basis of this economic system and is externally invested to generate earnings to fund periods of reduce revenues or individual retirements and other social programs. While current income is used to develop, purchase and maintain skills, most economies borrow externally, by issuing country bonds, to fund infrastructure improvements. So, whether an individual or a Government, one invests to diversify into growing income streams and to soften declining revenues, but the actual investment decisions must be driven by improving living standards.

Morals Compassion

The future of any society rest with its children and it is the society’s ability to firstly educate them and make of them productive, taxpaying contributors with a keen sense of right from wrong and clear understanding as to how a society should and or to functions. The balance between the rights of an individual and the greater good to society, has to and should, be decided on a case-by-case basis, with new lines being drawn as the society expands and develops. This is done through the amendment of society’s laws anchored on its constitution or rulebook.

Disruption Cost

Many of us recognize the need for preventative plans and actions both in life and in business as the greatest issue restricting success, limiting the fallout from crime and accidents, dealing with the aftermath of natural disasters, and of course, removing that most crucial self doubt. The resulting prevention and reaction plans must be valued and compared to assess its cost to benefit and win stakeholders’ acceptance. The insurance sector and safety regulators have combined to present the most secure environment, but it is generally left to the individual to comprehensively follow the rules and response plans.

Public Transparency

This is another call for nations and states to establish and empower an independent office of Budgets and Audits, following the call for an independently elected public prosecutor. This body must be established under the constitution to remove, as much as possible, politics from the financial cost of both recurrent and capital expenditure. Many international agencies have issued such calls as a precursor and prerequisite to giving aid or approving loans. Some Governments have commonly sidestepped the issue by pointing to an Auditor General type of office, which falls under and is funded by the executive and therefore cannot be judged to be independent. Such an office continuously withholds reports for numerous years under claims of lack of qualified personnel and adequate funding.

Credit for an Idea

Financial Institutions, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis and the current lack of consumer confidence due to uncertainty both on the job front and as to the direction of interest rates, are finding it difficult to lend. So where would an entrepreneur, a community business or a manufacturer access credit to win market share and expand to create more jobs, certainly not traditional commercial banks. A deposit taking, consumer lending bank is not in the risk taking business. Net Worth, for loan security or guarantees, and reducing the provision for bad debts on their balance sheet is more important than analyzing any business ideas.

Private Equity

Bankers worldwide, faced with a growing public and political support for the inevitable separation of their conservative retail banking business from some of their higher risk merchant and investment operations, since the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the subsequent bank losses and failures, are testing business models that would maintain their profitability as well as meet the newly proposed legal or regulatory rules. One such proven model is Private Equity business.

A high risk, high return model which can and for all intents and purposes is needed to, within the new rules, invest in large scale development projects and ongoing business operations, that can independently raise debt financing from the surviving retail banks. With these new retail banks not being allowed to own a majority stake in any type of business, Private Equity allows the new bank to, with their own reserves, partner with high net worth individuals or other corporations, who would have been past customers of their merchant and investment banking operations, to equally invest as initial contributors. Hence, the new bank maintains its high return portion of its portfolio that is so important toward pleasing shareholders and competing for large deposits.

Personal Planning

Every parent must teach their children to take care of themselves; stay healthy by eating nutritious meals on time, be security conscious, be productive, copy and guardedly protect their important documents and prioritize tasks needed to accomplish preset goals. Setting goals and listing the necessary tasks will drive decisions and avoid emergencies (unscheduled responsibilities). It is therefore these decisions (description of each task, activity and reference to other related tasks) that must be structured by category, by date and time and financial amount, in order of importance.

Financial Products

Everyone has criticized financial institutions for be too conservative or taking on to much risk. What one needs to understand is that a particular financial institution through their range of products is deliberately designed to be conservative or progressive high risk takers. Any financial crisis is therefore based first and foremost on miscommunication more than any clever misuse of funds and this is clearly a failure of regulators to protect the sector.

Business or Management

Loosely, the words business and management have been interchanged so often that any misuse is now accepted. “I have a business in town” could mean “I manage or I own a retail store in town”. Management is generally defined as using all available resources to achieve preset goals and objectives. This act of managing is normally carried out by a qualified team or individual employed to oversee day-to-day operations. But the decision to own or invest in the retail sector in that town and the decision to continue the same operation in the same location and the decision to exit or change any aspect of the operation, now, that is Business.

Taxing Money

Movement is afoot to implement a system of, what can be described as, new taxation on each financial transaction worldwide. This move, as a consequence of the global financial crisis, is primarily aimed to curb speculators and hedge funds activities but will also have a direct effect on productivity as longer term financial paper is expected to become more attractive. This tax rate across countries, not on internal country transactions, is basically to be managed by, the last reserve bank to all central banks, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as it increases the number of currencies it uses for its base currency calculation. Yes, a single currency for all international transactions.

Food from the Forest

After Copenhagen December 2009, the world is now seeing, understanding and accepting the scientific evidence of the effects of rapid climate change due to industrialization, with record snow fall across major cities in the northern hemisphere and unprecedented heat waves in the southern hemisphere. Nature is speaking and human beings must listen or die. It will not be the weather alone that kills; it will be the wars over basic food. To reduce global temperatures, it is well known that all forest must be protected and quickly replanted. To increase food supplies, investment in different production models is necessary. Many cultures have traditionally produce food within densely forested areas; these method are not widely studied and known, there require new studies, techniques and tools, a joint venture agreement with the native peoples, learning for our past mistakes to preserve the forest and slow climate change.

Social Investments

Every short to medium term plan must be a part of the long term objective. The plans formulated for today’s children, planning the family finances, or improving a nations’ education and healthcare systems, all require a long term vision. Without dreams there can be no future. The artisans’ vision communicated in writing, audio or visual is the key to social development and everyday new ideas are spawned, old ideas are refined and good ideas are funded, making the arts and culture the driving force behind the development of a civilization.