The Adhoc Thinker

When species move out of balance with their ecosystem nature seeks to punish and return to balance. From the enlightenment humans have assumed a role as masters of nature; so-called anthropocentric thinking. The separation of humans from the rest of nature is, of course, nonsensical. However, it has been key in our efforts (in the words of McBurney) to stuff all of the worlds ecology into economics and it won’t go! All of our worries about business and economics are really for nothing unless we hear and address what is a clear ecological wake up call to the fact that human behaviour is unsustainable. The idea that humans would destroy the earth was, as noted by Lovelock, always far less likely than we would destroy ourselves; sinking under the weight of our own hubris. Make no mistake, Coronavirus is simply part of a wider ecological alarm call. We either find a way to reset the way we live and organise ourselves, as a species, or we will simply see more extreme wea

The unprecedented events arising from the Coronavirus pandemic has created a paradoxical situation. On the one hand, the need for social distancing is creating a huge swing towards digital delivery of products and services and the replacement of physical meetings with digital platforms. As such, this may well be a defining moment, where the digital economy assumes a driving role in the global economy. On the other hand, as the virus has taken hold national governments have quickly abandoned international cooperation and retreated into national isolation; slamming borders shut, refusing the sharing and export of medical resources and protecting national industries. Nowhere has this been more evident than Europe, with citizens trapped in countries other than their own, as flights are canceled and borders closed. On top of a continent wide trend towards reactionary and nationalistic politics this may well also set the tone for the future. Going forward we face a world which is