THE global meltdown caused by over leveraging of loans counters productivity. There may be times in which the bad debts grow bigger than production gains and would therefore require a period of adjustment. The US sub prime loans triggered such an adjustment phase for the US and world economy. But the productivity accumulation for the past years, though, are still way beyond the consumption and bad loan penalties that the US and world economy have to correct. There is a temporary adjustment but in no way signals a danger of collapse. The productivity accumulated due to advances in communication still has a long way to go before it can be erased by the defaults in housing, credit cards and ponzi schemes. The world down turn is a temporary phenomenon. People are living better than ever before. The dollar will still be the medium of exchange for a long time. The productivity engendered by computers and the Internet in communication has served us well and it can be replicated by the next productivity enhancers such as power from solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, and nuclear sources. Avoiding the fossil fuel sources will bring a tremendous boost to productivity again and bring unprecedented prosperity for the economies of the world. The caution is that this bonanza should be shared by all the peoples of the world and not only for those in the first world countries and regions. Researches into harnessing these power sources as productivity enhancers paint a bright future for the world economy.

We need a world dream and this dream must be prosperity for all and not to leave anybody behind. We must cobble this dream and then organize to reach it since we have the resources and capabilities to reach it. But first we must make explicit that dream. And make sure no one is to be left behind. We should banish hunger from the face of the earth, enhance health, propagate knowledge, and share peace and prosperity. We can do it now. We can create a situation one step short of heaven with the resources and capabilities we have.

Next we must work on spiritual productivity or the spreading of joy and happiness here on earth. The Lord wants us to experience happiness even here on earth while not forgetting the happiness that is thousand times greater than what is possible here on earth. While we hope for that happiness in the next world, we must not neglect the happiness that is available here and now. We have to be productive in the spiritual sense of spreading happiness which is the seed of the happiness we hope for in the next world. In our dream we must dream of prosperity for everyone without exception not only here on earth but also in the next world. It can be done. We can have material productivity as well as spiritual productivity and perfect happiness in love with the Creator. <emeterio_barcelon@ yahoo.com>