Public finances: demolition or restoration? Cutting services to reduce current debt levels is not the way forward, argues Colm Reilly, individuals are balancing their own household budgets without drastic action and the government shou

d take note Comments (0) Colm Reilly Public, Thursday 30 September 2010 09.14 BST ‘Do less, with less’ is the simple and conventional answer to reducing government debt. That is the equivalent of saying “the roof is leaking, so I’ll move out of the top floor so the rain doesn’t bother me”. It is a short-term fix but meanwhile the damp spreads from the top floor to the whole building, creating a much bigger and more expensive problem. The “we need to cut services to reduce current debts” response is the same kind of approach, based on the view that the situation is so urgent that we must do something now, and that we can worry about the long term economic repairs some other time. That assessment is correct, but only to a point. The spending review is not about spending (the name is misleading), it is about rebalancing the resources in our economy which have become scarcer due to the global fiscal crises and as a result of poor fiscal management here in the UK. This means the review should be used as the opportunity to build a scaffolding around the economic building both to manage the current position (as deficit reduction is essential) but also to start on the longer term action to get growth back into the UK economy. The repairs are the critical defining factor for its success. If the review is used only to cut spending, with no real plan for future growth and the kind of public services needed to support the economy, it will lead to a period of slow growth and ongoing pain. Government services However, if the review undertakes a clear sighted examination of the future shape of government services, how we can move to a lower cost operating model and of the levers that can be used to stimulate growth then it will be a major step forward in fixing the fundamentals of the economy. There will be hard decisions in the short term but there are ways of improving the decision making process by greater citizen involvement. Citizens have already shown that they know how to do this by making hard decisions to balance their own household expenses during the recession (“I’ll paint the living room myself, instead of hiring a painter – because I’d rather have the cash than the free time”). As a result, they are managing the effects of the recession on their personal finances better than we are managing the public finances. So there is a need to engage in a dialogue with broader society and ask the citizen which services they are prepared to compromise on and which they world rather pay extra in taxation to preserve. Consultation, focus groups and online forums all give the citizen a voice in the reconfiguration of the services that matter most to them. The consultation mechanism does not imply that citizens have a veto but gives them a voice, and this voice would be a tangible sign of a Big Society. In parallel to this work, there is a whole range of longer term actions needed to build resilience and sustainable recovery into the economy for the future. An important starting point is to address the fundamental flaws in the banking sector. There needs to be real reform to create a balanced approach to risk, not the pendulum swing from high risk to no risk that we have seen in the past three years. The current attempts at reform through [capital and liquidity reform package] Basel 3 and other changes are missing the point. The proposals, devised by bankers for bankers, incorporate further process related requirements. However, processes never fix behavioural flaws of any industry and careless risk taking, when you do not have to bear the costs, seems a relatively easy option. The causes of the reckless behaviour leading up to the crisis and the levers that drive the approach to risk in banking have not been tackled. Unless they are, we risk seeing history repeat itself. Then there needs to be real change in the support available for enterprise. This should include providing incentives for the formation and growth of truly global companies who are set up to export from the outset. Intelligent business tax For example, an intelligent business tax where the level of contribution to economic growth your industry makes could be used to reduce the tax rate would encourage a more ambitious approach to how businesses go to the global market. Exports need to drive our economic activity in the next decade. The Made in Britainlogo needs to be seen in markets across the world. This kind of focus will sharpen our economic performance and strengthen national competitiveness. Government, as the key facilitator of change, has to take a fundamental look at the way it operates and drive real change. The way government manages its own workforce is rigid and complex. Flexible resourcing would create pools of people within government departments who could turn their hand to a much wider range of tasks. As a result, they could respond to changes in demand over time more quickly and without the need for lengthy and expensive recruitment of a different skill set with every change in policy or service requirements. So while the short-term pressures are considerable, it is essential that the spending review is used to repair and rebuild the economy and create sustainable growth for the future. We are going through a rough patch at the moment but it is also a time of renewal and refocus and the opportunity to build a more robust economy which benefits us all. Colm Reilly is head of government practice at PA Consulting Group Read more at www.guardianpublic.co.uk

By Erica Swallow (from Mashable) on October 4, 2010 0 Comments Death is a fact of life. When someone dies, they’re no longer physically here, but their digital self lives on. There are over 5 million accounts on Facebook that are inactive due to death, according to the calculations of BlackBook Media’s Executive Editor Chris Mohney. And that’s just Facebook. Think about all of the other social sites and online services out there – the number of abandoned accounts due to death must be enormous. After someone passes away, their digital assets live on in the form of computer files and data online. For some, that’s not a big deal. But for others, the thought of leaving digital assets unattended for eternity after death is unthinkable. Luckily, there are a number of services that allow you to delete, update, or transfer account information after you – or someone you care about – is gone. Here are seven services that help manage a digital life after death. If you’ve heard of other services that also handle these services, add your thoughts in the comments below. 1. Entrustet Entrustet is a free service that enables an account holder to pass on digital assets to up to 10 designated heirs and one executor, who is in charge or executing a person’s digital wishes, after they pass away. Digital assets include social networks, financial accounts, blogs, e-mails and other Internet properties or files. Check out the video above, in which Rocketboom Tech‘s Ellie Rountree interviews Jesse Davis, co-founder of Entrustet, about how the service works and why it is important. 2. Legacy Locker Legacy Locker was one of the first services to be offered in this arena and is a trusted service for transferring access to digital assets, including e-mail, social media, and blogging accounts, to trusted sources. Legacy Locker offers three pricing plans, starting with a free account that includes storage of information for three digital assets, one beneficiary and one legacy letter, which acts as a digital goodbye note sent after death. If the basic, free service isn’t enough, there’s also the $29.99 per year plan or the $299.99 one-time fee plan, which both allow for unlimited assets, beneficiaries and legacy letters, as well as document backup and video upload. 3. My Webwill My Webwill ensures that a trusted person can change or transfer someone’s online accounts, including Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, LinkedIn, Tumblr, YouTube, and more, after a death. Choose the desired settings for each account and choose two “trusted verifiers” to confirm the death, and upon notification of that person’s passing, My Webwill performs the deceased person’s wishes. 4. Futuris.tk Future.tk is a social network with an online messaging service that lets anyone schedule messages up to 50 years in advance. Using the free post-mortem feature, it can also schedule messages to be sent to recipients after a death. To use this feature, the sender must select trusted sources to notify Futuris.tk of their passing, after which your messages can be sent. Because it offers unlimited messages for free, Futuris.tk is ideal for people who might have a lot of unfinished business to tie up with friends and family after death – or for someone who wants to send many personalized messages. 5. Deathswitch Deathswitch is a service that periodically prompts the account holder to provide a pre-determined password to ensure they’re still alive. If that person doesn’t enter a password on multiple occasions for a period of time, it deduces that the person is either dead or critically injured and begins sending out personalized pre-written messages to chosen contacts. The service can be used in many ways, but according to the site, some of the more common uses include sending passwords, financial information, final wishes, last words, love notes, and funeral instructions. With a free subscription, you can create one message to be emailed to one recipient. Or for $19.95 per year, you can prepare up to 30 messages with file attachments for up to 10 recipients per message. Like Futuris.tk, this is a great option for sending out bulk messages, except in this case you have to shell out for the service. You do, however, get the extra benefit of adding file attachments, such as photos and videos. 6. GreatGoodbye GreatGoodbye is a service that enables an account holder to schedule e-mails to loved ones, which can only be triggered once an activation code is entered by a trusted source. Once you prepare your e-mails, which can include videos, photos and MP3s for a price, your activation code is sent and should be passed along to a trusted friend. The service offers three pricing plans – a free plan that only includes one e-mail or the $20 per year or $119 one-time fee plans that include unlimited messages with unlimited videos, photos and MP3s. All of the plans come with unlimited memory space that lasts for 20 years, data encryption, secure login, 21 days to block the sending of messages after a death notification and multiple levels of security. 7. AssetLock AssetLock is a service that focuses on mass storage of important information that may be crucial for others to know after a death, including information on financials, estate planning, insurance policies account passwords, e-mails and final wishes and directives. It has the capacity to store letters to be sent after a death, as well. The great thing about AssetLock is that it is very customizable. For example, you can choose the number of “recipients” necessary to unlock an account. So, it you want at least five people to verify a death with the service before they unlock information, you can do that. Furthermore, you can also specify the time delay between an account being unlocked and the information being disseminated.  Pricing plans range from $9.95 per year to $239.95 for lifetime membership, depending on the amount of entries and storage space you require. Compare plans here and check out the demo for more information. [Top image courtesy of Jonathan Fuchs] See more from Mashable: 10 Great Free Games for Android 10 Best Web Apps for Music Lovers Top 10 Android Apps for Music Lovers 10 Best Web Apps for Movie Lovers ========================================================================== Founded in July 2005, Mashable is the world’s largest blog focused exclusively on Web 2.0 and Social Media news. With more than 15 million monthly page views, Mashable is the most prolific blog reviewing new Web sites and services, publishing breaking news on what’s new on the web and offering social media resources and guides. Erica Swallow is an Assistant Editor at Mashable, working primarily on writing, editing and managing supported feature content, with a particular focus on business and marketing. Prior to joining Mashable, she managed the social media marketing strategy for The New York Times. 0 Comments Related Articles 6 Great Ways to Find Online Communities 5 Ways Television is Getting Social Feed Your Mind For Free Online Beyond Evite: Top 3 Unique Invitation Sites 10 Travel Gadget Must-Haves LinkWithin Comments Sign in with TypePad Facebook Twitter and more… 7 Ways to Handle Digital Life After Death Death is a fact of life. When someone dies, they’re no longer physically here, but their digital self lives on. There are over 5 million accounts on Facebook that are inactive due to death, according to the calculations of BlackBook Media’s Executive Editor Chris Mohney. And that’s just Facebook. Think about all of the other social sites and online services out there – the number of abandoned accounts due to death must be enormous. Meet the Contributor Meet them all   Erica Swallow from Mashable Erica Swallow is an Assistant Editor at Mashable, working primarily on writing, editing and managing… Read articles from Erica…   Our Top 10 Lists Top 10 Blogs to Learn Something New Top 10 Pop Culture Blogs Top 10 Kids’ Style Blogs Top 10 Activities with Kids Blogs Top 10 Home Improvement Blogs View all Top 10s »       vintagemack @bakerella got my book and tshirt ready for oct 28…. 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7 Ways to Handle Digital Life After Death By Erica Swallow (from Mashable) on October 4, 2010 0 Comments Death is a fact of life. When someone dies, they’re no longer physically here, but their digital self lives on. There are over 5 million accounts on Facebook that are inactive due to death, according to the calculations of BlackBook Media’s Executive Editor Chris Mohney. And that’s just Facebook. Think about all of the other social sites and online services out there – the number of abandoned accounts due to death must be enormous. After someone passes away, their digital assets live on in the form of computer files and data online. For some, that’s not a big deal. But for others, the thought of leaving digital assets unattended for eternity after death is unthinkable. Luckily, there are a number of services that allow you to delete, update, or transfer account information after you – or someone you care about – is gone. Here are seven services that help manage a digital life after death. If you’ve heard of other services that also handle these services, add your thoughts in the comments below. Read more at mylifescoop.com