We know from history that cooperation among small producers in cooperatives under certain circumstances can beat commercial private companies. But within software, another type of cooperation has appeared during the last decades. The whole thing was started by hobbyists who liked what they were doing and were cooperating which each other, despite that there was no economic benefit in it. In some areas it has proven extremely effective in challenging monopolies and bringing down excess costs for the user.

We are told by liberals, and in particular economists, that humans are selfish, and by being selfish, they are contributing in the best way to the common good. This is scientifically incorrect. Humans are of course looking for their own interests, but they are genetically also disposed for being cooperative and with a capacity of self-sacrifice – also called altruism.

We are in the middle of big changes in the global world order. As is often the case, it is difficult to perceive the magnitude of what is happening when you are in the middle of it. It is like not being able to see the forest for all the trees. But the changes are big, and I think the years 2023-2024 will afterwards be seen as the watershed years. The winners are the countries of the Global South, China and Russia. The main loser is the European Union.

Recent events show that China has been able to overcome the US sanctions campaign against its High Tech industry. The US has reacted with a new wave of sanctions against China. This is a dead-end. It will eventually hurt the US more than China. Thank you, Mr. Biden.

The political debate in the US about new spending is bizarre. They are bickering about more money for this and for that: the military, border defence, chip production, Ukraine, Israel, you name it. The only thing that is never mentioned, is how to pay for it. And this is despite that the US is running the biggest deficit since the 2009 financial crisis and the Covid emergency. The national debt is spiralling. They are spending as if there is no tomorrow.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s current prime minister, has reminded western audiences of the mass civilian deaths caused by the Allied bombing of Dresden in 1945. Why is he doing that? What he wants to say is that “if you could, why can’t we?” Israel’s American and European friends feel uncomfortable when this comparison is made.

History tells us that countries have routinely conquered land, where other people are living, so the case of the State of Israel is not unique. But the question arrives, what to do with the people on the conquered land. Here, the State of Israel is a very peculiar case, and at the root of the Palestinian tragedy.

General Mark Milley, chairman of the US’ joint chiefs of staff, said in February 2023 that Russia has already lost ‘strategically, operationally and tactically’. The war in Ukraine is in the US seen as 'a remarkably cost-effective way to degrade Russia’s military capabilities without risking a single (American) life'. So then everything is going according to plan. Or is it?

The Russian economy has apparently resisted the ‘sanctions from hell’ which were supposed to lead to an economic collapse. This has left a lot of economists and politicians perplexed. But it is no mystery. Sanctions hurt, but they also create opportunities, particularly in big and relatively advanced countries as Russia. The reason it is so difficult for many economists to understand is that they have enclosed themselves in a narrow neoliberal universe. What is happening in Russia has an important message for developing countries.

The loss of lives of soldiers in the Ukraine war is horrific. We don’t know how many are dying, but nobody doubts the number is terrifying high. A recent study gives us a glimpse of what is going on. It shows that 63% of the Ukrainians respond that they have at least one close relative or friend who died, 78% if we include the injured. This is insane. The US, NATO and EU say this should continue for “as long as it takes”. Do they have a good reason for letting this bloodbath continue?