Choose Life not Economic Growth: Critical Social Theory for People, Planet and Flourishing in the ‘Age of Nature’

Choose a fucking big television Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers... Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing sprit-crushing game shows Stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose your future. Choose life. (Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, 1996) Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist (Kenneth Boulding)

Perceptions of exercise among people who have not attended cardiac rehabilitation following myocardial infarction.

Perceptions of exercise among nonattenders of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) were explored using semistructured interviews. Analysis indicated that participants did not recognize the cardiovascular benefits of exercise, and perceived keeping
active through daily activities as sufficient for health. Health professionals were perceived to downplay the importance of exercise and CR, and medication was viewed as being more important than exercise for promoting health. The content of CR programmes and the benefits of exercise need to be further explained to patients post-MI, and in a manner that communicates to patients that these programmes are valued by significant others, particularly health professionals.

Accruals accounting in the public sector: A road not always taken

The move from cash to accruals accounting by many governments is viewed as an aspect of an ongoing New Public Management agenda designed to achieve a more business-like and performance-focused public sector. Proponents argue that accruals accounting provides more appropriate information for decision makers and ultimately leads to a more efficient and effective public sector. The transition from cash to accruals accounting for UK central government departments was announced in the early 1990s and was embedded within approximately ten years. At that time there were clear indications that analogous changes, following a similar timeline, would occur in the Republic of Ireland (RoI). In reality, the changes were significantly less extensive. Utilising document analysis and interviews with key actors, this paper considers why a functioning accruals system was established in the UK whereas in the RoI the change to accruals accounting was a ‘road not taken’.