Thinking Sideways

I once heard of an example of a man who came up with an idea to solve the situation in the middle east as part of an exercise in lateral thinking, whereby he suggested giving all the inhabitants of the region Marmite (a vegetable extract spread for toast), his reasoning being that by introducing a food high in Zinc to them, it would reduce aggressive tendencies caused by biological deficiency in this substance in their natural diet, and thus make them more amenable to peaceful solutions and compromise, without breaching their faith's requirements on diet (such as meats and other prohibited foods).

I'm not sure what became of that idea (certainly doesn't seem to be working!), but using the same approach of lateral thinking, I have an idea to help pull our struggling economies out of recession, and one that has added advantages too.


Economic Illumination

My idea, strangely enough came from looking at the ideas4all logo, and that the answer to stimulating the economy is: Light bulbs!

Recently, the EU put together a “bail out package” worth some 100 billion Euros for Greece (I have a theory that a greater and more visible effect on their economy and those of other EU countries would have been to take that 100 billion and burn it publicly! … but that's perhaps a crazy idea for another time), but because globalisation and the interconnected nature of the EU means that the value of the 100 billion to Greece is depleted because the Euro itself is valued according to the economic condition of all participating nations... including Greece! (would be better for Greece to revert to their original currency, then receive the bail-out of 100 billion from the EU nations as the value of the Euro would not then be dragged down by the economic need of Greece itself... effectively making that same 100 billion worth probably twice as much to Greece, and the donor nations could more easily part with it... again, another theory for another time!), it means that this may be a pointless exercise which will not do anything for anyone.

A better solution would be to invest in something that would have a real effect on all the lives of real people, by helping them reduce the cost of living, making their salaries go further, and as a result, create more “disposable income” stimulate the economy, cause it to grow, and stave off recession.

Light Bulbs Have That Power!

If we look at the household bills of each citizen, this is where a lot of our money goes in making ends meet... particularly the electricity bill. So if we can find a way to reduce this bill for everyone, the proportion of their wages available for other things adds up across a nation of millions.

Most people still have the old Incandescent light bulbs in their homes in various lamps and light fittings... and these are usually rated at 60-100 watts, and with the price of electricity at something like 10 pence (or equivalent currency) per 1000 watts (kilowatt) consumed, ten 100 watt light bulbs running for an hour costs 10 pence. Which, if run for 5 hours per day say, is 50 pence per day, times 365 days in the year is 182 pounds fifty pence per year to run these bulbs in this way.

But if the same ten bulbs were Energy Efficient Fluorescent tube bulbs running at 20 watts each, then the annual bill according to the usage given above, is a fifth of that given. Coming out at 36 pounds 40 pence... a saving of 146 pounds 10 pence! What would you do with a permanent 80% saving on your electricity bill?!!!

But now try that with LED bulbs currently being developed, where the 100 watt incandescent equivalents due out sometime next year run at 5 watts each. This produces a bill a quarter of the fluorescent tube bulb estimate given above and a twentieth of the estimate for incandescent bulbs!
At only 9 pounds 10 pence.

Of course, the snag many of you will be pointing out is that the cost of these new LED bulbs is something like 15 pounds Each! So ten of them would almost obliterate any savings made on the bill in the first year... but the Governments of EU countries gave Banks and institutions 100 billion Euros which you will never see, and which will not have one iota of real effect in the lives and economic well being of the nation.

… How many light Bulbs could they have bought with that?

…....How much money would be saved for every household by doing this?

…...........How much would this have reduced the cost of living for these people?

…...............How many Jobs in the LED light bulb industry would have been created?

…..................How Much would this order have reduced the cost of each bulb by to others?

….......................How much revenue would be generated through taxes and disposable income?


The Method


Phase 1

The first thing to do is grasp the bull by the horns as the saying goes, and not throw money at light bulb manufacturers to make bulbs there is no market for yet in the hope that someone will buy them (at the back end of the economy in the guise of investor), but rather give these manufacturers reason to grow and expand based on a solid order placed by the government at the front end of the economy... as a customer.

If an order is placed for 150 million bulbs to be fulfilled over the course of a year, at a stated retail cost of 15 pounds/Euros per bulb, this equals a total cost of 2.25 billion pounds to the government... a drop in the ocean compared with other bailouts and economic stimulae, and with the possibility of a negotiated discount of 10% perhaps (due to the size of the order) this bring the overall cost closer to just the 2 billion pounds.


Phase 2

From here, the 150 million bulbs are divided into packs of ten bulbs and distributed to 15 million households (varying wattages based on market figures of the different power ratings sold, and in which proportions), which is done by engaging the electricity (energy, more broadly) companies using their billing lists to identify priority households where the effect of a reduction in energy bills would be most beneficial first, such as poorer households, older or more vulnerable people who struggle to pay bills, so distribute the bulb packs to these, their customers, and progressively working through the priority lists as the order from the bulb manufacturers is fulfilled, and also bringing down the cost of new LED bulbs as they go for the rest of us.


Phase 3

Additional cost benefits (and other benefits) are then generated by the recovery of old bulbs which serve to maximise the effect of the stimulus by sorting the old incandescent bulbs from the newer fluorescent bulbs... the incandescents are dismantled safely, and the component materials either responsibly disposed of, or recycled as would be appropriate ( metal filaments and glass have a recycled raw material resale value to the market... but mercury and other hazardous materials they contain can be removed in a controlled manner thus taking the responsibility and onus for doing so away from the householder), and the fluorescent bulbs can be redistributed to the households who previously used incandescents or as additions to the LED ten packs... refurbished, or recycled according to their condition.

All of this would add up to a massive, and permanent reduction in energy bills, a drastic reduction therefore to Carbon emissions generated in powering old bulbs, and act as a stimulus to the wider economy which may even have an effect on reducing the cost of living... not to mention all those extra jobs.... and all for a fraction of a bank bailout!!!!