To transform society – as climate science insists we must – we need a new economics.
Lightly regulated corporate capitalism – a.k.a. neoliberalism – has done much to get us into this mess, with its view of the earth’s finite resources as ‘natural capital’ to be ruthlessly extracted and exploited. The economic theory underpinning this – 'neoclassical economics' – has been taught in universities and faithfully accepted by mainstream political parties for forty years. GDP is its metric; endless growth is its goal.
But this economic orthodoxy is being challenged. Doughnut economics, for example, pioneered by Kate Raworth, defines its goal as ‘thriving’ communities, living within planetary boundaries. The doughnut was recently adopted by Amsterdam; could LBHF be next?
Another big idea is degrowth, which argues that to avoid climate catastrophe (and for many other good reasons), we need to extract, produce and consume less stuff – and in the words of Jason Hickel, ‘become more’.
Bringing these ideas and others together are the Wellbeing Economic Alliance and the New Economics Foundation. There has never been a better time to get economically literate.
(click on the images for more information)
WEAll unites 'organisations, alliances, movements and individuals working towards a wellbeing economy…’ The governments of Scotland, Wales, Iceland and NZ are signed up.
2 minute New Economics Foundation video: ‘Together we can change the rules to make the economy work for everyone’
Fairytales of Growth (47 mins, 2020) shows how economic growth has brought us close to catastrophic climate breakdown; what then are the alternatives?
Best-selling introduction to the doughnut-shaped alternative to growth-driven economics.
Seven short animated videos from Kate Raworth, explaining Doughnut Economics.
Kate Raworth’s 15 minute Ted talk (2018) has been seen by millions: ‘A healthy economy should be designed to thrive, not grow.’
David Pilling, tells how GDP came to be the all-important economic metric for governments – then thoroughly debunks it. Other metrics, it turns out, are available…
37% of UK workers believe their job is pointless. And they’re right. Could we all work less – and just at the jobs worth doing? David Graeber offers one solution to the climate crisis.
The Dasgupta Review on Economics of Biodiversity, commissioned by the Treasury, was published in Feb. 2021. You can read the report - or just its headlines - here.
Five things you need to know about degrowth: a handy summary and short video from the German broadcaster, DW (Deutsche Welle).
2 minute Newsnight film by degrowth champion, Jason Hickel: ‘Our addiction to economic growth is killing us.’
Jason Hickel spells out the urgent case for degrowth, and what a flourishing post-growth economy could look like. A great book!
Article from Yes! magazine on a timebanking project in St. Louis, USA, where residents exchange their time, skills and goods instead of money.
12 minute film introducing Charles Eisenstein's proposal for a return to the 'sacred economics' of gift exchange (explored in his 2011 book).
National Geographic article on the Universal Basic Income: utopian pipe-dream or a great idea whose time has finally come?