interview: ‘it’s going to take a new economy to save the planet’.. 

(excerpt..)

AW: Before we get into your work at NEF can you talk a bit about the idea of the ‘new economy’? How would you define its key attributes?

The goal of the new economy is to meet the needs of all human beings while operating within ecological limits.

It seeks to maximize the well-being of all species – human and other.

Its proponents believe that economics is embedded in and dependent on the Earth’s ecosystems.

They reject the concept of homo economicus—the notion that humans are self-serving dispassionate individuals—and instead focus on the reality that we are adaptive social creatures.

Such a new economy rejects the goal of endless growth; indeed it is agnostic about growth – focusing instead on designs and practices that are regenerative rather than extractive.

This framework contains a spiritual element as well – defining the economy as a vehicle for enabling humans to grow and realize their full humanity.

A new economy of course needs a new economics—a better foundation for explaining our current predicament and analyzing and creating policy.

This is where NEF came in.

(cont..)

Source: It’s Going to Take a New Economy to Save the Planet | Alternet