Suggested reading for Climate and Capitalism readers …
We hope to review Mindful Economics at some point. In the meantime, here are some excerpts from the publisher’s description. For more infomation, see http://www.mindfuleconomics.com/
Mindful Economics breaks away from traditional economic theory and provides a fresh, critical perspective on capitalism in America. The book will be particularly useful for citizens, activists, students or others who seek positive social change.
The author, Joel Magnuson, is currently a professor of economics in Portland, Oregon and a visiting fellow at the Ashcroft International Business School at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, England.
The first several chapters guide the readers through an exploration of real-world institutions such as corporations, government, market systems, financial and other institutions that make up the U.S. economy. Embedded in these stories is the consistent theme that the need to maximize profits for a relatively small section of the U.S. population has shaped the development of America’s most powerful institutions.
The second part of the book demonstrates how the need for higher profits and endless growth has intensified environmental destruction, resource depletion, instability, social and political inequality, and even global warming. These problems have become systemic and solutions therefore require long-term systemic change.
The path toward systemic change is laid out in the third part of Mindful Economics. Such change can be brought about by developing alternative institutions. Such alternatives are not only viable, they can be found all across the United States. Through a network of alternative institutions, people can begin to build alternatives to capitalism and provide hope for future generations.