I'm a Green Economist Too!

For most of us, claiming to be a green economist is a political move in itself. Economists are regarded with some contempt by the general public, perhaps placed alongside estate agents and bankers (although one with hair-dressers and telephone sanitisers would probably be fairer). But the role of an economist is important to any society. In my work about the bioregional economy I try to think through what an economist is for, rethinking what the role of distributing resources fairly and efficiently would be like in a sustainable society.

I am interested in why every small town has several accountants but no economists. My suggestion that we need a Guild of Green Economists is an attempt to begin to think what practical role economists could play in building local economies. Please let me have links to your work so that we can make a useful network and create the new worldview of economics between us.

Soon after I started trying to reinvent the economy single-handed, a friend kindly pointed out that much of what I needed already existed in the co-operative movement. Some of my work about co-operatives and the role they may play in a sustainable economy is on those pages. Next, I became interested in money, how it is created and how this ties us into the destructive spiral of consumption and growth. I have since learned a great deal about alternatives to the conventional money and banking system. I have also spent some time thinking about what might loosely be called the Transition, and how it is possible to move from one paradigm to another.