Green Economics

Modern economics has put immense pressure on the natural world and its resources. Economic growth is now at a level where it is generating more destruction than real wealth.

We need to aim for a more democratic, efficient, fair and responsible way to live, in which money is just a means to an end, and the personal and political, the social and ecological, are inseparable.

Green economics is primarily about:

• The primacy of 'use-value': money being seen as a means to and end, rather than for its 'exchange-value'.
• Quality, not quantity for the sake of it.
• Regeneration of individuals, communities and ecosystems, instead of accumulation of money or material.
• Human beings no longer serving the mechanisms of capitalistic or socialistic material and financial accumulation.
• Ecological development based on an unleashing of human development and an extension of democracy.
• The "public" and "private" sectors being transformed, so that markets can express social and ecological values.
• The state being merged with grassroots networks of community innovation.

See the Green Economics website for further information.

Green economics has a clear set of principles and real, positive and effective answers and solutions to global issues. These principles can be applied by everyone for sustainable development and the survival of the natural world, which humankind is part of and depends on, and a vital natural balance between humankind and the natural world.

References and further reading:

Blueprint 2, Greening The World Economy by Earthscan Environment Team
Designing The Green Economy and What Is Green Economics?, both by Brian Minali
Environmental Economics by David Pearce, R. Kerry Turner & Ian Bateman.
Growth Fetish by Clive Hamilton.
A Global Ethic For Global Politics And Economics by Hans Küng
Welfare and Ideology, by Vic George and Paul Wilding
Go Mad!, 365 ways to save the planet - The Ecologist Magazine
The Green Alternative Guide to Good Living, by Ecoropa