Sustainable Capitalism A Matter of Common Sense

John E. Ikerd

DA 8000

Patcharawan Ubonloet

22 Feb 2015

Outline

• About the author

• Why Sustainable Capitalism?

• The First Principles: A Matter of Common Sense

• Sustainability

How do we manage?

• Sustainable capitalism

2

About the author

• Believed in neoclassical economic

and free market

• An agricultural economist

3

Why Sustainable Capitalism?

• The pursuit of economic wealth is a pursuit of

individual, hedonistic and sensory pleasure.

• The pursuit of individual wealth encourages the

exploitation of others for self gain, which destroys

human relationships social happiness.

• Economic attempts to be a hard science by using

statistical and economic model to manage and

predict economic growth.

• Ikerd suggests that economic is “living principles”.

Social scarcity, matters of morality- environmental

ethics relates to truth and rightness cannot be

evaluated in dollars and votes.

Problem with neoclassical economics

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• Degeneration of exploitative, divisive society resulting in rising unhappiness and eventually in revolution.

• Negative ecological and social impacts The rising ‘‘corporatism’’- domination of corporations is the greatest threats to sustainability are directly related to the industrial approach to organizational management.

• It creates non-existing needs through advertising leading to exploitation of global resources.

• No assurance of producing “the right stuff” to meet today and future’s real needs.

• Capitalistic economy is incapable of transforming individual self-interests into society well-being.

Why Sustainable Capitalism?

Problem with capitalism

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Impacts of capitalism

Why Sustainable Capitalism?

• Poor treatment of factory workers

• Negative ecological and political

impacts of industrialism.

• Polluters and extractors of nonrenewable

and renewable resources.

• Corporations disrupts local economies.

• Unfair economic system as social and

moral constraints to economic growth is

removed.

Why Sustainable Capitalism?

• Values in life

• Relationship among things

• Equity justice

• Ethic, morality and

intergenerational equity

along with growth and

development

• Ecological and social implications

The return of classical economic principles

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The First Principles A Matter of Common Sense

• A new economics of sustainability based on principles of living systems, capable of self-renewal and regeneration for present and future generations.

• ‘‘ The First Principles’’ of classical economics – the pursuit of happiness - not just material well-being but relationships with families, communities, cultures and societal well-being instead of just the pursuit of wealth.

• As a human we need for both caring and sharing- a spiritual connectedness.

• Our Common sense tells us that ethics and morality- care about others- matters in creating economic of happiness, social well-being and sustainability. 8

Sustainabi l i ty Liveable evolution

Meet the needs of people today individually and collectively

Preserving opportunity for future generations

Sustainability: How do we manage?

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Sustainability: How do we manage?

Sustainability Happiness and Quality of life

Public economy

Private economy

C o m p e t i t i v e n e s s M a r k e t / E f f i c i e n c y / B a l a n c e s u p p l y & d e m a n d

In f ras t ructure

P h y s i c a l / F i n a n c e / L e g a l

G o v e r n m e n t

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Macro economic s tab i l i ty Sustain economic development/

Economic & social integrity/ Profits shared/ Care for natural& social community

Moral/consensus/ rightness/relationship

Produce common goods to equal rights people

a l

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Sustainable Capitalism?

• Hearts and minds of people

• Common sense understanding of the fundamental first

principles- enlightened concept of self-interest.

• A return to the pursuit of a more

desirable quality of life , not the financial wealth.

• An understanding that a desirable quality of life depends

upon the rightness of our relationships with each other and with the earth.

• Willingness to return to the pursuit of happiness.

Begins with

Thank you

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