Table Of ContentThe Living Economy
The Living Economy
A NEW ECONOMICS IN
THE MAKING
Edited by Paul Ekins
London & New York
First published 1986 by Routledge and Kegan Paul, plc
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection
of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© Paul Ekins for The Other Economic Summit (TOES) 1986
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
The Living Economy: a new economics in the making.
1. Economics
I. Ekins, Paul
330
ISBN 0-415-03937-1
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
The Living Economy
Collection of papers from The Other Economic Summit (TOES)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Economics 2. Economic development.
I. Ekins, Paul. II. The Other Economic Summit (Organization)
ISBN 0-203-16906-9 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-26442-8 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-03937-1 (Print Edition)
Dedicated to the memory of E.F.Schumacher,
author of Small is Beautiful and father of
‘economics as if people mattered’
CONTENTS
FOREWORD BY x
CHRISTIAN SCHUMACHER
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii
INTRODUCTION 1
PART I THE NEED FOR A NEW ECONOMICS 4
ECONOMIC GROWTH: MEDICINE OR 5
DISEASE?
Economic growth: the political economy of resource 7
misallocation
Contribution by Edward Barbier
The reality of a finite planet 10
Contribution by Herman Daly and Harford Thomas
THE SCOURGE OF UNEMPLOYMENT 13
Contribution by David Fleming and Paul Sparrow
THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC 15
DISORDER
Trickling down and out 16
Contribution by Anila Graham
The debt crisis 18
Contribution by Susan George
The arms trade 24
Contribution by Tony Humm
Health and development 27
Contribution by Mira Shiva
INDICATORS OF NO REAL MEANING 31
Contribution by Hazel Henderson, John Lintott
and Paul Sparrow
vi
PART II PUTTING PEOPLE FIRST 40
1 A FRAMEWORK FOR THE FUTURE 41
‘Human-scale economics: the challenges ahead’
by Manfred Max-Neef
2 A QUESTION OF NEEDS 54
‘Needs and commodities’ 55
by Jeremy Seabrook Contribution by Christine
MacNulty
‘Human need and strategies for social change’ 68
by Len Doyal and Ian Gough
3 THE NATURE OF WORK 80
‘What comes after full employment?’ 84
by James Robertson
4 IN SEARCH OF SELF-RELIANCE 96
‘Towards a New Economics: on the theory and 96
practice of self-reliance’
by Johan Galtung
5 HEALTH IS WEALTH 109
Contribution by Peter Draper and Trevor
Hancock
‘The mismatch between health and economics’ 113
by James Robertson
‘Demedicalization and possibilities for health’ 121
by John McKnight
6 INDICATORS OF ECONOMIC PROGRESS 128
‘From Gross to Adjusted National Product’ 132
by Christian Leipert
‘Health-based indicators of economic progress’ 140
by Trevor Hancock
‘Social indicators for popular planning’ 145
by Roy Carr-Hill and John Lintott
vii
‘Making the informal economy visible’ 155
by David Ross
PART III THE NEW ECONOMICS IN ACTION 167
7 ACCESS TO LAND 170
Contribution by David Bateman and Nic
Lampkin, Howard Newby and Hartmut
Vogtmann
‘Co-operative land banks’ by 181
Shann Turnbull
‘Land value taxation’ 189
by Fred Harrison
8 FINANCIAL FUTURES 194
Contribution by Michael Linton, Shann Turnbull
and David Weston
‘Money as if people mattered’ 204
by David Cadman
9 WORKING LIKE WOMEN 211
‘Flexible working patterns’
by Sheila Rothwell
10 TAXATION, BENEFITS AND THE BASIC 225
INCOME
Contribution by Anne Miller and David Chapman
‘Universalising capital ownership’ 234
by Ward Morehouse
11 INDUSTRIAL PRIORITIES AND 242
TECHNOLOGICAL CHOICE
‘An economic scenario for a conserver-economy’ 243
by Roefie Hueting
‘The Sunrise Seven’ 258
by John Elkington
12 LOCAL ECONOMIC REGENERATION AND 265
CO-OPERATION
‘A new local economic order’ 265
viii
by Guy Dauncey
‘What small business experience teaches about 273
economic theory’
by Michael Phillips
‘Co-operation: where the social meets the economic’ 284
by Paul Ekins
13 LEARNING FROM THE SOUTH 290
‘The Green Belt Movement’ 291
by Wangari Maathai
‘Piece-rate workers’ attempt at self-reliance’ 297
by Ela Bhatt
‘Putting the last first’ 306
by Robert Chambers
14 TRADE AND THE MULTINATIONALS 324
‘Alternative trading strategies’ 324
by Frances Stewart and Ejaz Ghani
‘Delinking from the world market’ 334
by Wolfgang Sachs
‘The role of corporations’ 345
by Willis Harman
CONCLUSION 352
APPENDICES 357
1 The Other Economic Summit conference papers 357
1984 and 1985: details of contributors
2 Relevant addresses 368
3 Steering Committee of The Other Economic 376
Summit
4 Main sponsors of The Other Economic Summit 379
BIBLIOGRAPHY 380
INDEX 393
FIGURES AND TABLES
FIGURES
1.1 Total productive system of an industrial society (Three-layer 32
cake with icing)
2.1 Schematic illustration of Doyal and Gough’s theory of 77
human needs
6.1 The transformation from gross to net production returns 134
6.2 The whole economy divided into nine sectors 156
6.3 Scale and rationale of economic units 160
6.4 Sectional approach to scale and rationale 160
10.1 Diagram of present system for creating new productive 236
assets by US corporations
TABLES
1.1 Community running costs of unemployment to be accounted 14
for
1.2 International debts and debt service ratios 19
3.1 Four-sector economy 88
6.1 Categories of defensive expenditures 135
6.2 Changing patterns of work and leisure, 1951–81, Great 151
Britain
6.3 Changing patterns of time use, minutes per day, population 152
aged 15+
10.1 The fairness ratio: income distribution in selected countries 235
11.1 Comparative survey of three scenarios Results at the year 253
2000 (1980=100)
13.1 First values and last realities 309
13.2 Professional preferences 309
13.3 Contrasts in learning and location 320
