Purpose Inspired: by Wayne Visser

S2.E10: Sustainable Economics: Beyond the Predatory Economy

September 13, 2019 Wayne Visser Season 2 Episode 10
Purpose Inspired: by Wayne Visser
S2.E10: Sustainable Economics: Beyond the Predatory Economy
Show Notes

It is not uncommon to hear our present global economic system being compared to a predatory natural environment. We might imagine the market as a great African plain where competition for scarce resources dominates the life of every species. We can see successful companies as the supreme hunters in this eat-or-be-eaten world, like the awesome lions of the bushveld. It is certainly a compelling analogy and one that is perpetuated in boardrooms and business schools around the world. But is this lion-king economy really the kind of place that we want to live in? Of course, it’s great if you’re at the top of the food chain, but what about the other, more vulnerable species? Is the free market really working “for the common good”, as it should according to Adam Smith’s “invisible hand”? Or are communities and the environment being sacrificed to keep companies well fed?  This episode questions many of the beliefs which dominate economic thinking today, and asks whether we can design an economy “as if people and the planet mattered” – a sustainability-driven elephant economy.