April 24, 2012
To our substantial surprise, the Strategies for a New Economy Conference is at capacity and—reluctantly—we have had to close registration more than six weeks before the conference.
The idea that we are gathering many different leaders and initiatives from across the entire New Economy Movement has apparently struck a chord. We have rarely seen as much excitement in advance of any gathering....
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Reaching Capacity/Expanding the Conversation
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Renewing Inner City Neighborhoods: Land, Capital, Community
April 14, 2012
We look forward to seeing you at the groundbreaking "Strategies for a New Economy" conference (at Bard College, June 8th-10th), where you will learn about the exciting innovations in theory and practice that are taking place all over the United States. We want to point out two examples: the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative in Massachusetts and the Green Village Initiative in Connecticut.
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Partners in Change/April 15th New Date
March 30, 2012
I wanted to make sure you were aware of some important news: at the request of one of our partnering organizations, the discounted, early-registration-period for our "Strategies for a New Economy" Conference has been extended to April 15th. The Global Development And Environment Institute at Tufts University (http://www.gdae.org) wants to make sure that its members know about... -
Greetings from Our New President
March 23, 2012
I am excited to be reaching out to you in my first newsletter as the
president of the New Economics Institute. I look forward to meeting you
and hearing from you in the months ahead. There are many exciting
developments taking place through NEI and our network of partners.
I would like to invite you personally to participate in two of our most
important innovations: first,... -
Discounted Registration Through April 1st
March 13, 2012
The June 8-10, 2012, Strategies for a New Economy conference
(http://www.neweconomicsinstitute.org/conference) will feature speakers from a range of organizations:
BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) -- Michelle Long, Judy
Wicks, Merrian Goggio Borgeson
BerkShares -- Susan Witt
Capital Institute -- John... -
Designing a New Economic Operating System
February 26, 2012
Richard Heinberg of the Post Carbon Institute predicts the June 8th-10th
"Strategies for a New Economy" conference will be a "watershed event."
Gathered together will be leaders in the common work to design and build a new economic operating system.
Early bird registration is now open. $550 includes registration, room, and meals at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY... -
Strategies for a New Economy/Registration Open
February 11, 2012
We are at a turning point in history. Rising temperatures are now recognized as a sign of a planet in crisis. Inequities between rich and poor, North and South grow ever deeper.
The global economy has failed in its promise to produce and deliver basic goods in an efficient manner for an expanding population, leaving increasing numbers in abject poverty.
The environmental... -
Practical Optimism
December 29, 2011
The New Economics Institute is launching two projects in 2012.
The first is “Strategies for a New Economy"—a conference at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, June 8-10, 2012, with eighty workshops and special guest plenary speakers. The Strategy Themes represent the positive spirit of the conference and the optimism that a new kind of economy, reflecting our highest aspirations as a people, is possible... -
New Economy Emerging/Schumacher's Legacy
November 3, 2011
In September the European Spirituality in Economics and Society Forum (eurospes.be) convened "Responsibility in Economics and Business: The Legacy of E. F. Schumacher" in Antwerp, Belgium—one of many events marking the Centennial of Schumacher's birth. We have posted keynote talks by Simon Trace, Barbara Wood, Susan Witt, and Stewart Wallis at our website: neweconomicsinstitute.org/schumacher
SIMON TRACE,... -
A Gift of Intellectual Capital
On Saturday we received a copy of a letter from one of our members to his grandson. The twenty-two year old had just left college to join an Occupy group full time. The grandfather wrote:
"Dear Sam, I think the various Occupy Wall Street groups have been effective in highlighting an unjust condition. I was wondering what actions they might recommend when I received the enclosed booklet in the mail from the New Economics Institute. I believe it... -
Ensuring a Strong Voice for Change
December 21, 2011
Our members helped build a voice for economic change.
Past membership support of the E. F. Schumacher Society, a small organization founded in 1980, allowed it to develop a solid theoretical and practical base of work, positioning it to offer positive solutions when the need for change became broadly apparent.
That time has come.
The deepening environmental crisis is now... -
Initiating Dialogue on Complex Economic Issues
October 28, 2011
Last week, the staff at the New Economics Institute’s New York City office returned to Zuccotti Park, where Occupy Wall Street has been based for over a month. We brought a selection of the thirty years of E. F. Schumacher Lecture pamphlets (neweconomicsinstitute.org/publications) to contribute to the growing OWS library on new economic issues. And we had a chance to speak with participants.
As occupations spread across... -
Quietly Building Momentum for a New Economy
In June 2011 Gar Alperovitz wrote: “as citizen uprisings from Tunisia to Madison remind us, judgments that serious change cannot take place often miss the quiet buildup of potentially explosive underlying currents…there are reasons to think that new economy efforts have the capacity to gather momentum as time goes on.”
As Occupy Wall Street enters its fifth week, inspiring protests from Charlotte to London and captivating audiences across... -
Celebrating Centenary/Honoring Legacy
August 16th is the 100th Anniversary of E. F. Schumacher's birth. Together with his family and other organizations around the world (www.ef-schumacher.org), we are celebrating his legacy.
Posted online at www.neweconomicsinstitute.org/schumacher are:
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Defining, Demanding & Organizing
In a recent issue of "The Nation" (www.thenation.com), New Economics Institute's board member, Gar Alperovitz, describes the growing movement for a new economy (see text below). His optimism about the future, generated by this movement and its possibilities, has landed him on talk shows to explain (see truthout.org for example).
To gather elements of the movement together and further leverage its... -
Provocatively Pointing the Way
In October 1981 I attended the first annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures, the propitious beginning of a tradition that has lasted for thirty years. Although I was already heading in the right direction, hearing Wendell Berry, Hazel Henderson, and Wes Jackson speak that day opened my mind to a larger, more promising view of the world as it could and should be.
I mention additional names to illustrate the lecturers' wide range of background and subject matter:... -
Educate for Change
“. . . it is hardly possible to promote the effective governance needed for a successful implementation of development policies without establishing domestic ownership over our policy agendas.”
Rehman Sobhan, Chairman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh, 2011A New Economics will not be shaped by the United States and Europe alone. Nor will it be envisioned and realized only by economists. It will emerge in country after country around the world as...
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Leveraging Capacity for Change
The Laurel Hill Association in the town of Stockbridge in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts is the nation's oldest Village Improvement Association. Founded in 1853 and still operating, its members pulled weeds, laid sidewalks, installed lamps, planted trees, and helped construct the town library. It owns the park-like Laurel Hill near the center of town and maintains the trail at Ice Glen.
In the period following the Civil War,... -
Economism and the Night Sky
By Richard B. Norgaard
The economy is our new cosmos. Stars may still shine, but few now tend sheep under a starry night sky. In fact, half the world’s population seldom sees stars through the smog and artificially lit megacities of industrial civilization. Artifacts of the economy define our lives —buildings, vehicles, highways, processed foods, and electronic gadgetry. We are caught in a web of market relations that determine how we interrelate with one another and with...
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Role of Money in a New Economy
In considering the characteristics of a new economy, the question of money arises: What is the appropriate role of money? What entity or entities should govern its issue? How much should be placed in circulation and on what basis? What determines its value once in circulation? How might its very structure favor financing for regionally-based businesses producing goods in a sustainable manner for local markets?
As a global financial crisis continues, economists are...