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Business and sustainability introduction
More is less
Mainstream politics has long proved resistant to the arguments of those who question the pursuit of unending economic growth. Richard McNeill Douglas suggests a treatment. It is fifty years since
The growing realisation
Tim Jackson has just published a new book, Post Growth – Life After Capitalism, examining our disastrous obsession with growth in a finite world and how we might escape it.
The point of no return
The disintegration of growth is irreversible. Roxana Bobulescu explains. I was born in Romania in 1972 when the country was a socialist republic. It was the year of the Meadows
Davos, 2030
The Mint despatches Guy Dauncey to Switzerland, a decade into the future, to report on the global summit. It was pouring when we arrived in Davos. The local news channels
Environmental and social life cycle
All change
Former Czech Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla says our way of life is pulling into its final stop. He tells The Mint it’s time for the world to get off and
Flogging a dead horse
Japan’s new leader is looking to revive the nation’s economy with the same strategy that floored it. Dr. Chris G. Pope explains. Abe Shinzo stepped down in September after becoming
Is a Green New Deal the answer?
Since the idea of a Green New Deal was taken up by the newly elected, social media savvy US congress woman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez known as AOC, it has generated a
Value and business models for sustainable development
All things being unequal
Sarah McKinley describes a structural reset to democratise our economies. The results of the recent midterm elections in the US were less polarised than anticipated and the threatened Republican Red
Cooperatives on the table
Jessica Gordon-Nembhard is a leading economist studying co-operatives. In fact she effectively invented this economic research agenda in the US. She was brought up by social activists who discussed Marx
Holding Corporations to Account: towards an Economic Democracy?
We take it for granted that we get to vote in elections, but that is of course a relatively recent innovation. Universal suffrage only occurred in 1928. However most of
A politics of belonging
Seed-sharing commons help Indian women restore native crops while emancipating themselves from dependency on multinational corporations selling expensive, proprietary GMO seeds. The Commons as a set of responsibilities and entitlements:
Life in the cross hairs
Being a good corporate citizen comes with risks. Andrew Black tells the tale of a close escape. For corporates that have medium-term planning regimes, taking seriously the considerable challenges posed
Money for nothing and the risks for free
Limited liability is at the nub of it all. Paul Frijters points the finger. Roman men engaged in commerce had a problem: Roman law did not recognise limits to the
Natural capital ecosystem services and valuation
The nature of the beast
Verity delves into the environmental economics undergrowth. Our peaceful piece of suburbia is feeling particularly tame at the moment. A far cry from the perilous encounters to be had in
Having it all
Could private funding actually benefit nature? Henry Leveson-Gower proposes a cooperative approach. Since the 80s environmental economists have been putting monetary values on nature so they get “counted”. Now they
The human touch
Paul Frijters shares a dream. The world is getting hotter and wetter due to humanity increasing its carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions over the past 200 years. Even if
Local currencies and sustainability
Cash crops
Henry Leveson-Gower looks at how local food currencies might bear fruit. Our food system is deeply dysfunctional. Economic forces drive it to deliver unhealthy food, while trashing the environment so
Globalisation and sustainability
All for One
A combination of government edicts, broken promises and climate change has driven Malian villagers away from their collective livelihoods and traditions to bring prosperity for the few, not for the
Carbon dating
Getting together to reduce carbon emissions brings hope in a world that doesn’t care, say Colin Nolden and Michele Stua On first sight, the global climate conference in Madrid was a
The gravity of the situation
People risk their lives to defend an environment they, and we can thrive in, but they are also changing our global economy. Nick Meynen writes. One June morning in 2008
Pro-environmental behaviour
Who knows what’s good for you?
Wendy Adamba works in Kenya to change behaviour to improve health and welfare outcomes. She works closely with communities to understand their perspectives and build trust. She tells The Mint
Impoverished economics? Unpacking the economics Nobel Prize
When the world is facing large systemic crises, Ingrid Kvangraven asks why is the economics profession celebrating small technical fixes? This week it was announced that Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo
Citizens Can
Anna Cura explains how thinking differently of ourselves can change the future of our food system to end its damaging influences on our world. I’ve always had a passion for food. The
Revealing the fudge in ‘Nudge Economics’
Professor Sugden, a renowned and celebrated pioneer of behavioural economics, has written an important book. In it he skewers the “nudge economics” fudge that maintains the illusion of the possibility
Sustainability reporting
Life by Numbers
Does a five-star rating say it all? Rita Samiolo ranks the ranks that pervade modern living Almost every aspect of our existence, from the mundane details of our shopping to
You don’t count
Opaque reporting in company accounts is not in the public interest says Richard Murphy. The failings of accounting have been afforded much attention of late. This has been actively appropriate.
Green and circular economy
Three forgotten lessons about the circular economy
A circular economy requires a more holistic view of the economy (image by Tony Biddle 2020). Emma Fromberg retrieves some earlier wisdom. I vividly remember the first time that the idea
Selling the circular
Thinking out of the box: currently, retail is largely about mass, transactional relationships. Can business ever be good? Henry Leveson-Gower explores. A year ago I was on the hunt for examples
Mindful Economics and the Circular Economy
“Mindful Economics” – Neil Wilkins is joined by Henry Leveson-Gower, CEO and Founder of the charity Promoting Economic Pluralism and Editor of economics publication, The Mint Magazine to discuss economic
Trash can
Lagos’s garbage entrepreneurs are cleaning up. Adeyemi Adelekan explains. While growing up in a small suburban community in Lagos state, I was accustomed to hearing people with carts and sacks
A circular passion
Why does Walter Stahel mention The Little Prince author, Antoine Saint-Exupery at four critical points in his latest book: The Circular Economy: a user’s guide? Ron Nahser reflects on a
Spin Offs
Tom Szaky started TerraCycle in high school to “end waste”. The company currently operates in 21 countries, working with some of the world’s largest retailers’ and manufacturers’ brands. In each
Policies on pollution
Levelling up – will it turn Britain into a more equal country?
‘Levelling up’ is the nearest the Conservative Party has to a big idea and now it has just become a White Paper, which opens with the following words: “Levelling
An inconveniently complex truth
Roland Kupers tells how complexity characterises climate policy questions. And how it also provides answers. The world’s governments in 2015 made a radical shift in the principles that governed their
Bring out the Best
Governments using regulators and other institutions to stick-and-carrot people into acting for the common good is not the way to deliver policy. Henry Leveson-Gower shares his discovery of a more