Location: CAPA Symposium

This intensive weekend module begins with the premise that prevailing economic systems — and the theories and policies that support them — produce an enormous range of goods and services yet are failing to meet even the most basic needs of at least 45% of the people on earth while destroying the planet’s capacity to provide the resources and process the wastes on which life depends. Two modern branches of economic thought, Modern Monetary Theory and Ecological Economics, accessible to any student who is concerned about either or both of these challenges, are beginning to join forces to provide an alternative — and hopeful — way of transforming the odds. In one weekend, we will examine every-day economic myths that handcuff even well-meaning governments from making necessary investments in people and policies. We will test the propositions that we can phase out destructive industries fairly, that we can convert to 100% renewables quickly, that we can afford to ensure that no person is hungry and that every person wanting a good job has a good job. And we will identify major impediments to these goals, none of which is financial. By the end of the weekend, you will be able to fortify your principles and values with new ideas and new arguments, as citizens or scholars, regardless of your academic and artistic preoccupations and enthusiasms.