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Pillar of Sand
1942-2011
Richard Douthwaite passed away in November 2011 after a long illness. Richard was co-founder of Feasta, an Irish economic think tank focused on the economics of sustainability. He was also a council member of Comhar, the Irish government's national sustainability council. He acted as economic adviser to the Global Commons Institute from 1993 to 2005, during which time GCI developed the Contraction and Convergence approach to dealing with greenhouse gas emissions which has since been backed by many countries. Richard is author of The Growth Illusion: How Economics Growth has Enriched the Few, Impoverished the Many and Endangered the Planet (New Society, 1999) and Short Circuit: Strengthening Local Economics for Security in an Unstable World (Green Books, 1996).
Post Carbon Fellow and economist Richard Douthwaite looks at the flaws in the current economic model and how it requires constantly tranfered debt. He goes on to imagine what what happen if we changed the system in order to make it more sustainable.
In Extraenvironmentalist #17 we speak with Richard Douthwaite about the collection of essays he co-edited on the coming financial storm, Fleeing Vesuvius. Richard is an author of many books on the fallacies of economic growth, co-founder of the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability (FEASTA) and a Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute. Richard explains how his educational background in economics stifled his worldview for a many years and the effect The Limits to Growth had on changing his mind about the ways in which modern economics are practiced. We discuss why entrepreneurs are worshiped by economic leaders, the promise of liquidity networks for reforming currency dynamics, the ability for energy bonds to revolutionize community energy projects and the effect of introducing new technologies into an economic system.
Note: You can skip the first 5 minutes to get to the beginning of the interview.
By David Korowicz Richard Douthwaite (1942-2011), co-founder of Feasta and much-loved colleague and friend, died on November 14th 2011 after a long illness. We will miss his unique and far-ranging intellect, the clarity of … >>
The article below is an excerpt from the forthcoming book 'Sharing for Survival: Restoring the climate, the commons and society', due to be published early in the New Year. The book originated with the Feasta Climate Group … >>
EXCERPT: The debt-based money system just described cannot work if there is less and less energy available. We only borrow if we think we're going to have more money in future with which to repay, and a society as a … >>
The financial crisis that has blighted the world's richest countries since 2008 was a turning point in human history because it ushered in an era in which economies will tend to shrink rather than grow. Incomes will … >>
Post Carbon Fellow Richard Douthwaite was one of the "lost lights" honored in this piece in the Huffington Post. From the article: Brooding about the Headwaters Forest led to reading about the impacts of the … >>
Yes, there's still oil in the ground. We just can't afford it. In broad terms, the peak oil analysts were right. But the fossil fuel industry is winning the PR battle.
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what is pci?Founded in 2003, Post Carbon Institute is leading the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world. The Institute has gathered 29 of the world's leading experts on a wide range of interdependent social and scientific issues.
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