Regenerative Economics: New Economic Paradigms, Living Systems, & Holistic Thinking with John Fullerton
The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens
Nate Hagens
4.8 • 552 Ratings
🗓️ 6 November 2024
⏱️ 89 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
(Conversation recorded on October 10th, 2024)
Our modern economic system is designed to maximize financial capital, viewing money as though it were wealth itself. But what would happen if we viewed wealth more holistically, taking into account our natural, social, cultural, and human capital, too?
In this conversation, Nate is joined by unconventional economist John Fullerton to discuss the principles of regenerative economics and the need for shifts in our economic paradigms from reductionist thinking to holistic thinking. Fullerton emphasizes the importance of understanding economies as living systems, advocating for financial and monetary systems that align with the patterns of life.
If regenerative economics represents a societal shift towards sustainability, how does our modern financial system act as a barrier to that shift? If the 'myth of separation' contributes to our current economic problems, what types of radical change are needed to reconcile our values dissonance as our crises deepen and accelerate? Finally, how can we teach ourselves to differentiate between the real economy and the financial economy – and to value the things that genuinely add to human and planetary well-being?
About John Fullerton:
John Fullerton is an unconventional economist, impact investor, writer, and some have said philosopher. Building on and integrating the work of many in the field of ecological economics, he is the architect of Regenerative Economics, first conceived in his 2015 booklet, "Regenerative Capitalism: How Universal Patterns and Principles Will Shape the New Economy."
After a successful 20-year career on Wall Street where he was a Managing Director of what he calls "the old JPMorgan," John listened to a persistent inner voice and walked away in 2001 with no plan but many questions. He went on to create The Capital Institute in 2010, which is dedicated to the bold reimagination of economics and finance in service to life. John is also the Chairman of New Day Enterprises, PBC, the co-founder of Grasslands, LLC, and a board member of both the Savory Institute and Stone Acres Farm.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | economics is all about maximizing efficiency. And so the pursuit of globalization, you know, on-time |
| 0:05.4 | inventory, all that is pursuing efficiency at the expense of resiliency. And then you wonder why |
| 0:10.7 | our supply chains can crater the entire economy because they're super efficient but not at all |
| 0:15.5 | resilient. Same with Wall Street. It became super efficient extraction of returns on financial capital, but ended up leaving |
| 0:23.4 | the system very brittle, which would have collapsed were not for the central banks. |
| 0:29.6 | You're listening to the Great Simplification. I'm Nate Hagen's. On this show, we describe how |
| 0:35.6 | energy, the economy, the environment, and human behavior |
| 0:39.3 | all fit together and what it might mean for our future. By sharing insights from global |
| 0:44.8 | thinkers, we hope to inform and inspire more humans to play emergent roles in the coming |
| 0:51.0 | great simplification. |
| 0:59.3 | You've probably heard of regenerative agriculture, |
| 1:02.1 | but have you heard of regenerative economics? |
| 1:05.7 | Joining me today is John Fullerton, |
| 1:07.8 | who is an unconventional economist, |
| 1:10.7 | teacher, writer, and impact investor. |
| 1:17.7 | After walking away from Wall Street, the belly of the superorganism in 2001, he founded the Capital Institute with a mission to reimagine economics and finance in service of life, |
| 1:24.5 | which eventually manifested in his programs on regenerative economics and regenerative |
| 1:29.4 | finance in 2015. |
| 1:32.0 | Today, John and I discuss what is finance? |
| 1:35.6 | Is finance something we could have in a post-growth world? |
| 1:40.0 | Could we have an economy that actually regenerates both for the biosphere and the humans and other organisms that comprise it? |
| 1:50.8 | So I should point out, I will take this moment to point out, that we have show notes and references in every episode and conversation, including the Franklies, in the |
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