How to Thrive in the Next Economy

September 28, 2015
This peppy but insubstantial offering from event planner Thackara (In the Bubble) takes on the need to shift the economy’s focus from constant, relentless growth to a more sustainable model that will be good for both the environment and business. He describes a movement that runs counter to both the apocalyptic view that civilization is headed for collapse and the utopian faith in the power of green tech. This new phenomenon is a “social and solidarity economy” made up of the many people dedicating their working lives to environmental rejuvenation, in widely varied ways. Humans are using more and more energy, and looking for ways of getting it more and more cheaply. But as Thackara observes, this unquenchable desire for growth in companies and industries has a cost. He covers land stewardship, eradication of world hunger, transportation, housing, and soil maintenance, highlighting the various organizations and companies working on these issues. Thackara asserts that “the interdependence between healthy soils, living systems, and the ways we can help them regenerate, finally addresses the ‘why’ of economic activity that we’ve been lacking.” This view of a “living economy” is interesting, but the what-next suggestions aren’t meaty enough to hold the reader’s attention.