oregon rural action’s annual meeting: making the shift
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Oregon Rural Action’s Annual Meeting: Making the Shift Building a Vibrant Local Economy Amidst the Broken Global Financial System La Grande, Oregon October 9, 2010. My Story From Wall Street to Grasslands and the Capital Institute “I once said greed was good… - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Oregon Rural Action’s Annual Meeting: Making the Shift
Building a Vibrant Local Economy Amidst the Broken Global Financial System
La Grande, Oregon October 9, 2010
My Story
From Wall Street to Grasslands and the Capital Institute
“I once said greed was good… now it seems that greed is legal.”
- Gordon Gekko
http://pricetags.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/800px-london_millenium_wobbly_bridge1.jpg
Bridging the gap between mainstream finance and the new economy movement.
the dilemma of compound growth
UNSUSTAINABLE
Economics ignores laws of thermodynamics
Economics ignores laws of thermodynamics
Anyone who thinks you can grow the economy forever on a finite planet is either a madman or an economist!
- Kenneth Boulding
Symptom: financial crisis
Problem: unsustainable economic system
Sustained economic growth: oxymoron?
The world is full…but nothing is changing.Planetary
Boundaries
FACTIf everyone were to live like Americans we would need 5 Earths
http://passmethemalkplease.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/gursky.jpg
So what? http://www.oneinchpunch.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/crude-oil-spill-clear-up.jpg
http://www.oneinchpunch.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/crude-oil-spill-clear-up.jpg
Financial Crisis crisis
Population Crisis
http://cdn5.mattters.com/photos/photos/1370157/crowded_train_stations_in_china_10.jpg&imgrefurl
World 6,826,859,514
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Climate Crisis
http://www.katrina.noaa.gov/helicopter/images/katrina-new-orleans-flooding3-2005.jpg
Hurricane Katrina, 2005
Water Crisis
http://www.naturalbuy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/water-crisis.jpg
Peak Soil
In past 40 years, 30% of farmland has become unproductive
Peak Oil
Energy Crisis
http://cdn.content.compendiumblog.com/uploads/user/206a9a2b-627f-446d-b836-03b603106274/08ef70d7-7014-48c5-b9a5-7d322cf1fccc/Image/caa79888d3200de8c9ed8dbfb0bfd8c4.jpg
“Nothing has changed….oil and natural gas are essential to our way of life.”
- Jack Gerard, American Petroleum Institute
“Nothing has changed….oil and natural gas are essential to our way of life.”
- Jack Gerard, American Petroleum Institute
So if we know the problems,
why aren’t we changing?
Economic Efficiency
Economy
FinancePlanetPlanet
What’s wrong with this picture?
Sustainability
Optimum
Efficiency
100%
0%
Resiliency
Collapse of Financial System
Collapse of Financial System
Source: Bernard Lietaer, 2008
Biosphere
Economy
Finance
Sustainability in Complex Systems
In the wake of one of the World’s greatest economic crises,
“sustainability” is unable to compete with mainstream perceptions of financial reform
http://www.dirtyday.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/20070626231520_dsc_1152.jpg
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Public Opinion on Priority: Sustainability vs. Economic Growth
sustainability
economic growth
Opi
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GALLUP POLL
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Look where the money’s going:
http://www.eli.org/pdf/Energy_Subsidies_Black_Not_Green.pdf
Climate Protecting
Climate Damaging
Finance is the fuel source…
what we feed GROWS
Reform
Transform
Harnessing Capital.
A world in which finance serves a just, resilient and sustainable economic system.
Driving capital upstream
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Building a Vibrant Local Economy
taking action
http://pixdaus.com/single.php?id=131088
”. . . production from local resources for local needs is the most rational way of economic life...”
- E. F. Schumacher, Small Is Beautiful
Place based diverse economies: building resiliency
Tribal? Portland Detroit
Sustainability
Optimum
Efficiency
100%
0%
Resiliency
“Economies of location often override and outdo economies of scale.”
- Jane Jacobs, The Nature of Economies
Farmer’s Diner“increasing the economic vitality of local agrarian communities”
Decreasing distance from farm to plate, increasing profit for local farmers
Grasslands, LLC: Holistic Management
Restore ecological function, revitalize rural communities. Profitably.
“When you improve the quality of the land in an ecological sense, the profitability follows.”
How to Save the Grasslands: Bring in More CattleBy JUDITH D. SCHWARTZ Tuesday, Sep. 07, 2010
Grasslands, LLC
Local CAN scale
• Founded in 1956• Philosophy: Co-operation | Participation | Social Responsibility | Innovation
• 4 Sectors: Finance, Industry, Distribution and Knowledge
• 85,000 people, 256 companies, 15 Billion Euros in turnover
Basque Country, Spain
Local CAN scale
• “Import replacement” activity (Jane Jacobs)
• Employee-owned, for-profit companies: greenhouse produce, laundry service, solar energy
• Based locally, hire locally: permanent green jobs
• Workers earn a living wage, build equity as owners
• Circulate money within community - 5:1 multiplier
Cleveland, OH
Local Community Capital
Complementary Currencies: building resiliency
• Thousands of examples, over 600 in Japan alone
• Numerous countries
• Highly diverse ecosystem
• Multiple “schools” of thought
Sustain Optimum
Efficiency0%
Resiliency
Complementary Currencies: proven models WIR Bank
• Founded in 1934, Switzerland
• Response to stock market crash in 1929
• The word for “we” in German > economic circle is also a community
• Has grown from 16 to 62,000 members
• Swiss Franc 1.6 Billion annual turnover
Complementary Currencies: time banks
• Building the Core Economy
• Time really is money
• Strengthening communities through reciprocity
• “We are all assets”
Complementary Currencies: emerging models
BerkShares• A local currency for Southern
Berkshire region of Massachusetts (pop. 19,000)
• Defines a trading area, an economic footprint
• Distinguishes the local businesses
• Builds loyalty
• Encourages community self-reliance and wellbeing of community
“A good community, as we know, insures itself by trust, by good faith and good will, and by mutual help.
A good community, in other words, is a good local economy.”
-Wendell Berry
What is the purpose of capital?