Uploaded January 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"We need to figure out new ways to relate to the earth."
Ann Davis (@Marist-University) shares her approach to economics, in which ecological principles take center stage to reshape our relationship with the planet.
Davis challenges traditional economic frameworks, advocating for a paradigm shift that acknowledges the ecological impacts of economic activities. She critiques mainstream economics for its shortcomings in addressing climate change, such as the disregard for disposal costs and time-dependency of CO2 accumulation. Davis emphasizes the systemic nature of climate change, arguing that current economic models fail to consider the holistic relationship between humans and the Earth. She proposes a shift from individual property rights to collective property models, with examples like co-ops and co-housing, to foster a more sustainable interaction with the environment. Davis also discusses the potential of local communities to prioritize ecological restoration and collectively manage resources like watersheds. Her vision extends to redefining global finance, suggesting that investments and credit should focus on restoring both people and the planet. This approach envisions a collaborative and ecologically aware global community, rethinking traditional concepts of property and resource utilization in favor of a more sustainable and equitable future. Davis's ideas represent a significant shift in economic thought, prioritizing ecological integrity and collective well-being over individual profit and property rights.
"We need to figure out new ways to relate to the earth."
Ann Davis (@Marist-University) shares her approach to economics, in which ecological principles take center stage to reshape our relationship with the planet.
Davis challenges traditional economic frameworks, advocating for a paradigm shift that acknowledges the ecological impacts of economic activities. She critiques mainstream economics for its shortcomings in addressing climate change, such as the disregard for disposal costs and time-dependency of CO2 accumulation. Davis emphasizes the systemic nature of climate change, arguing that current economic models fail to consider the holistic relationship between humans and the Earth. She proposes a shift from individual property rights to collective property models, with examples like co-ops and co-housing, to foster a more sustainable interaction with the environment. Davis also discusses the potential of local communities to prioritize ecological restoration and collectively manage resources like watersheds. Her vision extends to redefining global finance, suggesting that investments and credit should focus on restoring both people and the planet. This approach envisions a collaborative and ecologically aware global community, rethinking traditional concepts of property and resource utilization in favor of a more sustainable and equitable future. Davis's ideas represent a significant shift in economic thought, prioritizing ecological integrity and collective well-being over individual profit and property rights.
![Planetary Boundaries - [ECO]NOMICS Part 3](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nnEU3RVvsBM/mqdefault.jpg "Planetary Boundaries - [ECO]NOMICS Part 3
Mainstream economics ignores the impact of economic activity on the natural environment. Ecological economics recognizes that the human economy exists in a larger planetary system, and that destroying the natural environment will affect future well-being.
In [ECO]NOMICS part 3, Professor Schor shows how human economic activity has exceeded the reproductive or sustainable capacity of the planet over the past half-century. Ecosystems have been worn down by deforestation, destruction of species, depletion of material reserves and destabilization of the climate. Humans are destroying these ecosystems at a dizzying, unsustainable and accelerating rate. Capitalism has certain features - most notably pressure to grow - that make a change of trajectory all but impossible in this context. Conventional economic policies are lured by the hope they can still maintain economic growth while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions. But Professor Schor shows how decoupling growth from emissions is a mirage. Wealthy countries cannot grow their way to sustainability. We need to enact structural changes and consider alternative approaches that reduce climate disruption and improve well-being.
Part 4 will be available May 18, 2022
Learn more at https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/videos/eco-nomics
Credits: Juliet Schor, Matthew Kulvicki, Nick Alpha, Gonçalo Fonseca, Kurt Semm")
![[ECO]NOMICS | Trailer](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oYV2rWE1Zd0/mqdefault.jpg "[ECO]NOMICS | Trailer
Climate change is already here. Governments have failed to curb carbon emissions and are continuing to subsidize fossil fuel production. This is not happenstance, nor is it an accident. Those who have most to gain from polluting and destroying the climate have the power to do so, while those most at risk have the least power to stop it. Economists have been central to this failure to respond to the crisis, and their approach has undermined action.
In this four-part series, Professor Juliet Schor (@bostoncollege) guides us through the economics of climate change.
Learn more at https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/videos/eco-nomics
Credits: Juliet Schor, Matthew Kulvicki, Nick Alpha, Gonçalo Fonseca, Kurt Semm")
