Fundamental transformation needed in our economy

Joel Magnuson, Ph.D. is one of our renowned speakers. He is an independent economist based in Portland, Oregon, USA. He is a visiting fellow at the Ashcroft International Business School at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England, serves as an international advisor to Anglia’s journal, Interconnections, and is on the faculty at the East West Sanctuary in Nagykovácsi, Hungary. He is the author of Mindful Economics: How the US Economy Works, Why It Matters, and How It Could Be Different (Seven Stories Press, 2008) as well numerous articles in journals and anthologies in the US, Europe, and Japan. 

In this short introductory interview, Joel is also talking about his forthcoming book: The Approaching Great Transformation: Creating a New Commonwealth for the End of the Oil Age (Seven Stories Press, 2013).

What does Buddhist Economy mean to you?

Joel: I will be talking about the material in my forthcoming book, The Approaching Great Transformation, in which I attempt to make a case for a fundamental transformation in our economic institutions. I am focusing primarily on the US economy, but I believe my arguments could also apply to Europe and elsewhere. Buddhism in general, and mindfulness specifically, can serve as both a philosophical basis for building new economic institutions as well as a practical guide for better, more wholesome ways of acting in the world economically.

How Buddhist Economy provides an alternative to our current economic system?

Joel: Again, I am primarily speaking about the US economy, but I believe that our most powerful economic institutions--the market system, financial institutions, and corporate institutions--are badly captured by what Buddhists refer to as the Three Defilements: Greed, Aggression, and Delusion. A true Buddhist practice can serve as an instrument to work against these defilements and help us rebuild our economic institutions in profoundly different and better ways.

What will you focus on in your talk at the workshop?

Joel: Based on my new book, I will be placing the need for institutional transformation in the context of global warming (Hurricane Sandy) and peak oil. Much of this is about economic re-localization, but based on a foundation of new models, new institutions, different values, and different ways of seeing the world.

Thank you. We are looking forward to hearing more from you soon.