From Financial Integrity

What's The Economy For, Anyway?

It's a conference, it's a movement, and it's now a movie! The goal is to promote a national conversation about the question – “What’s The Economy For, Anyway?” – that allows us to see how the United States compares with other countries when it comes to trends in quality of life, social justice, and sustainability. Now a documentary is making the rounds, produced by John De Graaf, author of the book and producer of the documentary Affluenza, featuring Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. This new movie, offers an entertaining and intriguing 40 minute introduction into the conversation about just what it is we really should be trying to stimulate these days.

Teaching tools around this subject can be found on the University of Washington's Citizen Economy website.

To contribute to the production and distribution of this film, or to schedule a preview in your area, contact jmcfadden(at)eartheconomics(dot)org.

Update March 2012:

A companion book, What's the Economy for, Anyway? is now available. In a compelling read, University of Washington authors David K. Batker and John De Graaf take a look at the limitations of the traditional growth-based view of the economy (it's all about GDP), and urge embracing a new view: that the economy's purpose is to serve and support the lives of ordinary citizens, rather than simply a growth machine. Published in 2011, the book explores why we may have outgrown the GDP alone as a useful yardstick, and offers concrete proposals to address many of the issues arising from the 2007 meltdown, and create a better - stronger, fairer, and more sustainable - economy going forward.