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DAVID KORTEN, PhD | May 6, 2025
The federal debt is soaring, now well over $34 trillion and growing. Politicians from both parties talk about slashing essential services or cutting Social Security to “bring the debt under control.” That talk, and the […]
January 27, 2025
Dear Friends,
We have a billionaire problem.
Back in 1995, when I published When Corporations Rule the World, there was an awakening to the dangers of transnational corporations. Right now, in 2025, there is an awakening to the dangers of oligarchy—when a few billionaires rule the world. In his farewell speech, outgoing President Biden left us […]
August 30, 2024
Dear Friends,
One of the major issues of our time – wealth inequality – seldom makes the headlines. While a few politicians, even a few billionaires, continue to raise the red flags, the press, at best, glosses over it, and most in a position to do something about it simply ignore it.
I grew up […]
May 23, 2024
Dear Friends,
Although it sometimes seems like just yesterday, my book When Corporations Rule the World was released into the world in 1995—29 years ago. It remains the book for which I am best known. Available in many languages and addressing questions much on people’s minds, the book quickly became an international best seller.
The world was […]
April 30, 2024
Dear Friends,
In March, I received a notice of a meeting of the Advisory Council of the Raffi Foundation for Child Honouring. Raffi Cavoukian is a long-time friend and colleague and I’m honored to serve on his Council. You likely know Raffi as the children’s troubadour, beloved by millions who grew up […]
March 29, 2024
Dear Friends,
With this special newsletter I am launching my just-released paper – “Eco-nomics for an Ecological Civilization” – presenting a framework for a new economics grounded in our deepening understanding of life and our distinctive human nature and potential.
What we now call […]
March 31, 2024
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Conventional economics serves us well only if our purpose is to exploit people and Earth to make money for the already rich. I call it ego-nomics. To secure the wellbeing of all of Earth’s people, we will need a new economics that […]
March 29, 2024
This paper, a companion to my earlier paper “Ecological Civilization: From Emergency to Emergence,” outlines a big picture conceptual and interdisciplinary framework for a new eco-nomics that recognizes our distinctive human nature and purpose as living beings born of and nurtured by a living Earth. This new eco-nomics is dedicated […]
Drawing on the work and insights of many colleagues and from ongoing conversations, this paper was written in an effort to connect the dots and engage a serious conversation about the causes of the existential crisis we face, while bringing a message of hope and possibility.
Click on the image below […]
A wild card, often called a joker, is a playing card that has no value of its own but can be used to represent any other card, thus assuming the value of that card. We might think of money, most of which is nothing but a number on a piece of paper or a computer […]