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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 […]
February 28, 2025
Dear Friends,
These are, indeed, unprecedented, chaotic times. Each day, breaking news reveals disruption by the Trump administration of established government programs and services. This newsletter is focused on an element of the economic system I’ve studied for decades – trade and tariffs.
In the first month of his second term, President Donald Trump brought […]
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 […]
November 27, 2024
Dear Friends,
I dedicated my October newsletter as a thank you to Donald Trump for his role in giving us the potential breakthrough of a Kamala Harris presidency devoted to advancing a profound global cultural and institutional transformation. I was, at the time, confident that Kamala was on a path to victory led by […]
October 1, 2024
Dear Friends,
As I reflect on the upcoming presidential election, I find hope in the potential of unfolding events sparked by Donald J. Trump. We have a long way to go, but without Donald, it is unlikely that the potential breakthrough of a Kamala Harris presidency now at hand would have been possible.
I was […]
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 […]
July 1, 2024 (June/July newsletter)
Dear Friends,
During my lifetime (just a blink of an eye in human history), we’ve experienced an extraordinary period of accelerated learning. The transformational advances in communication, understanding, and imagination during this brief period affirm that humans are a species with truly distinctive learning capacities. We are now called to actualize those capacities […]
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 […]