Transforming Economic Life
A Millennial Change

How can we reshape our economic system—which now transfers wealth from poor to rich, marginalises individuals, communities and cultures, damages the natural environment, and denies all sense of the sacred—so that it will meet the needs of people and the Earth in the 21st century? In this Briefing, James Robertson outlines measures for building a healthier and more equal world. He identifies key ways in which people can work together to transform the economics of food and farming, work and livelihoods, local development, travel and transport, energy, technology and international trade.

James Robertson

James Robertson grew up and went to schools in Scotland and Yorkshire during the war, and then studied classics, history and philosophy at Oxford. In the 1950s he worked in the Colonial Office in Whitehall, as the remaining British colonies came towards independence. Development plans for Mauritius and Seychelles introduced him to the UK Treasury and public policy-making on money. The highlight was travelling with Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on his 1960 ‘Wind of Change’ tour of Africa.

Three years in the Cabinet Office, working personally with the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, led to his first book, Reform of British Central Government (1971), and eventually to leaving the Civil Service for management consultancy and systems analysis. James then worked for nearly five years setting up and directing the Inter-Bank Research Organisation (IBRO) for the big banks. In 1973, with Alison Pritchard (later his wife), James started working independently. As a writer and adviser on future economic, social and ecological change, he combined his earlier experience and a new interest in ecology, feminism, futures studies and the ‘convivial society’ and ‘small is beautiful’ ideas of Ivan Illich and E. F. Schumacher. His book The Sane Alternative followed in 1978. Then in 1983 James and Alison helped Jonathon Porritt and Paul Ekins to set up The Other Economic Summit (TOES), later the New Economics Foundation (nef).

James has worked and lectured in many countries for many organisations and people, including the World Health Organisation, the European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He has written other books and many articles and papers on aspects of sustainable development, government and money. In 1998 Green Books published his Schumacher Briefing (No. 1), Transforming Economic Life. His new book, Future Money, is due out in 2012.

In 2003 James received a gold medal from the Pio Manzù Centre, an international institute for the in-depth study of the main economic and scientific aspects of the relationship between man and his environment. Its Scientific Committee, whose President is Mikhail Gorbachev, called James “an outstanding example of a modern thinker at the service of society”.

James and Alison live in Oxfordshire. Until recently they have kept hens and ducks. They still grow vegetables and fruit, and get a modest amount of hot water and electricity from solar panels and photovoltaic (PV) slates.

www.jamesrobertson.com