1. The Altruist Within
in pursuit of sustainability and justice
in a broken financial system
25th July 2013
Tim Jackson
@ProfTimJackson

6. New York, 15th September 2008

7. This has been an age of global prosperity. It
has also been an era of global turbulence.
And where there has been irresponsibility,
we must now clearly say: the age of
irresponsibility must be ended.
Gordon Brown Sept 2008
The Age of Irresponsibility

8. London, 6th August 2011

9. Wall Street, October 2011

10. Toronto , October 2011

11. Incomes
Labour
& capital
Spending
Goods &
services
Firms People
The Engine of Growth
labour
productivity
prices novelty
Consumer
credit
Commercial
credit
creative destruction status competition
Investment Saving
Speculation

12. The Engine of Growth

13. Incomes
Factor
flows
Spending
Goods &
services
Firms Peoplelabour
productivity
prices novelty
Consumer
credit
Commercial
credit
creative destruction
a life without shame
status competition
Investment Saving
Speculation
shareholder value
The Engine of Growth

14. Incomes
Labour
& capital
Spending
Goods &
services
Firms Peoplelabour
productivity
prices novelty
Consumer
credit
Commercial
credit
creative destruction
a life without shame
status competition
Investment Saving
Speculation
shareholder value
The Engine of Growth

15. Incomes
Factor
flows
Spending
Goods &
services
SavingsInvestment
Firms
House-
holds
increasing
productivity
prices novelty
a life without shame
status competition
shareholder value
creative destruction
CreditCredit
The Engine of Growth

16. Tradition
Novelty
Self
Other

17. • enterprise
– resource light
– employment rich
– the ‘service’ economy
• employment
– work-time
– skill and service-oriented
• investment
– ecological and social
– a different ‘ecology’
– slow, patient capital
• money
– appropriate institutions
– sector balances
– green money supply
Dimensions of the green economy

18. Money for a finite planet
(S – I) = (G – T) + (X – M)
Private net
savings
Public sector
net borrowing
Overseas net
borrowing

19. “It is well enough that the people of this nation do not understand our
banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be
a revolution before tomorrow morning."
Henry Ford

20. • small-scale
– peer-to-peer
– community bonds
– community banking
• institutional investors
– governance
– negative screening
– investment for good
– impact investment
• macro-economy
– financial regulation
– fiduciary duties
– hypothecated transactions tax
– green quantitative easing
– sovereign spending
– the chicago plan
Money for a finite planet

22. • enterprise
– in the service of others
– care, craft and culture
– cooperative, non-profit forms
• employment
– sharing work
– the ‘amateur’ economy
• investment
– social and ecological returns
– impact investment
– peer to peer
• money
– seignorage as a public good
Altruism and the green economy

28. The Altruist Within?
• Darley and Batson (1973) study
with seminary students;
• help overall: 40%
• help in hurry: 10%
• help in low hurry: 65%
• Subject of the talk made no
difference!
• Distress – our redeeming
emotion?
From Jerusalem to Jericho

29. Religion and the Schwartz Values

30. Religion and the Schwartz Values
Source: Saroglou et al 2004

31. Religion and the Schwartz Values
Source: Pepper, Jackson and Uzzell 2010

32. Religion and the Schwartz Values
Source: Pepper, Jackson and Uzzell 2010

33. • agape, philia and eros
• "an intentional response to
promote well-being when
responding to that which has
generated ill-being."
– Thomas Jay Oord
• pro-social behaviour as an
emergent property of social
structure
• ‘faith’ as a commitment device
Agape and sustainability
The altruist within?

35. Prosperity can only be
conceived as a condition
that includes obligations
and responsibilities to
others
Zia Sardar 2007