Economics – as it relates to improving the wellbeing of nearly 7 billion people – is failing humanity, in part because it has lost touch with the original meaning of the word ‘economy’, which from the Greek oikonomia is concerned with the good management of the household. And economics has clearly forgotten that its primary concern must be the conditions of wellbeing of the ‘Earth household’.
Economists have also forgotten the meaning of words like ‘wealth’, which back in 13th-century Old English meant ‘the conditions of wellbeing’, and the word ‘value’ (now generally associated with money), ...
There are approximately 1171 more words in this article.
To read the rest of this article, please buy this issue, or join the Resurgence Trust. As a member you will receive access to the complete archive of magazines from May 1966.
If you are already a member, please Sign in