A think tank bridging the gap between
mainstream finance and the new economy
movement
http://pricetags.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/800px-london_millenium_wobbly_bridge1.jpg
Mission:
To stimulate interaction and action of leaders,
scholars, and society by raising awareness of the
need to harness the power of capital and markets
to advance a just, resilient, and sustainable
economic system.
A think tank?
Agenda
1. Setting the table: UNSUSTAINABLE
1. How we got here
1. Finance is the acupuncture point
2. The Capital Institute
1.
compound growth is UNSUSTAINABLE
We have breached the finite boundaries of the ecosphere
Planetary
Boundaries
Rockstrom et al: “A Safe Operating Space for Humanity” (Volans graphic)
OVERSHOOT
The global economy now uses up 1.5 times the
earth’s capacity to regenerate the natural capital upon
which the system and life depends.
- The Global Footprint Network
FACT
If everyone were to live like Americans we
would need 5 Earths
http://passmethemalkplease.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/gursky.jpg
Symptoms of an unsustainable system…
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JSpbgoKp8LA/SjF4960b8qI/AAAAAAAAFVg/B4
CaOwK2yTk/S1600-R/worldpop_2009_lowerfertility.gif
Symptom: Population Crisis
World 6,826,859,514
http://cdn5.mattters.com/photos/photos/1370157/crowded_train_stations_in_china_10.jpg&imgrefurl
Hurricane Katrina, 2005
Symptom: Climate Crisis
• Weather-related disasters affecting 1 million up 4X over 4
decades
• Economic losses up 10X
(The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment)
http://www.katrina.noaa.gov/helicopter/images/katrina-new-orleans-flooding3-2005.jpg
Symptom: Water Crisis
• Lake Meade, primary water source for Las Vegas, projected
dry in 10 years (Las Vegas Sun)
• Per capita water availability dropped by 1/2 in my life time
• 800+ million currently live in locations without appreciable
recharge of groundwater. (The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment)
http://www.naturalbuy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/water-crisis.jpg
Symptom: Desertification
The Silent Global Crisis:
• Soil loss: 24 B tons per year* (1992)
• C02 emissions: 28 B tons (2009)
• In past 40 years, 30% of farmland
has become unproductive
http://www.globalenvision.org/files/343342966_d32322dd2a_b.jpg
We Are Here
Symptom: Peak Oil
USA
Wealth Disparity:
•2% of population Controls > ½ the World’s Wealth
•50% of population controls < 1% of World’s Wealth
•Income gaps between rich and poor > 2X in last 50 years
Index of health and social problems
Worse
Portugal
UK
Greece
Ireland
Austria
Germany
France
New Zealand
Australia
Italy
Symptom: Increasing Wealth Inequality
Better
Low
Denmark
Finland
Belgium
Norway
Switzerland
Netherlands
Canada
Spain
Sweden
Wilkinson & Pickett,
The Spirit Level (2009)
Japan
v
v
Income Inequality
http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/10/14/worlds-largest-and-most-expensive-family-home-completed/
High
Symptom: Financial Crisis
http://www.oneinchpunch.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/crude-oil-spill-clear-up.jpg
2.
How we got here
warding Success
How we got here: economics is flawed
• General Equilibrium Theory and Efficient Market
Hypothesis are now broadly rejected
• Spawned the creation of George Soros’s Institute
for New Economic Thinking (INET)
warding Success
How we got here: economics is flawed
But the problem goes deeper…
• Economics is based on Newtonian Physics
• Economics is in conflict with the laws of
thermodynamics
Sustainability in Complex Systems
Sustainability
Optimum
100%
0%
Resilience
Efficiency
Source: Bernard Lietaer, 2008
Desired
Outcome
EconomicWhat’s
Efficiency
wrong with
this picture?
Finance
Economy
Planet
3.
Finance is the acupuncture point
As the crisis of modern capitalism’s conflict
with the biosphere and our demands for social
justice accelerate, capitalists will increasingly be
asked:
what is the purpose of capital?
what is the duty of capital?
Finance is the fuel source,
what we feed GROWS
Driving Capital Upstream
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_o0s746IzxZQ/TJwMEtnPvsI/AAAAAAAAAWo/lX-2ewPZzo/s1600/upstream.jpg
4.
The Capital Institute: System Transformation
•The Power of the 1
•Our People
•Our Focus
•Our Programs
The problems we face are the symptoms of a
broken economic system…
Capital Institute is changing the paradigm in
which our economic system operates.
CHANGE
consciousness
system
problems
The power of the
Our Theory of Change:
• The power of 1
• The leadership of the 1%
Our Theory of Change:
The power of
1
• Social change comes bottoms up – civil rights
• Capital has catalyzed profound social change –
divestment ended Apartheid
• Transforming our relationship with money is the
social movement of the century
Our Theory of Change:
1%
The leadership of the
• Opportunity
• Responsibility
• Duty
“what did you do, once you knew”
Capital Institute People
Board of Directors:
•Diana Propper de Callejon
•Dr. Robert A. Johnson
•Peter D. Kinder
•Simon Rich
•Dr. Joseph Stanislaw
Capital Institute People
Brain Trust:
•Peter G. Brown
•Graciela Chichilnisky
•Robert Costanza
•Penelope Douglas
•Hazel Henderson
•Tim Jackson
•William Rees
•Allan Savory
•Juliet Schor
•Gus Speth
•Peter Victor
•Stewart Wallis
Capital Institute Focus
• Investment
• Markets
• Metrics
• Money
• Advocacy
Capital Institute Programs
We have developed a range of programs, which
function to explore the critical questions, effectively
communicate key messages, and instigate reform…
The Capital Blog
“The Future of Finance”
The Capital Forum
A communications hub and virtual platform for
selective news, debate, expert discussion and analysis.
The Capital Lab
•3rd Millennium Economy
•Committee on Transforming Finance (CTF)
•Global/Local
•Post Modern Portfolio Theory
Academic Outreach
The Capital Fellows Program
Leading practitioners and scholars engaged in
trans-disciplinary collaboration
The Capital Channel
A thoughtfully curated virtual channel of crossdisciplinary videos and print resources
Imagine: Harnessing Capital
A world in which finance serves a just, resilient
and sustainable economic system…
Imagine: an economy that respects the physical boundaries
of the biosphere
http://www.wabash.edu/images2/photo_album/1576/rain%20forest1a.jpg
Imagine: resilient local economies thriving within an
interdependent global system
http://www.vancouverislandfarmersmarket.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Colorful-vegetables.jpg
Imagine: new markets, tools and metrics to manage
the transformation
Imagine: finance as the fuel source for transformation
http://www.unescap.org/unis/What_s_Ahead/2009/Apr/ldc.jpg
Reform
Transform
yes, a think tank