Green Glossary: Gaian Economics

Gaian Economics is sort of a fancy, off-putting name for a concept we should all be clamoring for. To start with, it's an "internet showcase for a group of researchers who agree that the major problems facing humanity have their root in our economic system and recognize the need to develop a new kind of economics."

The website explains this new kind of economics as such: "Economics is conventionally defined as the study of how resources are, or should be, shared. This is clearly an issue central to any society. Yet in industrialized capitalist societies economics is a narrow study, distorted and disguised by the use of mathematics, and in which only an elite participate. It is clear to many that the allocation of resources is grossly unfair and that this is the root cause of the worst problems we face as a global society, from climate change to wars of liberation."

Over at GreenEconomics.com, the green economical premise is seen as "the economics of the real world-the world of work, human needs, the Earth's materials, and how they mesh together most harmoniously. It is primarily about 'use-value', not 'exchange-value' or money. It is about quality, not quantity for the sake of it. It is about regeneration-of individuals, communities and ecosystems-not about accumulation, of either money or material."

To learn more about what this can mean for you and your planet, check out this page o' links.

Learn about saving money the green way with Planet Green's Get Recession Ready.