February 2009

Agenda for a New Economy

My most recent communication with you was on November 16, 2008 when I shared two articles on the financial meltdown and what to do about it I had just published in YES! and Tikkun magazines. The subsequent three months have been the most intense in the Forum’s history and place us in a position to help shape the future direction of U.S. economic policy.

We have launched a New Economy Working Group (NEWGroup) in partnership with YES! Magazine, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, and the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington , DC . Our intention is to work within a broad alliance of progressive organizations to shape a new economy agenda for the United States. Even among progressive groups, most economic proposals presume that the goal is to restore the economy to its prior condition before the meltdown. We are putting out the message that we are dealing with a failed economic system. Rather than reviving it, we must replace it with a new system devoted to serving people and community rather than money and Wall Street. We are just set up an initial landing page for a NEWGroup website. You can find a description of the group at http://www.neweconomyworkinggroup.org

The launch of NEWGroup coincides with the launch of a new PCDForum book: Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth. Why Wall Street Can’t Be Fixed and How to Replace It. It wasn't even a gleam in my eye when I sent out my November 16, 2008 message. It launched on January 23, 2009 in the historic Trinity Wall Street Church at a national conference telecast to 80 cities around the United States and the world. Few moments of my life have been more exhilarating than standing in the sanctuary of this grand cathedral facing directly down Wall Street issuing a call to bring down the wall. I did TV interviews while there with Amy Goodman for Democracy Now, David Broncaccio for NOW!,
and Laura Flanders for Grist TV.

Thanks to the outrage generated by Wall Street greed and corruption, the book is getting the most enthusiastic reception of any book I have written. Many people love the idea of shutting down the Wall Street phantom wealth machine and replacing it with a new financial system designed to serve Main Street . You can find information on the book and links to my Trinity presentation and various media interviews on the davidkorten.org website. You can find the full story of how we managed to write and publish it in less than two months at http://livingeconomiesforum.org/writing-agenda. It was an amazing team effort.