The Inspired Economy

"Our enormously productive economy...demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption... we need things consumed, burned up, replaced, and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate."

These words could have been spoken yesterday, but it was nearly 40 years ago that economist Victor Lebow made this statement in "Price Competition in 1955."  The recent economic news has made me think about this quote a lot in the last few weeks.  Retail sales for November are down 5.5% from last year and 8% for December through Christmas Eve.  Many retailers had hoped that the holiday season would offset weak sales throughout the rest of the year.  This likely did not happen, and we may be facing a string of high profile bankruptcies in the early part of 2009.

There is some debate that Lebow's quote has been taken out of context, and he was not advocating a consumption-based economy as much as it may seem.  However, regardless of his intent, we have developed a consumption-based economy in much of the developed world.  One of the problems with this is when people stop spending money on disposable goods, our economy and standard of living consequently suffers.  This is something we are experiencing now.  We will recover, and history may not remember this as much more than a tough economic time.

However, there is a deeper problem and it originates from the root word of this type of economy - consume.  To consume means to destroy all trace of, to make complete use of.  Our economy is based upon destroying all trace of and making complete use of all our resources.  When we have no more (or very limited) resources, how will our economy fare?

Many are advocating the solution to this is the "Green Economy."  What does this "Green Economy" look like?  There is no strict definition, but at a minimum I think most people would agree it is an economy powered by renewable energy, using sustainable materials and manufacturing processes.  In my view, the "Green Economy" is only part of the solution.  Green energy, products, and services are not enough.  In reality, they are just a more responsible, incrementally better part of our existing consumption-based economy.

I'd love for us to consider an alternate economic model, one that I propose we call the "Inspired Economy."  At its essence, an "Inspired Economy" is one that breathes life into the local and global community.  It is not about depleting, it is about regenerating.  While this model is not fully defined, I propose four pillars to build upon that draw upon the ideas of many great thinkers and doers:

• A democratic financial system that is controlled by the masses not the oligarchs.


• Companies exist as part of a larger community and do not have as their sole purpose maximizing shareholder value


• Products are manufactured in a close-looped system eliminating the idea of waste (including the appropriate infrastructure to take products back to prevent them from ending up in a landfill or incinerator).


• Operations are fueled by clean, renewable energy.

There is no doubt this transformation will be a difficult challenge, but with every challenge comes an opportunity.  Fifty years from now, we can look back and see a tough economic time or the turning point in our new economy.  If you have ideas on how we should define, build, and/or grow our new economic model, I would love to hear them.

Jeremy Litchfield is president / CEO of Arlington-based, Atayne, a newly launched company created to inspire positive environmental and social change through the power of sports and active lifestyles. Website: www.atayne.com