National Center for Economic Gardening

We now have a clean copy of the Capitalism’s Conundrum presentation that we made at Harvard Kennedy School this spring. This is the heart of Economic Gardening – what makes it so much more powerful. https://lnkd.in/gGtQhVQ6 (Go to: About EG/EG Principles and white papers)

"Consumer sentiment unexpectedly declined to the lowest level in eight months in early July, according to the University of Michigan survey. “Consumers remain vociferously frustrated at the persistence of high prices,” the director of the survey said." Bloomberg Those high prices were somebody's increase in wages. To bring prices down, a company has to reduce expenses. On the income/expense statement, there is that big number: wages. Commodity traps are like black holes: you can't get out of them. The solution is to innovate and make more money than CPI increases.

After last week, I’m not sure everyone knows what a tariff is. It is a tax by the federal government on foreign products. It is paid by American consumers to the American federal government. It’s purpose is to discourage buying foreign (read cheap) products by increasing the price.  

My wage increase is your inflation. You will need a wage increase to keep up with it--which is my inflation.

Capitalism's Conundrum (get out of commodity traps and into innovation) https://lnkd.in/gRhZSNNm

Economic Gardening and Capitalism's Conundrum https://lnkd.in/g4Szk3Gf (The last minute of the slides is garbled).

Commodity traps are like black holes swirling in the economy -- sucking rural communities into low wage jobs, which are going to be replaced by automation sooner or later. They are destroying people and communities.

Cold, rainy day at Harvard but the intellectual energy is always there. Made a presentation about capitalism's conundrum and whether the economy is working for everyone. Thanks to Laura Gale at the Taubman Center for hosting at every step.

Interview with Lara Gale (Taubman Center) and Dr. Ricardo Haussman (Growth Center) from Harvard this morning. We compared notes on the role of Complexity Science in economic development. Presentation to HKS students scheduled next week.

Some days I feel like Kit Carson. Our little band has been out over the unknown entrepreneurial landscape for 35 years......we been across the prairies, into the mountains, through the deserts and seen the ocean. We have a good sense of the territory. In my mind, I can see Kit Carson, a grizzled old man, riding back to St. Louis to watch the first wagon train line up and start their trek west. In the next month they will discover cactus, rattlesnakes, the native tribes and the hot south wind. But they don't yet know about the high passes, the deep snows, blistering waterless deserts and the mighty western rivers. They are finding out about the new land now, but there is so much more ahead of them. The entrepreneurial programs of today have still to discover complex adaptive systems, the role of temperament, systems thinking, network theory, sales windows, leverage points, commoditization, and capitalism's conundrum--all of these are components of Economic Gardening. All we can do is testify that they are still out there in the new territory, and then find a bed for the evening.