The Case for a New Economy"

"We can trace each of the major failures of our economic system to the misperception of money as wealth: the boom-and-bust cycles; the decimation of the middle class; families forced to choose between paying the rent, putting food on the table, and caring for their children; the decline of community life; and the wanton destruction of nature.

Once the belief that money is wealth is implanted firmly in the mind, it is easy to accept the idea that money is a storehouse of value rather than simply a storehouse of expectations, and that "making money" is the equivalent of "creating wealth". Because Wall Street makes money in breathtaking quantities, we have allowed it to assume control of the whole economy--and therein lies the source of our problem.

Financial collapse pulled away the curtain on the Wall Street alchemists to reveal an illusion factory that paid its managers outrageous sums for creating phantom wealth unrelated to the production of anything of real value. They were merely creating claims on the real wealth created by others--a form of theft.

Therefore, " Look at the big picture." "Look upstream to find the root cause. Find the systemic cause and fix the system so the problem will not recurr."

--David C. Korten