Spring 1986 RAIN Page 29 ACCESS: Economics The Global Economy: Today, Tomorrow, and the Transition, edited by Howard F. Didsbury, 1985, $14.95 from: World Future Society 4916 St. Elmo Avenue Bethesda, MD 20814 New Economics 85: Report and Summary of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) 1985, 46 pp., $4 from: Intermediate Technology Development Group PO Box 337 Croton-on-Hudson, NY 10520 These two publications document two important events of last year, each of which brought together innovative and future-oriented economic thinkers from several countries. The Global Economy was prepared in conjunction with a conference by the same name sponsored by the World Future Society in August of 1985. It contains 19 selected papers, dealing with such subjects as a world economic order, unemployment and the future of work, appropriate development models for the Third World, international debt, and the influence of petroleum on the global economy. The papers represent a mix of perspectives: some leaning toward orthodox, some fairly innovative, some proposing ways to restore rapid growth and full employment, some grappling with how to restructure economies in a world where rapid and full employment are no longer realistic goals. The final section discusses the need for new models, with an interesting paper on “bioeconomics” (based on the theories of Nicholas Georgescu-Roegen) and with the ubiquitous Hazel Henderson further debunking orthodox economics with her well-reasoned arguments that virtually everything economists know is wrong (which would challenge the analyses of several other papers in the book). New Economics 85 reports on an international gathering of thinkers who are more consistent in their misgivings regarding conventional economics, and who are working to build a unified framework better adapted to contemporary realities. The Other Economic Summit (TOES) 1985 was the second annual conference on new economics. These “other summits,” held in London, are scheduled to coincide with the annual Economic Summits of the seven richest Western industrial countries. TOES seeks to draw attention to the growing body of new economic theory and practice that points the way to a more equitable and sustainable future. TOES 1985 was attended by 500 people from 20 countries on all five continents. Unlike The Global Economy, New Economics 85 is not a collection of papers but a brief summary of the themes and thoughts presented at the conference (a collection of papers from TOES 1984 and 1985 will be published this year under the title The Living Economy: A New Economy in the Making). TOES 1985 was organized around six research areas: human needs, economic indicators and targets, the self-reliance/dependency spectrum, agriculture, health, and trade. Twenty-six papers presented on these themes are summarized. This booklet offers a concise overview of the best new thinking in these areas. Recommendations were brought to the Bonn Economic Summit by a TOES delegation. TOES is an ongoing project, one which can be expected to yield exciting results. If you wish to get more information on the project, or help support the work, contact: The Director, TOES, 42 Warriner Gardens, London SWll 4DU, U. K. —FLS The Military in Your Backyard: How to Determine the Impact of Military Spending in Your Community, by Randy Schutt, 1984, 176 pp., $14.20 from: Center for Economic Conversion 222 View Street Suite C Mountain View, CA 94041 This manual can help citizen groups discover how much military money comes into their communities, which companies or bases receive this money, what products or services are purchased, and the kinds of effects that all this has on the local community. It helps determine the dependency of the community on military spending and offers strategies for helping to break that dependency through economic conversion planning. Thorough and well-documented, with plenty of sample documents and worksheets and an extensive annotated bibliography and resource list, this manual offers careful, step-by-step instructions to enable community-based peace groups to gather and interpret economic data in an area that may at first seem unfamiliar and daunting. This data is useful in bolstering arguments against military involvement and in taking the next step—offering economically sound alternatives. —FLS TOES agriculture platform. Left to right: David Bateman, Nic Lampkin, Jonathan Porritt (chair), Wangari Maathai (standing), Robert Chambers, Howard Newby. Photo by Peter Kemp. (From New Economics 85)
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