Meet the Ranchers of Grasslands

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Meet the Ranchers of Grasslands

As an “impact investor” in Grasslands, one of the true, unanticipated delights has been the amazing quality of the people the project has attracted. By connecting one’s investments with, and in the process building life experiences and careers for, real people doing real wealth creating work connected to the land, an investor experiences a profoundly different meaning in the word “value” than experienced when picking a good hedge fund to invest in. This is what we mean by the “purpose of capital” at Capital Institute.

Our goal with the second installment of the Grasslands Story, a project of the Capital Lab’s Field Guide to Investing in a Resilient Economy, is to introduce you to our Grasslands ranchers, and to give you a sense of the challenges they face and the deep commitment they bring to their work. Please also enjoy our slideshow of Grasslands photographs by Capital Institute Fellow David Nicola, listen to Grasslands rancher Ty Hotchkiss sing an Ian Tyson cowboy melody, and reflect on the wise words of our youngest rancher, Jacob Goddard. Read more

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This Week’s Guest Bloggers Welcome Your Feedback and Comments…

Herman Daly Asks “Why Should We Tax?”

For some time a small group of ecological economists has been suggesting that we switch the tax base from income (value added to natural resources by labor and capital), and on to natural resources themselves. Value added to resources is something we want more of, so don’t tax it (either at each stage of production as in Europe, or at the final stage as income as in the U.S.). The resource throughput, beginning with depletion and ending with pollution (both real costs), is something we want less of in a full world economy, so let’s tax it. Even though resources in the ground and waste absorption services are free gifts of nature in the cost of production sense, they are nevertheless increasingly scarce in a full world. They need a price to be efficiently allocated and not overused. Read more

Devin McIntire Critiques Robert Reich’s “The Truth About the Economy” Video

Robert Reich has done his best to explain the problems with America’s current economy in two minutes and it’s definitely worth your time, especially if you haven’t read his book “Supercapitalism.” However, he omits a few critical points that could have made a much more impactful four or five minute video.

For example, there were no discussions of the biophysical constraints we face as we wrestle with how to get America’s economy growing again. What would you put in a 5-minute video on today’s American economy if you could? Capital Institute would love to share your video, so post a link in the comments section! Read more