And each of these perspectives comes to the same conclusion, which is that our global economy is out of control and performing contrary to basic principles of market economics.
David Korten

As long as you have a system that is based on the rational that if you are making money you are thereby making a contribution to society, these financial rogue practices will continue.
David Korten

But in the past, US companies have been able to increase their profits through downsizing in the US, through colonizing other people's resources, and through the increase of globalization.
David Korten

But we can also take the radical view that the test of an economy has to do with the extent to which it is providing everybody with a decent means of living.
David Korten

Capitalism and the market are presented as synonymous, but they are not. Capitalism is both the enemy of the market and democracy.
David Korten

Capitalism is not about free competitive choices among people who are reasonably equal in their buying and selling of economic power, it is about concentrating capital, concentrating economic power in very few hands using that power to trash everyone who gets in their way.
David Korten

Europeans say they are proud of their social fabric, of strong rights for workers and the weak in society.
David Korten

Global competition is about winners and losers.
David Korten

If I would need to make a prediction I still believe Kaplan's scenario is very plausible.
David Korten

If you look at the US economy over the last 15-20 years wages have been stagnating or even declining.
David Korten


If you look internationally over the last 50 years there have been improvements in the third world, but in the last 20 years the reverse has happened, with debt crises and increased poverty.
David Korten

In a world of increasing inequality, the legitimacy of institutions that give precedence to the property rights of "the Haves" over the human rights of "the Have Nots" is inevitably called into serious question.
David Korten

In the US, most progressives start to see the differences between internationalism and economic globalization.
David Korten

It is interesting to note that the 200 richest people have more assets than the 2 billion poorest.
David Korten

It will take some time before a politician will capture the imagination of the American people and have the vision and understanding to do what is necessary for a better future for the people of America and the world.
David Korten

Money flows into the US, and inflates US assets, and allows the US to have a monstrous trade deficit. That means we are consuming more than we are producing.
David Korten

Money is a mechanism for control.
David Korten

Money is not wealth. Money is a claim on wealth.
David Korten

More and more surveys in the US are indicating a change in values taking place among consumers, who become more concerned about quality of life, food, health and the environment.
David Korten

More humane societies are usually smaller, like the Scandinavian countries and Holland, where it is much easier to reach consensus and cooperation.
David Korten