The Wealth of Nations, 1776 by Adam Smith

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We're all the product of our circumstance, our privilege, our experience. And that shapes what we get to see in the world. So we all have blind spots. But then let's go back to remembering that we also have these multiple economic identities. We could be a consume or produce. Might be a laborer or a capitalist. You could be, again, you have a role in relationship to the state,. Whether it's a vote or a public servant or protester. Now, who writes economics? It's going to chan economics depending on which kind of those relationships they hold.

When Kate Raworth began studying economics, she was disappointed that the mainstream version of the discipline didn’t fully address many of the world issues that she wanted to tackle, such as human rights and environmental destruction. She left the field, but was inspired to jump back in after the financial crisis of 2008, when she saw an opportunity to introduce fresh perspectives. She sat down and drew a chart in the shape of a doughnut, which provided a way to think about our economic system while accounting for the impact to the world around us, as well as for humans’ baseline needs. Kate’s framing can teach us a lot about how to transform the economic model of the technology industry, helping us move from a system that values addicted, narcissistic, polarized humans to one that values healthy, loving and collaborative relationships. Her book, “Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist,” gives us a guide for transitioning from a 20th-century paradigm to an evolved 21st-century one that will address our existential-scale problems.