12 Mar 2007
Molly Scott Cato’s Talk in Totnes – “The Bioregional Economy”.
**Molly Scott Cato** is the Green Party’s economics spokesperson and is the author of *’Market Schmarket’*. We were delighted when she agreed to come to Totnes to talk at our event last week to launch the TTT Economics and Livelihoods Group. Her talk touched on both the reasons for a more bioregional economy and how we might achieve it. She was an entertaining and passionate speaker, who made the often bewildering subject of economics accessible and relevant. She was also very honest about the gaps in her knowledge, making it clear that each new complementary currency scheme breaks new ground and is adding to the body of knowledge. The following is not comprehensive, but is compiled from my notes.
She began by talking about climate change, setting out the case for action. She talked about the absurd international trade in goods, especially food, carting food from one place to another that could just as easily have produced it too. She quoted Caroline Lucas MEP, who says rather than exchanging food, with all the carbon impacts of that, why not just swap recipes?! She then introduced the concept of bioregionalism, which she defined as “an economy that sits comfortably at the heart of the ecosystem
Gareth_Doutch
12 Mar 12:40pm
It was a very good talk, just a shame she never had time to go into further detail at some points. But what I have read so far of her book seems spot on. Economics shouldn’t be a bewildering topic, beneath the veil it is very simple indeed, so simple I would say any child could understand it.
eartheart
5 Jun 10:47pm
Molly’s book looks at land owenrship issues. What is being done in Transiton projects to directly return land from the owning classes to the rentees. We have a absolutley elephant size problem in towns like Totnes of the poorest workers living in scrubby places while the wealthies who’ve made their scammy money of the backs of ethnically poor labourers by dodgy pension and sharewholder deals in the City have nabbed all the nice land and houses. Can we march and reclaim their land please – lets make all this a bit revolutionary rather than polite!