When Capitalism Converges With Resilience

It is hard to argue against that fact that the U.S. and even "Communist" China, for that matter, have great influence in global markets and on health and human security -- for their own people as well as human populations world-wide. The power of capital within global, regional, national, and local markets has been transforming the world since the growth of the industrial revolution, which has only accelerated since the broad introduction of global communication and computing in the 20th century. That said, there has been growing criticism of the destructive nature of market fundamentalism and laissez faire economics in the face of a growing awareness of ecosystem carrying capacities, and the problems inherent in growth economies in decline.  So what happens when capitalists become aware of the destructive nature of growth economies, where populations are exceeding the carrying capacities of ecosystems and mass consumption economies begin to collapse?

One argument might be that capitalism is always indifferent to carrying capacities and human suffering.  Investors will simply exploit opportunities until they become toxic and then short those markets, industries, and businesses leaving economic ruin and social deterioration behind. There are, of course, lots of examples of this behavior over the past four decades, and especially during the first decade of the 21st Century.  One only needs to look at Detroit today with its economic and population collapses to understand the nature of socio-ecological collapse due to the decline of an industrial sector and the flight of its associated capital and markets.

That said, there appears to be new economic theories emerging as a countervailing force.  Emerging economic theorists argue that although unfettered growth economics in a time of the over-extension of carrying capacities will lead to its own demise, with huge social costs and catastrophic effects on health and human security -- there are clear alternatives for investors to become part of emerging solutions that can shelter and grow capital.  Some are arguing that a wave of socially and ecologically sound investment is growing rapidly attracting an exponential increase in capital that is inevitably rejecting the exploitation and financial coercion that is driving accelerating social and ecological collapse.  Kenneth Boulding in his prescient book,Beyond Economics, spoke about these alternatives as far back as 1980s.  

Boulding's "Evolutionary Economics," which linked economics and other social phenomenon into larger biological systems and general systems theory was an influential underpinning for a new generation of proponents exploring potential rules for "ecological economics." Ecological economics as a field does not try to hid the facts of issues such as global climate change, overpopulation, and human security in the face of social systems overextending carrying capacity, it tries to engage political economies that address them directly, but often these theorists fall short of the practicalities of capital markets and attracting investors in the solutions.  However, there is now a new thread within economics, as the traditional financial markets of the 20th Century and early 21st Century become more unstable and declining around the world, that shows promise of attracting the investment capital essential to the necessary economic, social, and ecosystem transformations underway that will lead to sustainability and resilient communities and societies globally.  

Increasing numbers of investors are now trying to understand the underlying trends, causes, and economic opportunities of resilient and sustainable solutions.  This type of investor is leading to a new trend in capitalism, which appears to be moving toward shifting capital investment and political influence toward resilience.  Some argue that the sheer volume and mass of capital investment in extractive, unhealthy, and socially destructive industries will continue to accelerate collapses, because our current political economy enables significant amounts of money to be made in negative exploitation of labor, fragile ecosystems, and passive, uninformed citizens and investors.  From this point of view, large, historically powerful industries merely need to externalize risks and costs with the support of government while they perpetuate current destructive behaviors without the costs and intelligence of social innovation.  

That said, the growth of these destructive industries are slowing.  Their costs of doing business are going up (e.g., BP and Deepwater Horizon), in spite of efforts to cripple legal and regulatory authorities by some of the most powerful destructive business sectors, new economic sectors utilizing the migration of savvy investment capital are exploding with the growth of socially and environmentally sound businesses and products, that are appropriately profitable and rewarding to investors (e.g., Apple computer becoming the world's largest company).  Increasing aware of the social and environmental consequences of business practices and policies, the savvy investor has an eye markets, businesses, products, and political leadership that are embracing sustainable practices that support the growth of capital within healthy, sustainable economic sectors.  

Please post evidence of these emerging economic markets, green technologies, and business sectors that are deserving of the investment capital that is now in flight from industries and political persuasions that have been externalizing risks and costs to the commons, or are fundamentally counter to sustainable health and human security of Americans, and the resilience of America's communities of interest globally, as well as domestically.