Capitalism, the Commons, and Divine Right

The collection of lectures and publications from the Schumacher Center for a New Economics represents some of the foremost voices on a new economics.

Peter Barnes defines the commons as "the sum of all we inherit together and must pass on, undiminished and more or less equally, to our heirs." The commons includes watersheds, air, DNA, playgrounds, Main Street, radio waves, political systems, and numerous other natural resources and social innovations. Barnes suggests that the commons should be held in trust for the benefit of current and future generations as a way of countering the power of the market and its search for short-term private profits.