The era of neoliberalism was destructive on so many levels. It saw a huge growth in wealth and a privileged 1% gaming monopoly influence. There was a hollowing out of the state; fraying of the safety net; inadequate government investment in infrastructure; and continued environmental degradation. A result was damage on a vast scale to the climate, the environment from overconsumption by those with the most wealth and pollution from industries that didn’t care about impacts beyond their facilities.
There has to be an alternative. The co-founder of the global Wellbeing Economy Alliance is in Tāmaki Makaurau to discuss this.
Dr Katherine Trebeck is a political economist, author and advocate for economic system change, and founder of the global Wellbeing Economy Alliance.
• She is a member of the Club of Rome and sits on the boards of Hands Across Canberra, the Wellbeing Economy Lab Denmark, and the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity.
• She has eight years’ experience in various roles with Oxfam Great Britain, where she developed Oxfam’s Humankind Index and led Oxfam’s work on downscaling the ‘doughnut’ for various national contexts.
• Katherine wrote ‘The Economics of Arrival: Ideas for a Grown Up Economy (with Jeremy Williams) in 2019 and a major report ‘Being Bold: Budgeting for Children’s Wellbeing’ was launched in March 2021.
• Her two Tedx talks are about ‘Why the future economy has to be a wellbeing economy’ and ‘A new definition of wealth and prosperity’.
Trades Hall
Grey Lynn, AUK
New Zealand