Money & Soul

With a foreword by Jonathon Porritt, this is an important book by a Norwegian organisational psychologist and management consultant. It is particularly relevant to reflections on the implications of the credit crunch and the relationship between the two elements of the title, money and soul. The ambitious agenda of the book is the transformation of capitalism into a new form which he calls polycapitalism, where equal weight is given to natural, social, manufactured and financial capital, with corresponding markets and forms of money. There is much of historical and psychological interest in the book concerning the origins of money itself, markets, accounts, credit, debt and interest. It also contributes a new model of welfare, incorporating work and love along with money, self-respect and close relationships to produce real quality of life. The author disposes of four powerful economic myths concerning price, utility and profit maximisation, but especially the idea that economic growth is primary.

We need to move beyond the tunnel vision of what he calls the economism to a more adequate model of human aspiration in relation to economics. Much of the thinking is very new, and the reader can appreciate the necessity of radical thought, including the invention of climate change currency, treating carbon quotas as money. He deals with potential objections to his ideas, suggesting that soul and money can come together in polycapitalism in ways that integrate quality and quantity. He even reminds us that the father of modern economics, Alfred Marshall, insisted that the economist must concern himself with the ultimate aims of man rather than simply the maximisation of consumption or utility. It would be good to see this book on a university reading list to stimulate some new thinking and remind students that, 'for the soul, the aesthetic is an existential necessity.' A remark that some modern architects would also do well to remember.