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INSIGHTS
Essays, talks and reflections by Tom Foster, founder of EcoProsper Consulting, on economics and the design of safe and fair futures within multiple ecological limits
JUNE 2026 rethinking money for a doughnut economy
Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL) has now published my recent seminar, Rethinking Money for a Doughnut Economy, on YouTube (33 min).
The presentation explores how our understanding of money shapes what societies believe is possible when responding to climate change, ecological overshoot, inequality, and long-term economic transition.
Topics covered include:
The presentation explores how our understanding of money shapes what societies believe is possible when responding to climate change, ecological overshoot, inequality, and long-term economic transition.
Topics covered include:
- money as credit and the origins of money
- monetary sovereignty and public spending capacity
- real resource limits and inflation
- the role of public money in funding societal priorities
- ways of bringing money more explicitly into the Doughnut Economics framework
The seminar featured in DEAL's June 2026 monthly newsletter and its Research for Action update.
Additional ResourcesThe following seminar resources are also available:A. Full Zoom recording of the presentation, Q&A and chat (57 minutes)B. Three-minute summary of the presentation and discussionC. PowerPoint Show - Rethinking Money for a Doughnut EconomyD. PDF slide pack - Rethinking Money for a Doughnut EconomyE. Additional free resources for those wishing to explore the topic further
To access these resources click here
Additional ResourcesThe following seminar resources are also available:A. Full Zoom recording of the presentation, Q&A and chat (57 minutes)B. Three-minute summary of the presentation and discussionC. PowerPoint Show - Rethinking Money for a Doughnut EconomyD. PDF slide pack - Rethinking Money for a Doughnut EconomyE. Additional free resources for those wishing to explore the topic further
To access these resources click here
MAY 2026
Our Money, Our Power: Reclaiming Money for an Ethical Post-Growth Future
An essay by Tom Foster
july 2025
THE LUCK OF THE DRAW: GENERATIONAL LOSS AND THE YOUNG’S VANISHING FUTURE
This essay by Tom Foster was originally published in the July 2025 edition of the Finding Nature substack. It has been updated for publication here.
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March 2024
RETHINKING BANKING AS A PUBLIC FRANCHISE
The article published in the March 2024 issue of Economic Reform Australia's (ERA) Review is my review of an academic paper proposing we should view the private banking sector as a public franchise, where the Federal government is the franchisor and banks are licensed franchisees of the government's public credit money. Implications of this view on public policy are described, including how this would improve financing to the real economy of businesses and households.
November 2023 The synergies between Ecological Economics and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
YouTube (18:35min) video of my presentation during the Rethinking Economics Australia (REA) panel session at the New Economy Network Australia (NENA) 2023 conference in Canberra.
Panel commences with Dr Michelle Maloney of NENA presenting Dr Mary Graham’s work on the Relationship Ethos from the indigenous perspective
5:45min Dennis Venter of REA on the broader range of orthodox and non-orthodox economic theories and frameworks available
11:55min. My presentation on the “The synergies between Ecological Economics and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), with an introduction to the Master of Economics of Sustainability course that is teaching this”.
Panel commences with Dr Michelle Maloney of NENA presenting Dr Mary Graham’s work on the Relationship Ethos from the indigenous perspective
5:45min Dennis Venter of REA on the broader range of orthodox and non-orthodox economic theories and frameworks available
11:55min. My presentation on the “The synergies between Ecological Economics and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), with an introduction to the Master of Economics of Sustainability course that is teaching this”.
SEPTEMBER 2023 The F-twist – realism, economic policy analysis & climate change
In this two-part article published in the September and November 2024 issues respectively of Economic Reform Australia's (ERA) Review, I discuss how mainstream (or orthodox) economic theory does not behave as a science and the impact of this on climate policy. I also contrast economics to my experience in a Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) profession.
PART 1
PART 2
