Since 2000, the middle class has shrunk in size, fallen backward in income and wealth and shed some -- but by no means all -- of its characteristic faith in the future. Our new report, released Aug. 22, 2012, explores how middle-class Americans view themselves, as well as their outlook on the future and on the presidential candidates who are courting their votes.

To read the full report, go here.

Saturday, June 9th at the Strategies for a New Economy 2012 Conference historian and political economist talks about finding ways to build new institutions that are capable of managing the wealthiest nation in history as our present system is stalmated politically, stagneting economically, and in decay.  People think something is wrong, making rethinking possible as painful as it might be.  He talks about the Cleveland experience of building profits into the community and supported by purchasing institutions still in place.

Emphasis on the "we" in this speech aired by Democracy Now, the Green Party's convention's keynote address delivered by Gar Alperovitz, a professor of political economy at the University of Maryland. He is co-founder of the Democracy Collaborative. Alperovitz is the author of, "America Beyond Capitalism: Reclaiming Our Wealth, Our Liberty, and Our Democracy." In his remarks, Alperovitz stressed the importance of third-party politics to challenge a corporate-run society. "Systems in history are defined above all by who controls the wealth," Alperovitz says. "The top 400 people own more wealth now than the bottom 185 million Americans taken together. That is a medieval structure."

Sir Partha DasGupta discusses natural capital and what it means in terms of economy.  We have generally ignored our ecosystems including farm land and forests.

Sir Partha DasGupta. Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of Cambridge, has written an article entitled "Nature's Role in Sustainable Economic Development" for the issue of Philosophical Transactions B "Personal perspectives in the life sciences for the Royal Society's 350th anniversary". In this podcast Wendy Barnaby interviews Sir Partha about his article and how nature should be taken into account when looking at economic development.

Charles Eisenstein addresses what is happening in the economy and money - will we get back to "normal?" Charles is the author of Sacred Economics, a new book that challenges the established patterns of money an economics in our society and offers some resolutions for the future. Charles spoke to a sell out crowd recently in Portland, Oregon. The Center for a Sustainable Today together with Evolver and Transition PDX is proud to present the video version of this enlightening talk.

Click on image to order his book from Amazon or visit your local bookstore. Thank you.

Our economic model is believed by many to be broken. Pioneers Maurice Strong, Bjorn Stigson, Matthew Kiernan, Jonathon Porritt and others emphasize the need to challenge the orthodoxies of our current model, envisioning a transition from an economically-driven framework to one that acknowledges ecological infrastructure as the foundation. This is one of twenty interviews from the Ray Anderson Memorial Interviews as part of The Regeneration Project a joint project of Sustainability and GlobeScan.

Our economic model is believed by many to be broken. Pioneers Maurice Strong, Bjorn Stigson, Matthew Kiernan, Jonathon Porritt and others emphasize the need to challenge the orthodoxies of our current model, envisioning a transition from an economically-driven framework to one that acknowledges ecological infrastructure as the foundation.

Public Lecture- Sustainability and The Future of Capitalism by Jonathon Porritt, CBE, Chancellor of Keele University February 2012.

L. Hunter Lovins is President and founder of the Natural Capitalism Solutions. NCS educates senior decision-makers in business, government and civil society to restore and enhance the natural and human capital while increasing prosperity and quality of life. Here she discusses the business case for sustainability and the role of entrepreneurs. This is a TEDx San Joaquin event. This images is a link on Amazon to one of her books, The Way Out or visit your local bookstore. Thank you.

Hazel Henderson is a futurist, columnist, author of Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy and world-renowned expert on sustainable development. This presentation includes feedback from the audience. She talks about quality of life indicators.

To order her book from Amazon, click on image. Thank you.