James Magnus-Johnston is a PhD researcher at McGill University in the Leadership for the Ecozoic program. He’s the Co-director of the Centre for Resilience at Canadian Mennonite University, where he teaches in the fields of business, political studies, and economics, and he serves as a board director with the Assiniboine Credit Union. James previously worked in finance, public policy, and as a social entrepreneur—helping to establish services in food, housing, and experiential learning. He completed an MPhil in Economics at the University of Cambridge, where he studied the growth requirement of the debt-based money system.
New Zealand Deprioritizes Growth, Improves Health and Wellbeing
Last May, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern released a budget to improve the “wellbeing” of its citizens rather than focusing on productivity and GDP growth. And not so coincidentally, New Zealand has one of the best coronavirus outcomes of any democracy in the world.
May 13, 2020
Outbreaks in the Anthropocene: Growth ain’t the Cure
May I re-frame the coronavirus conversation? Outbreaks are going to happen more often in our climate-altered world, and they highlight the fragility of our growth-or-bust industrial system.
March 12, 2020
Ecological Existential Dread: We Need to Talk about our Feelings
We’re feeling a tipping point emerge, and it’s not just ecological. It’s cultural, political, and institutional. We’d best do the emotional work and be ready.
February 26, 2020
What About Innovating Beyond the Growth Trap? A Challenge to the Ecofiscal Commission’s Growth Fixation
A new voice has emerged recently in Canada called the “Ecofiscal Commission,” which could have the funding, clout, and determination to steer the country in a more promising direction.
July 29, 2015
Oil and Real Estate Bubbles in Canada: What Goes up Won’t so Smoothly Come Down
When prices are high, the debt-based Ponzi scheme functions; when prices sustain lows, the scheme unravels.
January 29, 2015
Are We Hard-Wired to Think We Can Grow Forever?
If rational arguments were primary catalysts for social change, perhaps a steady state economy would already be a reality.
October 31, 2014