blog - CAPITAL INSTITUTE

Limits to Growth ·

No Limits to Learning

On this Earth Day, we’re called to reflect not only on our relationship with the planet but also on the systems of thought that shape how we live with it. The challenges facing Earth today—climate chaos, ecological degradation, social inequity—are symptoms of a deeper issue: outdated ideas still guiding our economies and our policies. This reflection is a call to…

John Fullerton·
April 21, 2025 8:15 pm·
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Inequality ·

Where Woke Went Wrong

The rapid retreat from corporate ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives—i.e., “woke capitalism”—in response to Trump has been stunning. The problem with capitalism in the United States is not that exponential growth on a finite planet is impossible, nor that global heating is an obvious symptom of this reality. Nor does the continued pattern of…

John Fullerton·
March 25, 2025 6:41 pm·
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Donald Trump ·

The Chaos Vortex: We’re Going In

This time is different. After the 2016 election I wrote a piece titled “Trump: A Gift?” reflecting how the walk down the golden escalator was less about Trump than about us. It was meant to show us our shadow. We missed the lesson. Now the consequences. No need to rattle off the details you are all too familiar with. Instead,…

John Fullerton·
January 31, 2025 9:17 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

2024 Year End Reflection

Two decades ago, I participated in a systems science workshop with Dennis Meadows, lead scientist for the Limits to Growth study, the seminal 1972 Report to the Club of Rome. What we now call the polycrisis (or meta-crisis) was born in my mind on that day. For Dennis and his colleagues, the polycrisis was understood and anticipated for their entire…

John Fullerton·
December 26, 2024 4:43 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

A World at War: No Way Out But Through

Brutal as 2023 has been, one lesson we have learned is not to assume the worst is behind us. The world has become a dangerous place, seemingly slowly at first, and then quickly. We are a world at war. The media seems to be able to keep us focused only on one war at a time, but there are at…

John Fullerton·
December 20, 2023 11:06 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

Capital Institute and nRhythm Form New Partnership to Catalyze Regenerative Transformation

All of us in the regenerative movement recognize we are running out of time. Our societal systems need rapid transformation to address the environmental, social, cultural and existential polycrisis of this time. In response, Capital Institute and nRhythm are announcing a groundbreaking partnership to launch an innovative “landscape” of regenerative offerings to help catalyze this transformation. We are calling this…

John Fullerton·
September 13, 2023 4:48 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

COP Anxiety: 26th Time’s A Charm?

It’s all overwhelming really. Coming amidst the global pandemic that is far from over and a coup investigation in the United States which is just beginning, we are told this meeting in Glasgow is “our last best chance” to save the planet. The “negotiating” always feels more like “leaders” negotiating for a PR win more than negotiating how to reverse…

John Fullerton·
November 8, 2021 11:49 pm·
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Financial Reform ·

An Agenda for Genuine Financial Reform

Photo by Angel Evangeline on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/lIYoJZwXy2U In this final act, Act IV of my booklet Finance for a Regenerative World, I argue that finance must be transformed for the primary purpose of serving the emergence of regenerative economies. A truly effective policy framework for financial reform must be designed with this vision and these goals in mind, and…

Capital Institute·
August 25, 2020 4:41 am·
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Future of Finance ·

2020: Inflection Point

By now it is clear: 2020 represents a new phase in the monumental transformation of the human project. History will judge its ramifications as more profound than the agricultural, industrial, or information revolutions, the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Civil Rights and Woman’s Rights Movements. Perhaps greater than all of these combined. For now, a sixth great extinction is underway, this…

Capital Institute·
June 18, 2020 11:48 am·
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Future of Finance ·

A Multisystemic Response to Covid-19

“We can’t predict when, but given the continual emergence of new pathogens, the increasing risk of a bioterror attack, and the ever-increasing connectedness of our world, there is a significant probability that a large and lethal modern-day pandemic will occur in our lifetime.” – Bill Gates, 2018 The Covid-19 pandemic is upon us. It is a multisystemic crisis, spinning out of…

John Fullerton·
May 4, 2020 12:58 am·
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Evergreen Direct Investing ·

Evergreen Direct Investing: A Two-Part Series

Here in The Future of Finance, we previously

John Fullerton·
April 11, 2020 12:51 pm·
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Carbon Bubble ·

The Big Choice

– A $20 trillion “externality” appears to present civilization with its BIG CHOICE: economic destruction or ecological destruction, both with chilling global security implications. Here’s why, along with a practical and more hopeful alternative to “Sophie’s Choice.” Carbon Tracker has released an illuminating report

John Fullerton·
April 8, 2020 1:47 pm·
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Future of Finance ·

“We’re Done!” How’s that for a Purpose Statement?

“We’re done.” With those words, Ed Stack, the CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods demonstrated what principled leadership looks like. No purpose statement necessary. No “business case for sustainability” discussion. No ESG debate. A clear ethical choice presented itself and he acted. Dick’s destroyed $5million of assault rifles on the spot to keep them off the streets once Stack learned that…

John Fullerton·
October 11, 2019 12:32 am·
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#GREENWISH ·

#Greenwish

#GREENWISH Greetings, No doubt you have noticed my blog has gone on sabbatical. There are two reasons for this. First, I am working on releasing the final sections of “Finance for a Regenerative World,” the four Act complement to my 2015 paper, “Regenerative Capitalism,” while also embarking on a new book project. And second, to be honest, the unfolding of our political and ecological…

John Fullerton·
July 20, 2019 9:29 pm·
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Financial Crisis ·

An Open Letter to Finance

Ten years have passed since the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank allowed Lehman Brothers to file for bankruptcy, attempting to signal to the market that no firm is too big or important to fail. That mistaken belief triggered panic across the global financial system. The next day, a chastened Fed decided to rescue AIG, the insurance colossus ensnarled in a credit…

John Fullerton·
September 19, 2018 8:25 pm·
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