GDP is up. The stock market is hitting record highs. Yet, you probably feel like you’re running a race on a treadmill that keeps getting faster. Why? Because for decades, we’ve been taught that the economy is a giant machine where the only things that count are the things we can count. We’ve prioritized the "stuff" over the "souls."
It’s a weird way to live.
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When we talk about economics as if people mattered, we aren’t just being sentimental or "soft." We are actually talking about the most rigorous, honest way to look at how a society functions. The phrase itself famously comes from E.F. Schumacher’s 1973 book, Small Is Beautiful. Schumacher was an economist who looked at the obsession with giant corporations and endless growth and basically said, "Hey, this is going to break us." He was right.
The Problem with Giantism
Our modern world loves scale. We love "big." Big data, big tech, big government. But Schumacher argued that "giantism" leads to a loss of human dignity. When a company gets too big, the employees become mere "units of labor." They aren't people with families, hobbies, or back pain; they are just entries on a spreadsheet.
Think about the local hardware store versus a massive online retailer. The local shop owner knows your name. They know which part of your porch is rotting and why you need that specific screw. That’s a human connection. The algorithm at the giant retailer doesn't care. It just wants to optimize your "lifetime value" as a consumer.
The shift toward economics as if people mattered isn't about destroying technology or going back to the Stone Age. It’s about right-sizing. It’s about realizing that "growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell," as Edward Abbey once put it. If a town loses its local economy to a distant corporation, that town loses its soul. It loses its ability to take care of itself.
Measuring What Actually Counts
We are obsessed with Gross Domestic Product (GDP). If you get into a car accident, GDP goes up because of the repair costs and medical bills. If a forest is cut down and sold for lumber, GDP goes up. But if you stay home to take care of your aging parent, or if you volunteer at a community garden, GDP doesn't budge.
Does that make sense? Not really.
Economists like Amartya Sen have spent years arguing that we should measure "capabilities" instead of just wealth. Sen, a Nobel Prize winner, suggests that the real measure of a successful economy is whether people have the freedom to lead the lives they value. Are they healthy? Are they educated? Do they have a voice in their community?
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In Bhutan, they famously track "Gross National Happiness." It sounds a bit hippy-dippy, sure, but it’s actually a sophisticated framework. They look at psychological well-being, time use, cultural diversity, and ecological resilience. They realized that a rich person who is miserable and lives in a polluted wasteland isn't actually "winning" at economics.
Why Work Feels So Meaningless Right Now
Let’s talk about jobs. Most people spend the best hours of their day, and the best years of their lives, working. If that work is soul-crushing, the economy is failing those people, regardless of how high the Dow Jones goes.
Schumacher had this idea of "Buddhist Economics." He argued that work should give a person a chance to utilize and develop their faculties. It should enable them to join with other people in a common task. It should bring forth the goods and services needed for a becoming existence.
Instead, we have "bullshit jobs." That’s a term coined by the late anthropologist David Graeber. He noticed that millions of people work in roles—like corporate lawyers, PR consultants, or middle managers—where even they feel their job shouldn't exist. They are just cogs in a machine that produces nothing of value to the human spirit.
When we apply economics as if people mattered, we start asking different questions about the workplace:
- Does this job allow for creativity?
- Is there a sense of community here?
- Am I producing something that actually helps someone?
- Or am I just moving numbers from one side of a screen to the other?
The Myth of the "Rational Actor"
Classic economics assumes we are all Homo Economicus. This is a hypothetical creature that is perfectly rational, perfectly selfish, and has infinite willpower.
You know that’s not true. I know that’s not true.
If we were rational, we wouldn't buy $7 lattes when we have debt. We wouldn't stay up late scrolling on our phones when we have a big meeting. We are messy, emotional, and social creatures. Richard Thaler and the field of Behavioral Economics proved this. They showed that we are easily "nudged" and influenced by our environment.
A human-centric economy accepts our flaws. It doesn't punish us for not being robots. It builds systems that work with our psychology rather than against it.
Localism and the Power of the "Small"
Real economics happens at the kitchen table. It happens at the farmer’s market. It happens when a neighbor lends you a lawnmower. This is what Schumacher called "intermediate technology." It’s technology that is productive but also manageable by individuals or small groups.
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When we offshore all our production to save 5% on costs, we create "fragility." We saw this during the global supply chain meltdowns. If your town makes its own clothes, grows its own food, and generates its own power, it is resilient. If it relies on a complex web of global shipping containers, it is vulnerable.
Supporting local businesses isn't just a "feel-good" thing to do. It’s a strategic economic decision. It keeps money circulating within the community. It creates a multiplier effect.
Environmental Limits are Human Limits
We cannot have infinite growth on a finite planet. It's just math.
Kate Raworth, an economist at Oxford, proposed "Doughnut Economics." Imagine a doughnut. The inner ring is the social foundation—things like food, water, and housing. Everyone needs to be inside that ring. The outer ring is the ecological ceiling—things like climate change and biodiversity loss. We cannot cross that line without destroying our home.
The goal of economics as if people mattered is to live within the "sweet spot" of that doughnut. It’s about sufficiency, not excess.
Rethinking Ownership and Capital
Who owns the tools? Who owns the land?
In a standard model, it’s the shareholders. People who might live thousands of miles away and have never stepped foot in the factory. Their only goal is a quarterly dividend.
But what if the workers owned the company? Worker cooperatives, like the Mondragon Corporation in Spain, show that this works. Mondragon is a massive federation of cooperatives with over 70,000 employees. Their pay ratios are compressed—the CEO doesn't make 400 times what the janitor makes. Because the workers are the owners, they don't fire themselves during a slight downturn. They find ways to pivot.
This is what it looks like when people are the priority.
Taking Action: How to Move Toward a Human Economy
You don't have to wait for a total system collapse to start practicing economics as if people mattered. You can change the way you interact with the world right now.
Audit your spending. Look at your bank statement. How much of your money stayed in your zip code? Try to shift 10% of your "big box" spending to a local creator or shop. It makes a bigger difference than you think.
Question the "grind." We’ve been conditioned to think that being busy is a status symbol. It’s not. It’s often just a sign of poor boundaries or a system that is over-extracting your labor. Reclaiming your time is a radical economic act.
Invest in "Real Capital." Financial capital is just paper or digits. Real capital is your health, your skills, your relationships, and the soil in your backyard. If the financial system wobbles, your real capital is what will keep you standing.
Support Co-ops and Credit Unions. Move your money out of the "too big to fail" banks. Credit unions are member-owned. They generally have lower fees and better interest rates because they aren't trying to squeeze profit for distant shareholders.
Advocate for better metrics. Next time you hear a politician bragging about GDP, ask about the Gini coefficient (which measures inequality) or the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). Demand that they talk about the things that actually affect your daily quality of life.
Economics isn't just for people in suits on Wall Street. It’s the study of how we manage our "home"—our literal homes, our communities, and our planet. If the "experts" tell you that your well-being has to be sacrificed for the sake of "the economy," they’ve forgotten what an economy is for.
It’s for us. Not the other way around.
Actionable Steps for a Human-Centric Economic Life
- Join a local food or tool library. Sharing resources reduces the need for "stuff" and builds community trust.
- Evaluate your work through the lens of dignity. If your job feels meaningless, start a "side hustle" that actually helps people, even if it doesn't pay much yet.
- Prioritize "repair" over "replace." Fixing a pair of boots or a laptop is an act of resistance against a throwaway culture.
- Engage in "time banking." Offer an hour of your skill (like tutoring or gardening) in exchange for an hour of someone else's skill. This bypasses the traditional currency system entirely.
- Read Schumacher. Pick up a copy of Small Is Beautiful. It’s fifty years old, but it feels like it was written yesterday.
By focusing on the small, the local, and the human, we can build a world that doesn't just look good on a chart, but actually feels good to live in.