In this insightful book, John Bloom, author of The Genius of Money, explores approaches toward transforming the conventional habits of mind and practice that have led to today's imbalance in our economic life and in society as a whole.

Acknowledging that money has permeated almost every aspect of daily life--including our relationships to nature and to one another--Bloom asks:

How and why did we arrive at our current forms of social practice, including organizational life and governance?

From this inquiry arises a major reconsideration of personal and cultural conditioning and our economic selves, as well as our systems of exchange, in order to understand how we can be in the next economy in a way that supports and celebrates our human capacities.

John Bloom offers an argument for returning natural resources, work, and forms of capital to their origins as gifts rather than as commodities. By adopting such a framework, we can find a deeper meaning and purpose for stewarding these economic gifts on behalf of a more livable and interdependent future.