Alarmed by the disappearance of meadowlarks from the fields near his home, James Eggert embarked on a close study of the economic and ecological factors behind the loss. His inquiry led him to conclude that the meadowlark’s survival is a metaphor for ours—that our future is intimately linked to the same interplay of economics, culture, technology, and spirituality. In this innovative educational book, Eggert helps readers understand how our environment is connected to—in fact, a vital part of—our economy and business culture. In the title essay, Eggert critiques free-market capitalism, borrowing from Thoreau as he investigates what he calls “meadowlark values” in education and business. The author highlights the “preciousness of the Earth itself ” and persuasively describes the creative possibilities in using science, culture, evolutionary history, and spiritual traditions to gain a deeper understanding of how we might heal the planet. A foreword by environmentalist Bill McKibben and an afterword by renowned Buddhist thinker Thich Nhat Hahn add context to this authoritative supplement to current economics texts.

First Published in 2017. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an Informa company.

Foreword By Bill This is an unusual and valuable book in many respects. Its author, of course, is an economist — but not one devoted to the prevailing theology of his profession. Economists mostly work with the dedication of beavers or bees toward the great goals of More. Growth, expansion, and acceleration are the sacred words of their creed. And they have been enormously successful; their faith has spread around the world, crowding out all other creeds. And yet there is always something rather, well, dismal about the field. This comes, I think, from its disciples' firm determination to wall off certain questions. For instance, "What makes for happiness?" Or "How do I figure out what I want from life?" They can answer these only by pointing to our consumer behavior. We must want what we buy. But they must sense the tautological absurdity of that line of argument. Now comes James Eggert, one of a small school of economists who has begun to think outside the box. And it is curious that he soon delves deeply into a concept long used by his tribe: value. In his essay "Meadowlark Economics," Eggert inscribes it — marvelously — with real meaning, instead of the stale and transactional definition to be found in the front of the Econ textbooks. The meadowlark's "song is pleasing, his color and swoop-of-flight enchanting." Suddenly we are using good old nouns and adjectives, the sweet and solid Anglo-Saxon words instead of the ponderous Latinate syllables of the professional journal. These things are a form of wealth and are valuable, he insists. And if you assign them a value in your heart, then you are in a position to begin to assess both the positives and the negatives of economic growth. The so-called "efficiency," for instance, of the modern farm, which leaves no room for the meadowlarks to nest and fledge their young — is but one of many examples... Eggert's book will be of great use to all who read it. But it would be especially helpful — though subversive — to give it to anyone you know who is an economist. It will help them see, among other things, that grasping onto the conventional economic orthodoxy not only shows a certain blindness but can also, unfortunately, turn out to be tragic. From Kirkus Reviews This collection of thoughtful essays weaves together economic and ecological issues. While Eggert is an economist by trade, he is struck by the relationship between economics and ecology. "I believe these two households are becoming more interdependent," he writes, "and their futures more and more intimately linked." Indeed, each of the 21 elegantly written essays in this revised collection, has a strong eco-conscious component. The unusual title is derived from the author's concern over the Midwest's loss of meadowlarks; somewhat esoterically, he translates this occurrence into "meadowlark values," suggesting that a "meadowlark economist" must "seriously try and incorporate an ecological consciousness and ecological values along with market thinking and market values." Eggert's essays are as soaring and aspirational as they are instructional and practical. For example, in "What's Wrong with Capitalism?" he notes there is "a destructive quality in capitalism that often violates the ecological laws that can and should ensure life's beauty, balance, health and long-term continuity." ... In perhaps his most novel essay," Wal-Mart Pond," Eggert cleverly combines ecology and economy by imagining a conversation with Henry Thoreau ... His final essay, "Quartet," is most worthy of contemplation: "what is our part in the ‘music' of the cosmos, what is our role in the harmony of nature's variations on a theme?" ... At times poetic and philosophical, even as the author remains firmly planted on terra firma.

MEADOWLARK ECONOMICS: Exploring Values for a Sustainable Future (Revised Edition) Alarmed by the gradual disappearance of the meadowlark from his local countryside, James Eggert began to examine both the economic and ecological factors at work. His investigation soon led him to explore alternatives to our traditional views of economics. Eggert's heartening ideas are expressed in a series of essays that offer new perspectives on education, consumption, work, our evolutionary history, and, in the end, what it means to be human.

First Published in 2017. The author shares their feelings about enjoying and preserving the natural environment, yet this book also reveals a conflict in values that the most committed ecologist must face. Such conflict pits the powerful American values of individual freedom and rights against the values of community necessary for sustaining the environment. In publishing this collection of essays, the author hopes to contribute to more enlightened economic analysis and more relevant and effective policies that are good for both the economy and the global ecology.