As a diehard capitalist, I will be the first to tell you that wealth has very little to do with possessions. It’s about the people in your life, having a lifestyle you enjoy, a healthy body and a sense of purpose and meaning.But economics is as relevant to those things as it is to material possessions. It isn’t just about getting more stuff. It’s about satisfying human values—all our values.Economics is as much about getting more and better friendships as it is about getting more and better shoes. It gives us awesome music, movies, and hobbies as much as phones, computers, and cars.The job of an entrepreneur in capitalism is simply to help people accomplish their goals, whatever they are. Sometimes that means providing shoes. But sometimes it means providing a space where people can meet new friends, like a sports league. Sometimes it means writing a book that can help people improve their lives. Sometimes it means offering counseling to help people with their mental health or rehab programs for recovering addicts.Improving the economy is about building a better world. And that doesn’t necessarily mean a world with more stuff. It means a world with more of whatever we think it needs.So let’s not acquiesce to those who would limit economics to material prosperity. Economics is about satisfying human needs and wants in all their forms, tangible and intangible. Of course, a healthy economy can’t solve all our problems. But I think it can help us solve a lot of problems that we don’t normally think of as economic problems, from environmental degradation and crime to mental health and substance abuse.The kind of human flourishing environmentalists and progressives want is absolutely within our reach. But if we want to achieve it, we need to start seeing economics and the economy as more than a cheap talking point used by selfish businessmen.
