‘Foundations of a Sustainable Market Economy: guiding principles for change’ - Book publication by Margreet Boersma and Gjalt de Jong

Together with Margreet Boersma, Gjalt de Jong has published the book ‘Foundations of a Sustainable Market Economy: guiding principles for change’ at Palgrave-MacMillan. The book covers the role of the free market in sustainability challenges, challenges leading management models and shows the negative effects of efficiency and innovation.

The free market underpins our economy and our way of thinking around enterprise and value, but it is also a major factor in the sustainability problems that we now live with. Climate change, child labour and oil spills are just a few of the many problems associated with our economic activity and, although many companies have made an effort to produce more sustainably, the pace of change is much too slow. This engaging and accessible textbook teaches students the relationship between the economy and sustainability, assessing the hand of the free market on company behaviour and, ultimately, providing a framework for transition to a sustainable economy.

Using case studies and optional assessment questions, this textbook explains to students what a market is at the macro level and then translates the effects of the market to industries and subsequently to the strategic choices of companies at the micro level. It adopts a model of 8 guiding principles that underpin the current free market economy and 8 guiding principles for the sustainable market economy. Switching these deeply held principles will be essential to any serious transition to a sustainable economy.