I studied economics because I believed that to make an impact, we need money.

I believed that money could bring about the world that I longed for in my soul.

In some ways I was right, and in many ways I was wrong.

I found myself proving fancy mathematical equations that were far removed from reality. Only the math majors could filter through all the noise to ask the most basic questions about the equations.

Economics wasn’t always just about numbers.

That way of thinking came about with capitalism.

Economics is essential to our way of being. To the world we are creating.

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned during graduate school is that the argument for Free Trade requires the free movement of goods and people.

Instead, rich colonialist powers advocated for free trade as a way to capture local economies under the illusion that each country will naturally find its competitive advantage.

And in the same breath, they closed borders and implemented strict labor laws. Preventing the movement of labor.

Whenever I get frustrated by the global economy, I come back to this key point. We should have the free movement of labor. Either that or we restrict the free movement of goods.

Until then, we cannot expect growth in our global economy.