James Robertson (born 11 August 1928), a British-born political and economic thinker and activist, became an independent writer and speaker in 1974 after an early career as a British civil servant. He studied Greats at Balliol College, Oxford, from 1946 to 1950, where he played

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

, and ran cross-country for the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

. After serving on British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s staff during his "Wind of Change" tour of Africa in 1960, Robertson spent three years in the Cabinet Office. Following that he became director of the Inter-Bank Research Organisation for the big British banks. In the mid-1980s Robertson was a prominent co-founder with his wife, Alison Pritchard, of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) and the New Economics Foundation (NEF). He is a member of FEASTA and a patron of SANE (South Africa New Economics Foundation), which was set up following his visit there in 1996. In October 2003, at the XXIX annual conference of the Pio Manzu Research Centre,

Rimini, Italy Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

(closely associated with the UN), he was awarded a gold medal for his "remarkable contribution to the promotion of a new economics grounded in social and spiritual values" over the past 25 years. Robertson joined the advisory board of

International Simultaneous Policy Organization The International Simultaneous Policy Organisation (ISPO) is a voluntary organization that promotes the Simultaneous Policy (Simpol) campaign. It was founded by British businessman, John Bunzl, in 2000.About Simpol-UKuk.simpol.org - About Simpol ...

which seeks to end the usual deadlock in tackling global issues through an international simultaneous policy.Simpol.org - About Simpol and the International Simultaneous Policy Organisation
/ref> Robertson's latest book is the ''Future Money: Breakdown or Breakthrough?'' (Green Books, 2012). He and his wife live in Oxfordshire.

Recurring themes of his work

Basic Income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive an unconditional transfer payment, that is, without a means test or need to work. It would be received independently of a ...

Citizen's income Citizen's dividend is a proposed policy based upon the Georgist principle that the natural world is the common property of all people. It is proposed that all citizens receive regular payments (dividends) from revenue raised by leasing or taxin ...

* Ecological consciousness *

Economic justice Justice in economics is a subcategory of welfare economics. It is a "set of moral and ethical principles for building economic institutions". Economic justice aims to create opportunities for every person to have a dignified, productive and creativ ...

Feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

* Globalisation *

Land value tax A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land (economics), land without regard to buildings, personal property and other land improvement, improvements. It is also known as a location value tax, a point valuation tax, a site valuation ta ...

* Local self-reliance * Monetary reform, system of money and finance *Economics of local recovery *Patterns of change *Sane alternative *Social investment *

Social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

Voluntary simplicity Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. Not only is ...

Books

* ''Future Money: Breakdown or Breakthrough?'' (2012), * ''Monetary Reform - Making it Happen'' (2004), * ''Creating New Money: A Monetary Reform for the Information Age'' (co-written with Joseph Huber) (New Economics Foundation, 2000), * ''The New Economics of Sustainable Development: A Briefing for Policy Makers'' (written for the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

s Cellule de Prospective (Forward Studies Unit) in 1997) (London: Kogan Page, 1999), * ''Transforming Economic Life: A Millennial Challenge'' (Schumacher Briefing No 1, Green Books, 1998), * ''Beyond the Dependency Culture: People, Power and Responsibility'' (Adamantine/Praeger, 1998) * ''Sharing Our Common Heritage: Resource Taxes and Green Dividends'' (1998) * ''Future Wealth: A New Economics for the 21st Century'' (1989), * ''Future Work: Jobs, Employment and Leisure after the Industrial Age'' (1985) * ''The Sane Alternative: a choice of futures'' (1980), * ''Power, Money and Sex: Towards a New Social Balance'' (1976), * ''Profit or People? The New Social Role of Money'' (1974), * ''Reform of British Central Government'' (1971),

References

External links

''Working for a Sane Alternative''
- Robertson's web site, with biography, and downloadable texts of many of the books listed above
''Future Money book''
- publisher's web page for Robertson's latest book ''Future Money'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, James 1928 births Living people Civil servants in the Cabinet Office British economists British non-fiction writers Monetary reformers People from Oxfordshire Sustainability advocates Recipients of the Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic English rugby union players Oxford University RFC players Place of birth missing (living people) British male writers Male non-fiction writers

Recurring themes of his work

Books

See also

References

External links