The Other Economic Summit (TOES) records

The Other Economic Summit (TOES), 1990 was the seventh in a series of annual conferences planned to coincide with the G-7, the annual meeting of the world’s seven major industrial economies. In 1990 the G-7, also known as the Economic Summit, took place from July 9 to 11 in Houston, Texas. The Other Economic Summit of 1990 took place also in Houston on July 6 through 8.

The founding purpose of The Other Economic Summit in 1984 was to convey to leaders assembled for the Economic Summit, the message that economics “as usual” is leading to a number of undesirable consequences: disrupting cultures, degrading Earth’s environment, and undermining people’s abilities to join together in common practice to solve problems. From the beginning in 1984, the intention of participants in The Other Economic Summit was to demonstrate that the prevailing exploitative economic policies are not sustainable and are thus ill-suited to the modern world.

The Other Economic Summit of 1990 had as its overall theme “The Voice of the People for a Change,” a phrase meant to be understood in two meanings: that the people are demanding change, and that the people, for a change, must be listened to. Each of the three days of TOES ’90 had a different topic which was developed by panels and workshops. For the first day the theme was “Global Changes,” for the second, “New Perspectives on Ecology and Economy, and for the third, “Democratizing the Economy.” Running through the three days were six tracks: sustainable development, environmental and social economic indicators, Houston as microcosm, debt and trade, theories in “alternative” economics, and religious perspectives on economics.

It was intended that position papers on policy alternatives coming out of TOES ’90 and collections of thematic papers coming from topical tracks would be published. A draft of the Report and Summary of “The Voice of the People for a Change,” edited by Susan Hunt, is included in this collection.