17. Eight Forms of Capital and the Ecology of Value Exchange with Sam Sycamore

“What if our financial system looked more like an ecosystem?”

This was one of the big-picture questions that eventually led Ethan Roland and Gregory Landua to propose that money isn’t the only form of capital driving the human economy.

By viewing the financial system through the lens of permaculture, Roland and Landua eventually settled upon eight forms of capital that they observed flowing between individuals and communities, each with their own unique currencies:

Social, financial, living, material, intellectual, experiential, cultural, and spiritual.

Roland and Landua’s foundational framework was built for the domain of business, but it’s easy to see how these concepts can be applied more generally for making conscious lifestyle choices – and that’s what I’m all about! :)

In this episode, we’ll cover:

The eight forms of capital – what they are, how they connect, and how to generate and exchange them in your daily life

What a visit from the family and a food forest installation can tell us about wealth and the pursuit of happiness

Why some forms of capital are more valuable than others, but also why balance is key

Plus, Brooke Sycamore shares a story based on the Chiricahua Apache tale of the coyote and the money tree, with musical accompaniment by yours truly.