The Blue Economy with Jason Scorse  Have you ever sat down by the waters of your favorite river or scenic coastline, and imagined your relationship to all that water?  It turns out that layers of complexity are hiding in plain sight, if the right stories and messages are there to point them out.    In this episode of ComCap The Podcast, Amy Pearl sits down with Jason Scorse, Director at the Center for the Blue Economy at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) in Monterey, who specializes in the relationship between our waters and our economy. The more we can understand this complex and dynamic relationship, the more we see the imperative for preservation and regeneration of our delicate ecosystems. Hosts Amy Pearl, Executive Director, Hatch Innovation Guest

Jason Scorse, Director, Center for the Blue Economy, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

Jason Scorse received his Ph.D. in Agricultural & Resource Economics from UC-Berkeley in 2005. He is currently Associate Professor and Chair of the International Environmental Policy Program. Dr. Scorse has consulted for numerous environmental organizations, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club, and he is currently the Lead Non-Market Economist for the National Ocean Economics Program. He has published articles in American Economic Review, California Management Review, and for books published by the Brookings Institution and Routledge Press. His book, What Environmentalists Need to Know About Economics, was released in 2010. Dr. Scorse also sits on the board of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Research Activities Panel and The Otter Project. In addition to his scholarly work and consulting, he writes for the Grist blog and the Environmental Economics blog.

 

In this episode you’ll learn

1. How to rethink our relationship with the Earth’s water.
2. The history, mission and intention of the Center for the Blue Economy
3. How the field of behavioral economics plays an important role in crafting messages for positive change
4. The importance of simplicity and narrative.

 

Links to Resources Mentioned

1. Hatch Innovation
2. Middlebury Institute for International Studies (MIIS) at Monterey
3. Dispatches From The Zombie Apocalypse Podcast
4. “WE HAVE MET THE ENEMY… AND HE IS US” Kaufmann Foundation paper on Venture Capital

 

Key Concepts

Behavioral Economics - a method of economic analysis that applies psychological insights into human behavior to explain economic decision-making.