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Dr. David Axelrod is an adjunct professor of Economics with Montclair State University. He received his  Ph.D. in Economics from Rutgers University in 1990. He has worked in the field of finance for Falcon Management and Volvo Finance. tither research has included topics in time preference, health economics, labor economics, and behavioral economics. David also provides private classes, workshops and consulting from a holonomic perspective. 

In this presentation we look at the nature of choice and decision making, how it impacts our measures of profit and what is sustainable. Sustainability describes a feedback mechanism between behavior and resources that is stable and enduring. Behavior is an expression of decisions and choices. Economic theory conceives choice as being the  outcome of preferences/objectives given the constraints/opportunities that are faced. As such, preferences play the role of spirit, that which animates and guides our will, in a material world. 

Sustainability requires behaviors that maintain the resources available (what is feasible), as well as the sentiment of what we should do (what is acceptable), the drive for what we want to do (what is desirable) and the spirit of who we want to be (what is inspirable). Profit is one way to measure the utility of the choices we make. 

Economists use Present Value calculations to estimate the net benefit/cost for behaviors that have future consequences. The present value of alternative is dependent on the discount rate, which expresses the relative importance of the future as compared to the present. This discount rate is an aspect of our preferences, and thus quantifies myopia of spirit. The implication is that any a`empt to generate sustainable solutions requires low discount rates in financial calculations, as well as investing resources towards sustaining the spirit of foresight  through future generations.