Sufficiency Economy and Santi Asoke: Buddhist Economic Ethics for a Just and Sustainable World

Mainstream economic thought and practice has resulted in widespread socioeconomic disparity and environmental devastation in all corners of the world, unmitigated by a multi-billion dollar development industry informed by these same economic models. To reverse this trend, the dominant forms of economic thought and practice must be reunited with ethics that are more caring of the human-nature base. Such ethics may be found in alternative economic models based on religious, spiritual, environmental, or feminist values. This essay considers one such alternative: Buddhist economics. After outlining a theory of Buddhist economics, this essay considers two models: the Royal Thai Sufficiency Economy Model and the approach adopted by the Santi Asoke Buddhist Reform Movement of Thailand. Both are conducive to economic activity that is more socially just and environmentally * Soka University of America. Email: [email protected] 71 Journal of Buddhist Ethics sustainable, particularly due to their ethics of self-reliance, moderation, and interdependence.