James Hugh Robertson (11 August 1928 – 9 November 2023) was a British political and economic thinker and activist, who became an independent writer and speaker in 1974 after an early career as a British civil servant.

Biography

James Hugh Robertson was born on 11 August 1928. He was educated at

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school, day school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, North West England. It comprise ...

and thereafter studied Greats at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, from 1946 to 1950, where he played cricket and

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, and ran cross-country for the

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

. After serving on British Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...

’s staff during his "Wind of Change" tour of Africa in 1960, Robertson spent three years in the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

. Following that he became director of the Inter-Bank Research Organisation for the big British banks. In the mid-1980s Robertson was a prominent co-founder (with his wife) of The Other Economic Summit (TOES) and the New Economics Foundation (NEF). He was a member of

FEASTA ''Feasta'' is an Irish-language magazine that was established in 1948. Its purpose is the furtherance of the aims of Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League), an objective reflecting the cultural nationalism of the language movement, and the promotion ...

and a patron of SANE (South Africa New Economics Foundation), which was set up following his visit there in 1996. In October 2003, at the XXIX annual conference of the

Pio Manzù International Research Centre The Pio Manzù International Research Centre, commonly referred to as the Pio Manzù Research Centre or Pio Manzù Centre, was a non-governmental environmental organization of the United Nations founded in 1969 and based in Rimini, Italy. The purp ...

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

, Italy (closely associated with the UN), he was awarded a gold medal for his "remarkable contribution to the promotion of a new economics grounded in social and spiritual values" over the past 25 years. Robertson joined the

advisory board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to the ...

International Simultaneous Policy Organization The International Simultaneous Policy Organisation (ISPO) is a voluntary organization that promotes the Simultaneous Policy (Simpol) campaign. It was founded by British businessman, John Bunzl, in 2000.About Simpol-UKuk.simpol.org - About Simpol ...

which seeks to end the usual deadlock in tackling global issues through an international simultaneous policy. One of Robertson's last books was the ''Future Money: Breakdown or Breakthrough?'' (Green Books, 2012). James Robertson and his wife, Alison (née Pritchard) lived in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

. He died there on 9 November 2023, at the age of 95. His father was Sir

James Wilson Robertson Sir James Wilson Robertson, (27 October 189923 September 1983) was a British civil servant who served as the last colonial governor-general of Nigeria from 1955 to 1960. Early life and education He was educated at Merchiston Castle Schoo ...

Recurring themes of his work

Basic Income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a minimum income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform Work (hu ...

Citizen's income Citizen's dividend is a proposed policy based upon the Georgist principle that the natural world is the common property of all people. It is proposed that all citizens receive regular payments (dividends) from revenue raised by leasing or tax ...

* Ecological consciousness *

Economic justice Economic justice is a component of social justice and welfare economics. It is a set of moral and ethical principles for building economic institutions, where the ultimate goal is to create an opportunity for each person to establish a sufficie ...

Feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

Globalisation Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

Land value tax A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land (economics), land without regard to buildings, personal property and other land improvement, improvements upon it. Some economists favor LVT, arguing it does not cause economic efficiency, ec ...

* Local self-reliance *

Monetary reform Monetary reform is any movement or theory that proposes a system of supplying money and financing the economy that is different from the current system. Monetary reformers may advocate any of the following, among other proposals: * A return to ...

, system of money and finance *Economics of local recovery *Patterns of change *Sane alternative *Social investment *

Social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

Voluntary simplicity Simple living refers to practices that promote simplicity in one's lifestyle. Common practices of simple living include reducing the number of possessions one owns, depending less on technology and services, and spending less money. In addition t ...

Books

* ''Future Money: Breakdown or Breakthrough?'' (2012), * ''Monetary Reform - Making it Happen'' (2004), * ''Creating New Money: A Monetary Reform for the Information Age'' (co-written with Joseph Huber) (New Economics Foundation, 2000), * ''The New Economics of Sustainable Development: A Briefing for Policy Makers'' (written for the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

s Cellule de Prospective (Forward Studies Unit) in 1997) (London: Kogan Page, 1999), * ''Transforming Economic Life: A Millennial Challenge'' (Schumacher Briefing No 1, Green Books, 1998), * ''Beyond the Dependency Culture: People, Power and Responsibility'' (Adamantine/Praeger, 1998) * ''Sharing Our Common Heritage: Resource Taxes and Green Dividends'' (1998) * ''Future Wealth: A New Economics for the 21st Century'' (1989), * ''Future Work: Jobs, Employment and Leisure after the Industrial Age'' (1985) * ''The Sane Alternative: a choice of futures'' (1980), * ''Power, Money and Sex: Towards a New Social Balance'' (1976), * ''Profit or People? The New Social Role of Money'' (1974), * ''Reform of British Central Government'' (1971),

References

External links

''Working for a Sane Alternative''
- Robertson's web site, with biography, and downloadable texts of many of the books listed above
''Future Money book''
- publisher's web page for Robertson's latest book ''Future Money'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, James 1928 births 2023 deaths Civil servants in the Cabinet Office British economists British non-fiction writers Monetary reformers People from Oxfordshire British sustainability advocates Recipients of the Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic English rugby union players Oxford University RFC players Place of birth missing British male writers British male non-fiction writers People educated at Sedbergh School 20th-century English sportsmen

Biography

Recurring themes of his work

Books

See also

References

External links