Since Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations (1776), competition has been seen as the engine of prosperity. It ensures innovation, low prices and efficient use of resources - as long as equal rights apply and the state restrains itself. Today, this idea is being taken to new heights, for example in the tech elite close to Donald Trump, where there is talk of the "survival of the richest".
However, the classic model has long been criticized - both socially and ecologically. In Germany in particular, this has led to concepts such as the social market economy or "third ways" between capitalism and socialism. An alternative concept comes from Rudolf Steiner (1919): He called for cooperation and fraternity in associations of producers, traders and consumers.

The lecture examines different economic models - from cooperatives to Japanese keiretsu (Japanese associations of companies) to sociocracy - and contrasts them with more recent ideas of the tech elite. The central question is: Which utopias are desirable, which are realistic?

The speaker, Hermann van Boemmel, is an economist specializing in international development and sustainable business.

The Citizens' University is a cooperation between the University of Witten/Herdecke (WittenLab. Zukunftslabor Studium fundamentale) and the VHS Witten/Wetter/Herdecke.

Admission costs €7 / €5 (students). Tickets are available at the box office.