When we think about the economy, we usually imagine money, pictures of graphs, and old white men in suits. In reality, economics simply refers to how we manage our resources. Economics has therefore always been part of everyday life. Throughout history, humans have used economics to facilitate their well-being. Economies evolved to meet the needs of the societies they served. Until very recently the evolution of the economy was slow, with little change for tens of thousands of years. The economic system we use today is just a dot on the map of human history. It has served humanity well in the sense that it has brought us comforts unthinkable to our ancestors. Humanity has flourished and spread. The world seems much smaller today than it did just two hundred years ago. And today's technological capabilities have eclipsed the wildest dreams of generations past. But the prosperity brought by this economic system has come at a terrible cost. The world is facing rapid species extinction and biodiversity destruction that threatens humanity itself. The negative implications of this economic system are not limited to the environment. The impact of the modern economy on the social fabric of communities around the world has become evident as globalization conveys unrealistic economic expectations and ideals of consumption. It is undeniable that the modern economy has brought about a huge increase in global living standards. But its cost in terms of the long-term quality of life of the earth and all its inhabitants requires that our economic system change. To understand today's economy we must take a step back in time. For much of human history, groups of hunter-gatherers have roamed the planet, following the migrations of wild... middle of paper... 014.Braidwood, Robert John. The agricultural revolution. Scientific American, 1960. Cohn, Steve. Reintroducing macroeconomics: a critical approach. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2007. Print.Eede, Joanna. “Uncontacted Tribes: The Last Free Peoples on Earth.” Watch the news. National Geographic, April 1, 2011. Web. March 10, 2014. Heilbroner, Robert L., and Lester C. Thurow. The economy explained: how the economy works and where it is going. London: Touchstone, 1998. Print."Mass Extinctions." National geographic. Np, nd Web. 08 March 2014."Issues and priorities." Priority. POLLING REPORTS, INC. and polling/sponsorship organizations, 2013. Web. 09 Apr. 2013. “GDP per capita (current U.S. dollars).” Data. World Bank and Web. 08 March 2014.Ura, Karma. “A Brief Guide to the Gross National Happiness Index.” The Center for Bhutan Studies, 2012. Web. 11 March. 2014.