Writing
Denise is a lateral systems thinker that connects ideas across disciplines in her writing.Featured In
Books
The Big Fix
Commissioned by McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy, The Big Fix: How Companies Capture Markets and Harm Canadians shows how monopolies drive down innovation, wages, and raise prices on consumers.
It details through storytelling and deep research, how the country can achieve a more innovative, productive, and livable economy for everyone. Endorsed by a former central bank governor of Canada and political leaders across parties.
The Myth of Capitalism
Named a Financial Times Best Book of 2018 and endorsed by two Nobel Prize-winning economists. The Myth of Capitalism tells the story of how America has gone from an open, competitive marketplace to an economy where a few very powerful companies dominate key industries that affect our daily lives.
"This is a truly important book. Read, learn and act."
– Martin Wolf
Chief Economics Commentator , Financial Times
Articles
The antitrust theories are weak, but they can chill corporate collaboration for climate actionCLIMATE, ANTITRUST, ESG
Impact Alpha – As the private sector has become increasingly engaged in the effort to combat climate change, debates have emerged about the impact and legality of collaboration among firms – particularly those in the same industry. Antitrust challenges are said to be chilling necessary engagement and the mobilization of private actors to fight the accelerating harms of climate change.
What Radiolaria are teaching me about EternityTIME, NATURE, PHILOSOPHY
Linear time is a conceit of humanity, due to the constraints of our feeble bodies and minds. We walk along the thread of time, observing it as a journey from point A to point B. But that thread pierces through a cloud of infinite, eternal possibility. Time, and our experience of it, frames our waking and wondering. Our memory, our dreaming.
The The Downsides of Democratizing AccessPOWER, EQUITY, ACCESS
Access isn't all it's cracked up to be. The narrative of "democratizing access" is a meme used to convey benefits to consumers while privatizing economic value or building market power for firms acting as gatekeepers. True democratization, however, involves making commons assets accessible to all and sharing economic gains widely…
What Economists Can Learn From StarlingsNATURE, COMPLEXITY, SYSTEMS
Starlings are birds found in nearly all regions of the world (though are considered an invasive species in North America). They form wild, undulating shapes called murmurations which are a form of swarm behavior — a complex collective behavior arising from individual actions. Complex collective action without centralized control is also seen…
What is Life? What is Economic Value? NATURE, ECONOMICS, VALUE
Today's post tries to elucidate a simple assertion: similar to how scientists have no unified definition of life, economists (and policymakers and the rest of us) have no universal definition of economic value — economic 'value' is open to interpretation, manipulation, and fabrication…
The Strange Success Logic of Stakeholder CapitalismESG, STAKEHOLDER CAPITALISM
Responsible Investor — Denise Hearn argues that investors’ interests may not always be aligned with those of society, and questions assumptions around win-win dynamics. In a world of inequality, social unrest and climate change, business leaders and the investing community are calling for change…
Corporations break themselves up all the time. So why shouldn’t regulators break up Big Tech?ANTITRUST, BIG TECH, REGULATION
Fortune — Corporate breakups are a routine part of capitalism. So why is it deemed an irreparable interference in markets when regulators break up companies, instead of CEOs or activist investors? Markets are not abstract forces guiding companies to better and more efficient business decisions. They are public creations that are governed by politically determined rules.
Stakeholder Capitalism's Next Frontier: Pro- or Anti-Monopoly ANTITRUST, CAPITALISM, POWER
The Stakeholder Capitalism (and ESG) movements have ignored historically high levels of concentrated corporate and financial power. It is within these market conditions that those 'reimagining capitalism' make their case for better firm behavior.
Proxy Wars on Corporate 'Wokeness' are Actually About Something ElseDEMOCRACY, ANTITRUST
An emergent, rag-tag group of conservatives are fighting back against “woke capitalism.” From Elon Musk and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to former Vice President Mike Pence and West Virginia state treasurer Riley Moore, the growing chorus takes issue with corporations espousing left-leaning positions…
Why Jobs, Taxes and Competition Should Be The Focus of ESG InvestorsESG, TAXES, COMPETITION
Responsible Investor — ESG funds’ bias against worked in unintentional, but it is a feature rather than a bug. ESG investing has risen to meteoric heights during Covid. Investors can now choose from 435 ESG EFTs globally (about half of which were lunched in the past year), and assets of the signatories of the PRI have risen to over $100trn USD.
The Hidden Trend Reshaping and Hurting the Economy: Serial AcquisitionsPRIVATE EQUITY, ANTITRUST
Mega-mergers get the ink, but Canada needs to evaluate its legislative and regulatory ability to deal with big companies swallowing small competitors. Mega-mergers such as the controversial Rogers-Shaw deal or Canadian Pacific’s acquisition of Kansas City Southern Railway have caused a public outcry…
Why The Wizard of Oz Money MonopolyFEDERAL RESERVE, DEMOCRACY
What do you call a small cadre of unelected individuals who unilaterally – and secretly – make consequential decisions radically affecting the US economy? The Federal Reserve. Many Americans don't know much about our central bank, its function, and its founding; and yet it looms large as perhaps the most influential actor in how our economy…
Embodied Economics
NEWSLETTER: STAY UP-TO-DATE
A newsletter exploring economic paradigms and financial systems through: Nature, Body, Power, Care, and Interconnectedness.