Biography

Christopher Houghton Budd is an economic and monetary historian with a doctorate in banking and finance (Cass Business School, London). He works independently in many contexts ranging from mainstream to ‘alternative’, central banks to organic farms. He writes frequently on economic affairs, and has published several books, including Prelude in Economics (1979), Of Wheat and Gold (1988), and The Metamorphosis of Capitalism (2003) and Rare Albion – a Monetary Allegory (2005) − see Publications).

Dr. Houghton Budd was born in England in 1948. He left school at 16, then spent his youth travelling, working on private yachts and learning the film business in California. He spent 1968 in Berkeley, where he developed a strong interest in Marxist ideas, but became convinced that Marx had failed to interpret his vision accurately. Prior to this time he had also met the work of Rudolf Steiner, whose contributions to sociology and economics have been of special interest to him ever since.

Dr. Houghton Budd has initiated or participated in a variety of small, mostly 'green', businesses in fields as varied as farming, housing, food distribution, retailing and investment. He served for seven years as a local councillor, most of them as chairperson, and four as a state school governor. He works free-lance as a writer, publisher and consultant, and gives workshops around the world. His particular focus is on the development of associative economics, an approach to economics that combines financial discipline with active social responsibility on the part of human beings.

Dr Houghton Budd is married with 1 child. His interests include gardening and architecture.