(Primeval lessons for sustainable economies in a turbulent century)
Medical researchers study other mammals (e.g., primates, rodents, pigs) to understand the structure of the human body, and to develop modern medical solutions to improve human health. This systems science approach led to the polio vaccine for humans, exploratory medicines for heart disease (e.g., studying vampire venom to explore medicine for stroke victims), and other solutions for maintaining optimal human health.
At a more complex level, we often study nature to understand how to restore degraded ecosystems, protect important wildlife habitat, and achieve other environmental benefits. How can we apply knowledge of Earth’s most complex ecosystems—forests, jungles, prairies, etc.—to resolve our most important sustainability challenges? Eco-Nomic Insights is ERI’s newsletter, which melds ecology and economics to forge a sustainable[1] future. This inaugural article puts the concept of resilience to the test, and ask if our communities and economies might fare better with a more complete picture of resilience.
The Ecological and Historical Insight
We can look to Earth’s primeval ecosystems with a lot of questions. For instance, how do ecosystems maintain such a great diversity of life in the face of continual disturbances like wildfires and floods? What role does diversity play in bestowing a pine forest or prairie with resilience? What are the less obvious lessons ecosystems offer for thriving and productive economies? Is there an ecological explanation of the wealth gap?
Humans first began using the term resilience (from Latin resilire, to rebound) in industry, to describe the elasticity of materials such as rubber. It wasn’t until the 1970s that ecologists C.S. Holing began using “resilience” to describe relative stability of ecosystems, which are regularly confronted with disturbance.[2] And in the process of recovering, ecosystems increase their resilience: the rate and degree to which a system recovers after a disturbance, to continue producing and cycling vital resources throughout the system.
Psychologists began applying the concept of resilience a decade later to study the ability of children to succeed in life, despite being raised in a household with severe economic hardship, mentally ill parents, and other threatening social conditions.[3] Today, resilience is used to quantify a community’s (or economy’s) ability to recover after a recession, depression, supply chain disruption, drought, wildfire, hurricane, etc. But what good is resilience if the economy keeps failing with each new virus, supply chain disruption, political upheaval, or some other shock? Is there a ‘yang’ to resilience? The current olive industry crisis in Apulia, Italy provides an opportunity to address this question.
Greek mythology claims the goddess Athena gave birth to the first olive tree. Over time, Phoenician & Carthaginian merchants brought cultivated olives to Italy, handing down knowledge to Etruscans and other early civilizations for using olives in food, medicine, and even as lamp oil. A lucrative industry was born, and a profusion of olive varieties began spreading quickly across the Italian peninsula. But history can be foggy and myths, at times, can evaporate in front of realities on the ground.
Olive trees along the coastal zone of Apulia, Italy are 3500 years or older,[4] predating the arrival of Greek merchants. Likely, those trees were planted by the tribal Messapian people of the region, where my recent economic pilgrimage through Italy began.
This olive tree in Apulia, Italy is nearly four feet in diameter; perhaps 500 years old. Generations of farmers have pruned this olive with great care to keep fruit-bearing branches healthy & productive. Ancient trees can also preserve critical traits such as resistance to disease, and tolerance to drought. Photo by J.H. Giordanengo.
The Economic Insight: Cultivating Failure
The European olive (Olea europaea, the source of olive oil) was once restricted to the Levant region of eastern Mediterranea: Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine.[5] This region, ecologists would say, is the fundamental niche for olive. The moment table olives and olive oil became culinary staples, the niche of Olea europaea expanded to the entire Mediterranean. Soon after, Christopher Columbus landed on American shores and cultivated olives began spreading to mediterranean climates in Peru, Mexico, and the western U.S. Over this time, something highly unnatural occurred in Apulia.
Though nearly 1,000 olive varieties are now available, just one of them, Ogliarola, came to dominate Apulia’s olive industry. Farmers have planted Ogliarola in extensive monocultures across the great plains of Apulia—the “heel” of the Italian peninsula. There, high quality oil could be produced at a competitive price, giving exporters an edge in the global marketplace. Apulian olive growers had developed something economists refer to as a comparative advantage.[6] It was a fallacy, however, to believe that such a low-diversity system could be sustained.
Following a seminar in Apulia with Teodoro Semeraro, a researcher from the University of Salento, we visited a few olive groves that had been decimated by olive quick decline syndrome. The bacterial pathogen responsible, Xylella fastidiosa, has infected hundreds of hectares and is advancing rapidly.[7]
As fate would have it, the variety dominating the Apulian plains, Ogliarola, is highly susceptible to the pathogen. Four million trees were infected as of 2021,[8] with countless others succumbing ever since. The negative impact to oil production is clear. The comparative advantage[9] olive producers had built over the centuries has now crumbled.
Olive grove infected by Xylella fastidiosa in Apulia, Italy. The pathogen impacts the cambium of the trunks and branches, reducing flow of water to the canopy. Photo by J.H. Giordanengo.
Pathogens such as bacteria and parasites are a natural part of a farm’s environmental context, so they cannot be blamed for this tragedy. The fault lies in a lack of diversity, a foundational component of economies and of ecosystems.[10] Coldiretti, an Italian farmers organization, estimates that the economic impact of this low diversity system—the one decimated by the pathogen—could cost Italy US $5.8 Billion over time.[11]
“Resilience” is Just Half the Stability Equation
In both the ecological and economic literature, greater resilience is attributed to greater diversity. However, communities and industries often interpret resilience as the ability to rebuild to the previous condition, which was highly susceptible to disturbance. In the case of Apulia’s olive industry, resilience might equate to investing in replanting olive trees, restoring the region’s capacity to produce olive oil. But significant energy, time, and money is spent in rebuilding. How might we build back smarter, while increasing our economy’s (or community’s) ability to withstand future shocks?
The Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang, two complimentary forces working together to produce balance, began gaining popularity in the U.S. in the 1980s. The seed of one force (yang) is found in the other (yin). So, if resilience is the Yin of stable economies and communities, largely absent the discussion is the Yang: resistance.
Fundamentally, resistance is the ability to endure stressors, and keep on performing. For a bass player, callouses build up on their fingers over months of strumming metal strings. Callouses make the fingers more resistant to damage, allowing them to perform with ease for hours at a time.
Resilience and resistance form the Yin and Yang of stable ecosystems and economies. Image by Amy Randell.
At the level of our economies, resistance is the ability of a system to withstand supply chain disruptions, shifting global labor markets, droughts, changing consumer preferences, etc. High resistance provides a buffer against external shocks and shifts, allowing a business—or even an entire economy—to continue producing goods and services in the face of a shock.
Policy and Program Insights
As the United Kingdom often explains the global ripple effect of American economic policy, “when the US sneezes, we catch a cold.” This is nothing new. During the Industrial Revolution, Klemens von Metternich of Austria proclaimed “When Paris sneezes, Europe catches a cold.”[12] As the scale of international trade has grown to unprecedented levels, economic diversity has declined at the base of the balanced trade pyramid in much of Europe and the U.S., in manufacturing, agriculture, and related industries.
In a turbulent 21st century, greater and greater shocks (turbulence) are expected,[13] including climate-change impacts to agriculture, growing political unrest, and more. And yet, these shocks should be viewed with hope. As C.S. Holing explained in a 2008 interview,[14] and as wise businessowners so often proclaim, such shocks (crises) must be viewed opportunistically. Earthy’s ancient ecosystems have developed their resilience not under a regime of stability, but in the face of colossal environmental shifts over the eons (e.g., ice ages, warming trends, changes in atmospheric oxygen levels), and under a regime of disturbances such as wildfires, floods, and droughts.
Nations and states that increase economic diversity to an adequate level (in all sectors) increase their resistance. They maintain their capacity to produce goods and services, provide diverse employment and business opportunities, and balance a wide range of social, environmental, and economic needs in the face of disturbance. In the process, they may also increase their resilience.
In agricultural regions like Apulia, this means investing more time and energy rebuilding something different than the monoculture of the past. Instead of battling against tariffs and demanding subsidies for low-diversity monocultures, for export markets,[15] agricultural regions must advocate for more diversified and regenerative agricultural landscapes, for local and national markets. They must build a sustainable advantage.[16]
Where farm associations fail to support diversity, farmers must advocate for themselves. With over 500 cultivated varieties of European olive in Italy, a fraction of that diversity can be employed to increase the Yang of Apulia’s economy. Dozens of other valuable tree crops also thrive in Apulia. This includes citrus and apricots, which Italy has been importing at ever-greater quantities in recent decades. This is self-inflicted challenge, which every nation on Earth must overcome to endure this turbulent century.
The City of Challenge. Barletta (Apulia, IT) is famed for the stand-off between 13 warriors from across Italy that challenged 13 French knights in 1503, following a comment by a Frenchman that Italians were inferior fighters. The Italians won the contest, a historical moment that initiated a spirt of unification throughout Italy, though nationalization would not arrive until 1861. Barletta has since acquired the appellation “Città della Disfida” (City of the Challenge).
About the Author
John Giordanengo is the author of Ecosystems as Models for Restoring our Economies (To a sustainable state), and the president of the Economic Restoration Institute. His research and investigative interviews from around the U.S. and the globe also support his blog, Eco-Nomics. John’s work is inspired by the awe of nature, music, and our shared human struggle.
Publication Note
Portions of this article were originally published in Eco-Nomics by J.H. Giordanengo, and are approved for cross-posting here.
Notes and Literature Cited
[1] Sustainable refers the ability of a community, region, or nation to meet its economic and social needs into perpetuity, without jeopardizing the ability of other communities or nations to meet their needs, and without impairing the health of ecosystems we rely upon. The terms self-regulating and sustainable are used interchangeably herein, for a self-regulating economy cannot, by definition, exist via continual external resource inputs from beyond its boundary. Nor can a self-regulating (sustainable) economy persist from activities that continually degrade the social and environmental resources required for its survival.
[2] Holling, C.S. 1973. Resilience and Stability of Ecological Systems. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. Vol. 4, pages 1-23. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2096802
[3] Roberts, D.L. 2024. The Psychology of Resilience: Understanding and Enhancing Human Strength and Perseverance. Embry-Riddle University. https://eaglepubs.erau.edu/psychologyofresilience/
[4] Osunti Cooperative. 2025. ‘Puglia’s Olive Trees.’ Accessed on 01 May, 2025. https://www.oliodiostuni.it/en/puglias-olive-trees/
[5] International Olive Council. 2025. ‘The Olive Tree.’ Accessed on 13 May, 2025. https://www.internationaloliveoil.org/olive-world/olive-tree/#:~:text=Taking%20the%20area%20that%20extends,and%20on%20towards%20Anatolia%20or
[6] Ricardo, D. 2011. The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. DoverPublications:Mineola,NY,USA,2004. Original work published in 1817.
[7] Semeraro, T. (Researcher at the University of Salento, Lecce, Italy). In-person interview by John Giordanengo, Salento, Italy, May 25, 2024.
[8] Morelli, M., J.M. García-Madero, A. Jos, P. Saldarelli, C. Dongiovanni, M. Kovacova, M. Saponari, A. Baños Arjona, E. Hackl, S. Webb, and S. Compant. 2021. Xylella fastidiosa in Olive: A Review of Control Attempts and Current Management. Microorganisms, 19,9(8), 1771. DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9081771
[9] Comparative Advantage: An economic theory explaining how a country or industry can gain financial benefits via the specialization of goods or services in which it has an absolute (natural) advantage, due to an optimal combination of growing conditions, geology, skilled labor, technology, and other factors. Gaining a comparative advantage also requires that adequate quantities of energy, natural resources and labor be directed toward the industry in question. While this theory is often used to justify trade across national boundaries, comparative advantages can also exist within regions, states, and nations. David Ricardo is credited for developing this theory in the late 19th century.
[10] Giordanengo, J.H. 2025. Ecosystems as Models for Restoring our Economies (To a sustainable state). Anthem Press.
[11] BeXyl. 2023. ‘In Apulia Xf infected 21 million olive trees, estimates suggest.’ BeXyl News. Accessed 15 May, 2025. https://bexylproject.org/updates/news/in-apulia-xf-infected-21-million-olive-trees-new-estimates-suggest/. The 2023 estimate was UER 5.1 Billion, which is US $5.8 Billion at the May 2025 exchange rate.
[12] Harding, R. 2024. ‘When America Sneezes…’ Flow. Deutsche Bank. Accessed on 29 September, 2025. https://flow.db.com/trade-finance/when-america-sneezes#:~:text=Amended%20from%20when%20Austrian%20politician,%2C%20Europe%20catches%20a%20cold.%E2%80%9D
[13] Greenspan, A. 2007. The Age of Turbulence. Penguin Press.
[14] The Father of Resilience Theory—Buzz Holing. 2008. Tomorrow Media & Marklund Film AB. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbFBm7Hd0dk&t=30s
[15] Olive Oil Times. 2025. ‘Trump’s Tariffs: European Olive Oil Producers Brace for Market Disruption.’ Accessed on 25 April, 2025. Olive Oil Times. https://www.oliveoiltimes.com/business/north-america/trumps-tariffs-on-european-olive-oil-spark-concerns-and-reactions/138174
[16] Sustainable advantage: The ability of businesses and industries to meet customer needs with the resources existing in their region, rather than relying on imported resources. A sustainable advantage is gained by a high diversity of businesses and industries, a natural buffer against a wide range of external forces. Economies with a high degree of resistance (and resilience) are most likely to sustain the diverse needs of their citizens in this turbulent century.
