160. Economy 2.0 - The Problem of Centralization and Business beyond Profit

For today’s episode, host Josh Sidman is joined by Phillip Ullmann. Our conversation was held and recorded in May of 2025.Mr. Ullman is a social entrepreneur known for founding businesses that are beneficial to local communities. He is the Chief Energizer of Cordant Group, a recruiting company that takes a holistic approach to sourcing executives. In 2017, Phillip restructured the company to become a social business, capping executive salaries and putting a limit on dividend distributions. The Cordant Group was subsequently sold in 2020 to the Recruitment Company, where Mr. Ullman still remains involved. He is also the founder of Covenant Advisory, a consultancy that helps businesses and governments align their operational strategy with societal goals. Phillip’s views are informed by his scriptural research, giving him an interesting perspective on how the business community should interact with the rest of society. Mr. Ullman earned his master’s in business administration from Brunel University of London and a master’s in engineering from the University of Cambridge.Phillip joined the Henry George School to discuss how a moneyless economy could work, why it is good to avoid centralization within monetary systems, and why the sole responsibility of corporations should not be profit.To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: https://www.hgsss.org/