10 Ways to Solve the Jobs Problem by Fran Korten —.

For an orthodox economist, ‘growth’ is an article of faith. In his book The Growth Illusion, Richard Douthwaite reveals the almost religious awe in which this holy of holies of capitalist economics is held. Its conceptual power is so all-encompassing that an economist would have to call a decline in economic activity, such as that seen in 2009, an example of ‘negative growth’ rather than shrinkage or recession.

Plotting economic growth since 1955 on a graph makes clear how extraordinary is the situation in which we now find ourselves. It shows the consistently upward trend of economic activity in the UK since the end of the Second World War. Economic growth has been increasing exponentially since then. The recession following the financial crisis of 2008 is a dramatic break in the trend, clearly demonstrating a sudden reverse of the continuous series.

Cash = carbon

Although it is apparent to any economist who also has an interest in the environment that all economic activity has a carbon impact, this decline in production is not greeted with delight amongst our policy-makers—quite the reverse. Adair Turner cautioned against celebrating the 8.6 per cent fall in GHG emissions calculated for the second report from Climate Change Committee, of which he is the chairman, since these were only the consequence of the recession and so could not really count. I was reminded of my wicked temptation during the election period to encourage people  to vote Tory, since their chainsaw attack on the economy would inevitably push us back into recession.

Turner and his ilk, true believers in the neoclassical way, simply cannot see this from the other end of the telescope and realise that, not only is there an inevitable relationship between economic activity and carbon emissions, but that this means we have to move into a new economic paradigm where we can thrive without being in a state of perpetual expansion.

Fortunately, we are not all wedded to the capitalist growth model. A recent conference in Leeds held a practical working session on developing the alternative, a series of workshops where we revisioned key aspects of life—consumer behaviour, money, employment and population—in a no-growth world.

A nicer turn of phrase

What we are seeking is a managed descent or what Howard Odum referred to as ‘a prosperous way down’. Abandoning the true faith of capitalist economics is a good step. Another would be to find a cheerful phrase to sum up where we are going. The phrase ‘steady state economy’ (coined by Herman Daly) is ambiguous in terms of economic theory, as well as implying a state of stagnation that is neither appealing nor compatible with nature’s way of creative evolution. Daly’s teacher Nicolae Georgescu-Roegen used the word ‘degrowth’, whose French variant, ‘decroissance’, has spawned a whole political movement. In spite of these elegant associations, in English it is ugly and has unhelpful implications of a return to the horse and cart. At the Leeds conference, New Economics Foundation director Andrew Simms suggested we use the phrase ‘dynamic equilibrium’ for the central principle of the new economic paradigm, a suggestion that was met with warm murmers of approval.

Growth is a concept which has unfortunate associations of its own, being symptomatic of both cancer and obesity, diseases that are increasingly prevalent and stand as symbols of the destructive proliferation to which capitalist economies give rise. As we co-create the new paradigm we are learning that less really can be more. So next time you hear somebody saying how important it is that we return rapidly to the growth path so that we can ‘grow our way of the recession’ you could try proposing to them instead that they imagine a world where we flourish within limits while living in a dynamic equilibrium with our planet.

Original article:

http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/Molly_Scott_Cato/538745/we_scare_people_off_by_talking_about_degrowth.html

See: http://awid.org/eng/Issues-and-Analysis/Issues-and-Analysis/People-s-Voices-on-Climate-Change-Global-Governance-is-not-Working2

Banks should protect our money, not fleece us for their profit

Our money is loaned into existence and then must be paid back, plus interest. This interest can only come by earning (taking) money from other loans in the system, thereby installing inherit competition and scarcity in our society. Could you imagine a society in which we didn’t have to compete for a scarce amount of funds? How could this alter our communities or the way we treat each other?

An ethical banking system is one that upholds the value of the people who use it. Instead of a institution that values only profit, an ethical bank would value the people that support it. This really shouldn’t be too crazy of an idea, but our banks today do everything in their power to leverage greater profits. The recent economic crash being a prime example. We should support and create banks that support our societal and economic well being, not their CEO bonus checks.

The Reason We Need It

It seems like second nature to me that systems we create as a society should function with the ethics we value, but there is obvious room for improvement. When a lot of our organizations and industries started the room for growth seemed limitless, so it was much easier to gain advantage in the market and grow without sacrificing ethics. Like many things in this era, we’ve run out of that room and the only way to make a higher market share this year and next year is to start finding ethically gray (or black areas) for expansion (e.g. derivatives).

Paper exchanging for paper is now 20 times greater than exchanges of paper for real commodities. This distortion of value from real wealth to phantom wealth encourages a financially dependent system, driving up debt and down real value. Eventually those claims on wealth will be exchanged for actual wealth – even if there are no longer enough. An ethical banking system supports a more realistic approach to real wealth and the money that represents it – as well as environmental concerns with investment and social justice.

An Ethical Banking System is one that encourages stable and equal amounts of material wealth. If you haven’t clued into it yet, our current banking organizations do not function in an ethical way. Our banking system encourages debt, competition, scarcity, and unequal distributions of wealth. What if we created a bank in line with our values? One that supported the people, community, and real wealth?

An Ethical Banking System

A society is created by every part within it, big or small. In a democratic country we are supposed to each have an equal power in deciding the way our nation functions. Governments are no longer meant to rule over us (as in medieval times), but instead aid us in our development – protect us from harm and ensure we have the capability to flourish (remember our pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness?).

Part of our capability to flourish is encouraged or hampered by our material wealth (part, not all). If our society decides to give each of us the means to have more material wealth than necessary than we should each be able to flourish in this aspect of our lives with room to spare. If our society decides to create less than we need, or go a step further and saddle us with debt, then our ability to flourish is hampered. Obviously the Goldilocks spot is the desired goal.

Here are Herman Daly’s recommendations for creating more realistic banking, wealth, and monetary systems:

1. Limit the range of inequality in income distribution—a minimum income and a maximum income. Without aggregate growth poverty reduction requires redistribution. Complete equality is unfair; unlimited inequality is unfair. Seek fair limits to inequality.
2. Free up the length of the working day, week, and year—allow greater option for leisure or personal work. Full-time external employment for all is hard to provide without growth.
3. Re-regulate international commerce—move away from free trade, free capital mobility and globalization, adopt compensating tariffs to protect efficient national policies of cost internalization from standards-lowering competition from other countries.
4. Downgrade the IMF-WB-WTO to something like Keynes’ plan for a multilateral payments clearing union, charging penalty rates on surplus as well as deficit balances—seek balance on current account, avoid large capital transfers and foreign debts.
5. Move to 100% reserve requirements instead of fractional reserve banking. Put control of money supply and seigniorage in hands of the government rather than private banks.

Common Good Finance

And here is another great idea, there are many different types of alternative banking systems, I like this one:

(For my feed readers who can’t view this video it is available here)

What do you think? Do you have any recommendations for a more realistic banking and monetary system?

Image Credit: Flickr Creative Commons

The Day is getting closer, events that will be happening are getting confirmed, and excitement is growing all over the place!!

Wee update for the moment:

“Get more local”, Marc Boyle from Freeconomy, Briony from Fun Fed, Capoeira dancers, Mushroom workshop CONFIRMED!

It´s sad, but every single day we wake up and read/hear economical news, which remind us the hard times in which we are living and the ones that might come. Times in which unemployment, specially young people’s, grows every day.

Money, money, money… that’s the only thing they talk about in the media, in the streets, politicians, stakeholders, or even our friends; almost everyone and almost everywhere…. We seem to be surrounded by it. WE ARE NOT!

That’s why, we are inviting you to spend “a day without money” with us in Battersea Park on the 6th June.

Who are we? We are just a group of street people, like yourself, who think it is possible and have get together in order to show that. We believe in other kinds of richness such as the cultural or intellectual one and in  the creativity, spontaneity, and richness of sharing and swapping. We believe in the ability to get together with other people without money being the most important thing.

So we are just going to make it. It will be a gathering and there will be a picnic, clothes, books, games, talks, and a lot more, but most importantly …. people, we need you to be there!

For a day, the most important thing won’t  be how many pounds available to be spent you have in your pocket; the most important thing, will be what I can show you and you can teach me. It’s all about sharing and swapping here.

What are we doing?The day without money, organized within the Global Picnic4DEgrowth day (6th June) will be a meeting point where we can all interact in a natural, relaxed and funny way, without any economical pressures.

We will be swapping, both tangible and intangible items, anything you can think about really. Talking about transitions. Playing. Singing. Eating. Sharing books, clothes, food, dreams, languages, songs, games…

If you want to get involved and take part on it in any way, just drop us a line with any other ideas.

Hope to see you all there!