The current moment finally has us talking about one of the most important and overlooked phenomena in economics... and ultimately points to the dire need for a more holistic approach.
"Just raising wages..." is in context of forty years at least of having actual wages (what you can actually buy) at the lower levels reduced (and unions suppressed). That plus offshoring jobs has produced a destruction of the US middle class, with corresponding political consequences. Not having any national economic policy is also desperately desired by top corporate leaders and billionaires who are weaned on an opportunistic, zero-sum worldview.
Hey John - I agree entirely. While we certainly need to bring up incomes that haven't seen any gains for 40 years (and have actually been reduced), I think it would be best to think much more ambitiously. We should be trying to build up an understanding of the need, and also means, of separating work and income, of de-commodifying the means of production, and of grasping the whole economic cycle much more holistically (which is what I try to address in this article). Thanks for reading! And thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Hey John - yeah I think there are a number of great (and local) steps being taken. I'm a fan of a number of initiatives that come out of the Schumacher Center for a New Economics, especially the work around Community Land Trusts (though, unfortunately, I don't get the sense that this is a growing movement). Also, I do find some aspects of the worker-owned cooperative movement inspiring (I'm glad to see there's been a bit of focus in recent years on online platforms, so what they're calling "platform cooperativism"). And I definitely think the work that's come out of B-Corps and, more recently, the Purpose Foundation, are all steps in the right direction.
But not so much has been done around this aspect of companies working cooperatively together. That's what I personally think is one of the most important areas, and could imagine perhaps becoming more involved in. That said, I also just think getting the ideas out there is absolutely essential. There aren't too many people trying to wrestle with a more holistic approach to societal development, and it's desperately needed. I wish there were more!
"Just raising wages..." is in context of forty years at least of having actual wages (what you can actually buy) at the lower levels reduced (and unions suppressed). That plus offshoring jobs has produced a destruction of the US middle class, with corresponding political consequences. Not having any national economic policy is also desperately desired by top corporate leaders and billionaires who are weaned on an opportunistic, zero-sum worldview.
Hey John - I agree entirely. While we certainly need to bring up incomes that haven't seen any gains for 40 years (and have actually been reduced), I think it would be best to think much more ambitiously. We should be trying to build up an understanding of the need, and also means, of separating work and income, of de-commodifying the means of production, and of grasping the whole economic cycle much more holistically (which is what I try to address in this article). Thanks for reading! And thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Ambitious goals, small practical (and local) steps?
Thanks for writing!
Hey John - yeah I think there are a number of great (and local) steps being taken. I'm a fan of a number of initiatives that come out of the Schumacher Center for a New Economics, especially the work around Community Land Trusts (though, unfortunately, I don't get the sense that this is a growing movement). Also, I do find some aspects of the worker-owned cooperative movement inspiring (I'm glad to see there's been a bit of focus in recent years on online platforms, so what they're calling "platform cooperativism"). And I definitely think the work that's come out of B-Corps and, more recently, the Purpose Foundation, are all steps in the right direction.
But not so much has been done around this aspect of companies working cooperatively together. That's what I personally think is one of the most important areas, and could imagine perhaps becoming more involved in. That said, I also just think getting the ideas out there is absolutely essential. There aren't too many people trying to wrestle with a more holistic approach to societal development, and it's desperately needed. I wish there were more!