[Part 7 of Values-based vs. Market-based Approaches to the Economy]
The case I’ve laid out over the last six posts is not an argument against using markets as a tool. As I’ve said, for example, despite all the problems with cap and trade it’s certainly possible that this usage of markets could be an important piece of a larger solution. What I’ve been arguing against is the idea of using a market-based framework.
I think it’s also important to be clear that I’m not arguing that many of our solutions won’t be embedded in or operate alongside of a market. They will be — and so would an approach that relied primarily on regulations.
I’m still struggling with defining what exactly a values-based framework is. But after playing with values-based vs. market-based frameworks for a few weeks, I think it has some real potential. And making the comparison sets some useful boundaries on the scope of what I’m trying to do — which is a really good thing when tackling something this complex.
Finally, I think my first draft of a values-based framework gets around one of the issues I have with some of the other attempts to put values at the center of talking about the economy. These approaches often get off to a strong start, but they run out of gas/bio diesel pretty quickly; they don’t do a good job of handling the inherent challenges of acting on our values in something as complex as the economy.
All in all, not a bad “stumbling towards.”
