I’ve been wrestling with bits and pieces of a framework, but no matter how much I play with them, the end result is all over the place. So, time to get it out of my head. Here’s a quick dump of where I am:
Creating a Values-based Economy
A. The way we usually talk about the economy is based in denial of 2 crucial facts:
1) The government is massively involved in the inner workings of the economy.
2) Power also massively shapes the economy.
This denial tilts the playing field towards people with power — big corporations and the rich — by stacking the odds in favor of their values:
- If we don’t acknowledge the massive role government plays in the economy, we won’t have a real conversation about the values we should encourage, so people with power are more likely to call the shots.
- This denial lets them shape what is vs isn’t counted as “government.” Example: if Medicare becomes too popular to touch, we go from “Medicare is Socialism ” to “keep your government hands off my Medicare “
What if we stopped being in denial?
Then maybe everyone could get a real say in which values shape the economy.
(a.k.a. democracy)
B. In practice, what would that look like?
To figure it out, start with Krugman’s critique of “command and control”: “direct regulations,” or laying out in detail “what will or will not be permitted,” works for some problems, but not for many:
- It’s impossible to think of every exception
- It doesn’t allow for flexibility
- It doesn’t unleash people’s and organization’s creativity
So, how do we give everyone a real say in which values shape the economy in a way that encourages flexibility and creativity?
1) Stack the Odds in Favor of the Good Guys
Shape government intervention in the economy so it creates an environment that supports and encourages our values.
- Can use incentives, but not a simpleminded “put a price on it and it’ll all work out” approach — People aren’t Calculators
- Can use markets, but it’s one of many tools, not the entire toolkit
2) Everybody Gets a Real Say (Power and the Economy)
Reshape power in the economy so that:
- Everyone has a real chance of having a say in which values shape the economy
- The system supporting our values is sustainable — it isn’t easily undermined by powerful actors.
- What happens when it isn’t: the 1990’s Wall Street “deregulation” that led to our financial meltdown
How we make it happen:
- Checks and Balances
- Instead of individual action — e.g., “if we all just pony up” — mobilize folks to choose and act together
- Deal with complexities of power & compromises instead of playing the game, “I’m pure and corporations are evil”
3) We Aren’t As Smart As We Think We Are
Market cheerleaders: “government regulation/bureaucrats can’t be smarter than the market — the economy is too complicated.”
Reality: market-based solutions run into the same problem — e.g., cap and trade
If there’s no way to get it just right right, then we need a framework for handling the uncertainty:
- A little humility — acknowledge we aren’t as smart as we think we are
- Accountability — e.g., if banks are supposed to be helping to create good jobs, make sure they actually are
- Feedback loops
- Get Real: we can’t get everything we want — choosing values is usually about making trade-offs
A few thoughts about this framework:
The Intro
- Not light and frothy like the Game metaphor
- But not as snappy as “the middle class was no accident“
- Maybe use a metaphor to describe the denial and its impact?
- Maybe reorder the beginning so I start with values rather than with denial? I can do that easily with government intervention, not sure how to do it with power
The Mechanics
- With some fleshing out, I buy the argument made in the individual pieces.
- But it still needs more powerful language and a much clearer connection with the intro. At this point, feels disjointed.
Where Next?
Maybe revisit the idea of market-based versus values-based framework. If I can combine some of the energy of that piece with some of the pieces from this brain dump, it might take me to the next step.
