Day 196: Market Mechanisms and Equal Money

This blog is in response to a comment made on the ‘Logistcs’ Goal on the EM Homepage:
http://equalmoney.org/goals/15-logistics   http://equalmoney.org/goals/15-logistics

Goal: Logistics

In the Equal Money System, the Banking System Infrastructure will become the Logistical System that manages and Allocates resources and goods to Each Individual in the World on an Equal Basis. And your bank card will become your Life Card, which you will swipe every time you Draw Goods and Services from the Global Life Support System. The Logistical System will make sure that each person receives their just dues and at the same time will prevent abuse and exploitation. Each person will have access to the Global System to review the current Status of Available Resources and to vote on effective distribution and allocation – and to place preference selections and make suggestions.

Comment:

"I do believe this market-absent socialism has already been proven impractical and inefficient. Especially when coupled with a form of direct-democracy type resource management such a system would surely be impossible, if not impossible then at least impractical and doomed to fail. A market mechanism, even a socialist one, is necessary, and will allow for efficiency. Command and Control, especially decentralized command and control, is a doom driven system. You need to include some form of market mechanism in order to make this successful.

Response:

There will still be a Market Mechanism in place within both Equal Money Capitalism and Equal Money. The Market Mechanism in place within Equal Money will merely replace the variables that the drive Supply and Demand in a way that actually benefits Human Life and the Planet as a whole. The Market Mechanism will thus be an holistic / ecological one – where the conditions which require to be in place to ensure a life of Dignity will signal/drive the Demand and in the Economy and whereby Supply will respond accordingly within taking into consideration Earth’s capacity to provide resources. This implies that in terms of resource distribution the priority will be placed on Needs over wants – and once needs are taken care of we look at what else is available to provide for people’s wants within the principle of sustainability and prevention of consequence (eg. where the providing for wants does not come at the expense of another).

It is then not so much a ‘Market-Force’ driving the Economy but a ‘Life-Force’ within placing Life as the principal point to be honoured.

For more information, please read:

Day 171: Life-Force and Expression in Equal Money Capitalism
Day 173: Supply, Demand, Business and Scarcity in Equal Money Capitalism
Day 175: The Economic Problem and Equal Money Capitalism
Day 180: The Word 'Capitalism' in 'Equal Money Capitalism'
Day 184: The Relationship between Ecology and Economics in Equal Money Capitalism

Related articles

• Day 173: Supply, Demand, Business and Scarcity in Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 195: Moneyless Societies and Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 171: Life-Force and Expression in Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 175: The Economic Problem and Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 181: Applied Equality in Equal Money Capitalism

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Day 169: Equal Living within Equal Money Capitalism

Note: The EMC is an entirely new project that was started a week ago or so. We’re at the moment in the phase where we are brainstorming by answering questions. It’s a messy process – but an effective one to get all the relevant points addressed. So – also note that points will evolve and change as we go as we are not setting things in stone, but on a journey towards designing the EMC. The principles upon which EMC is based are laid out in the previous blog-posts. From those principles, we work our way towards what life in EMC would practically be like and how the system will function from an economic perspective.

 

Debt Forgiveness

Q: If all debt is relieved, won’t there all of a sudden be a large group with no jobs all at once”

A: Those who may find themselves in a position of unemployment as the result of Complete Debt Forgiveness will either be integrated into other companies - or government will provide them with new jobs. Preferably, these types of outflows would have to be considered before implementation to ensure smooth transitioning from one system to the next – and would thus have to be calculated and planned prior to full implementation.

Countries

Q: Will people be able to choose in which countries they will live?

A: Yes – though in the end, every location will be supported and equipped equally in terms of infrastructure to ensure an equal standard of living in every location / country. This in itself will minimize the amount of migration as migration currently is mostly based on economic reasons.

 

What happens with Deficits / Surpluses?

Q: Since a person’s income is dependent on the profit from products being purchased, if the products are not purchased enough to give them sufficient income, do they get supported from compassion department, while it gets sorted out?

A: Yes, those companies that are very successful and sell more than they require paying out everyone with the same income will transfer their funds into a centralized bank. The bank will then utilise these surpluses to momentarily subsidize those companies who are running a deficit. The fact that they are running a deficit may indicate a point of ineffectiveness within those companies which may be corrected. When deficits are identified - someone will be sent to intervene and evaluate the situation. The company with deficit will receive training from similar companies who have proven to be effective and successful, so they may learn from their methods and techniques and become equally effective.
 

Bottom-Up Democracy

Q: So this will be a top-down system like today's?

A: No - because the top is the bottom - direct democracy means that the people rule. Equal Money Capitalism’s political process will be the same as the process outlined within the Equal Money System – which is a form of Direct Participation. You can read more about the Political Nature of both Equal Money Systems here.
 

Payments for Non-Products?

Q: How do people earn an income from jobs that don't produce a product that is purchased, or will everyone need to do a job that produces something to be bought? or does compensation also happen as paid from the government not just consumers purchasing products?

A: Yes - any value that is added - whether to a product or not - will be compensated. So - for government services - you simply do your hours and receive an equal income like everyone else. Whenever you purchase a product or a service – you are always paying for the labour involved, as such there is no difference when paying for a product versus paying for a service.

Related articles

• Day 167: Harmony and Equilibrium within Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 163: Equal Money Capitalism - Redefining Profit
• Day 166: Corporate Social Responsibility in Equal Money Capitalism
• The Future of Integrity with Equal Money Capitalism
• Day 165: Equal Profit Share and Equal Money Capitalism

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Day 19 - Starvation is Murder - Part 2: Feedback

This blog is a response to a comment made on "Day 17: Starvation is Murder".

Thanks for a really interesting article and really highlights how possible it could be to eradicate poverty and the suffering that comes with it. I wonder if it would be useful to highlight which are public and private expenditures as public expenditure can be directed from one thing to another with policy and the amount stays the same as it come from a fixed source eg. tax. Whereas private expenditure is often individual and variable, for example if everyone stopped buying cosmetics everyone in the cosmetics and attached industries would lose there jobs, stop paying tax, take up welfare/services and so there would not necessarily be the same amount of money left to transfer to other more important things. Anyway I would be really interested to hear your thought on this

It would make a difference in terms of where the money comes from -- public or private expenditure -- as you pointed out. Though, within this blog I merely touched upon one of the many aspects within our current economic system which reveals the values we as a society place upon certain outcomes or goods -- which when reflecting upon it, are quite irrational from a broader perspective when looking at the current state of the world, and the abhorrent conditions many find themselves within.

When looking at the issue from a different angle, it does not really matter where the money comes from (public or private), as the essential point is that we are living in an economic system with distorted values. The expenditures listed, reflect the dynamics between supply and demand which is one of the base fundamental systems in our economy. The problem already starts right there, where a person's demand is necessarily linked with their ability to pay for the goods/services wanted or needed (and the fact that there's no differentiating between a 'want' or a 'need' in itself is also problematic). This results in skewed supply and demand curves which determine how much and at what price particular goods and services should be provided -- as they only answer to the demand/wants/needs of those who have money and does not reflect the needs/wants from the whole population in question. This would then (partially) explain the expenditure figures. If everyone's wants and needs were taken as a valid demand, no matter what the state is of a person's income -- these figures would be quite different and the various industries, sectors and markets involved would then restructure themselves according to these new sets of values.   

This in itself is however not a complete solution, as now obviously those with low income / no income still dont have the means of accessing the goods and services they need/want. For this a system ought to be in place, where the Basic Income Grant is a cool first point of implementation, to provide those people with a disposable income. Such a system would however still not be a permanent solution, as there are still so many other points in place in our current economic system which would ultimately render this change ineffective -- yet it's a good start to begin with.

The solution that I propose is that of the Equal Money System, which is a more broader encompassing perspective/solution to our current economic system (than for instance the BIG porposal). You can read up about it here: www.equalmoney.org and feel free to join the forum @ www.equalmoney.org/forum for discussion.

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