Suggested features of a new local economyMay 1st, 2012 7 comments

What might our new local economy look like? Here we provide you with some suggested features. These are all up for discussion, and we are figuring it out as we go – please send us your thoughts. For example, we know we need to add one about alternative means of exchange. 

 

For clarity – here we are talking about the ‘systemic’ features of a new local economy. And elsewhere we talk about the desired features or characteristics of individual enterprises that operate within an economic system. Clearly the two are connected, as the overall system will reflect the attributes of the individual organisations within it. However, some aspects are more sensibly discussed at the system level – a local currency for example will not work if only a small number of businesses in  your local economy use it, and a closed loop system only works if local businesses can make use of the ‘waste’ of others.

This page gives a short introduction to some suggested systemic features, with links to a wealth of resources if you want more detail.

 

Localisation

Localisation is rapidly becoming one of those terms with several different meanings. Here we put a stick in the sand to define what localisation means, in the context of making the transition to a lower energy, higher quality of life future; and what it does not mean. And we consider some benefits to businesses and communities of localisation. More…

 

 

 

Natural capital

A new economy considers natural resource usage and the earth’s ecosystems, so these are taken into account in business practices and balance sheets. The commonly held view is that this is an expensive distraction from making money. But as things change, this will make more financial sense where businesses need to manage risks, meet regulatory requirements and seek the opportunities in the shifting of economic priorities. More…

 

 

Resource limits

A new economy which is resilient and sustainable needs to find ways to do business within the limits of natural resources, and the ability of the earth to absorb polluting waste from our use of them. This requires a fundamental rethinking of some things we take for granted: progress, our relationship with the environment, business models, how we use resources, waste and even ownership. It may feel like a daunting task, but there are models to help us, resources to communicate about them and businesses leading the way to show how its done. More…

 

 Business-society integration

In addition to addressing climate change impacts and working within natural resource limits, we propose that a new local economy integrates business not just with the natural world but also with society, creating value that is shared more equitably, offering opportunities for all in the community to enjoy good quality of life. This involves an approach to defining businesses’ relationship with society as one that finds opportunities for shared value for both. More…

 

 

Steady state economy

To resist growth is to risk economic and social collapse. To pursue it is to endanger the ecosystems on which we depend for long term survival. A steady state economy represents a positive alternative to the pursuit of endless economic growth. It is an economy that aims to maintain a stable level of resource consumption and a stable population. It is an economy where energy and resource use are reduced to levels that are within ecological limits, and where the goal of maximising economic output is replaced by the goal of maximising quality of life. More…

 

Alternative means of exchange

What are the alternatives to money and markets as conventionally understood?  This sections looks at new forms of money that a community can create for itself, and at the ‘gift economy’ where ongoing relationships enable people to exchange without using money at all. This includes complementary currencies, LETS, TimeBanks, community exchanges and so on. It also offers some suggestions for what an integrated REconomy Exchange System might look like. More…

 

Further reading

 

If you would like to read more ideas for how a new economy might operate, see the Green Economist website. This is where Molly Scott Cato (spokesperson for the Green Party on economic issues, and part of Transition Stroud) shares her ideas and links to other experts in this emerging field.

Her book Green Economics is available through the usual sources. Here is one of Molly’s papers called “The Green Economy: Why Ownership and Control Matter” which highlights the importance of the co-operative movement and principles in particular.

 

 

 

 

Credits: Image Source: Keys by Elwood W. McKay III

 

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7 Comments

1. 

   shane hughes

   January 28, 2012 at 8:24 am · Reply

   Features of a the new economy – suggested changes

   Would like to see this title changed to “Ingredients of the new economy” – would like to see this integrated into the existing Transition Network ingredients. As such we may need to add the word “economic in some of the titles to better identify the within the full list of ingredients

   Additional ingredients I’d like to see added;

   - Economic resilience – although often touched upon in most other ingredients it would be good to have a post that brings this together

   - Jobs and materials – A discussion on money and materials versus human labour (i.e. a shift towards more labour intensive enterprises less mechanized –where materials are all worth gold). Also the impact this will have on the landscape and our daily lives etc the first think that springs to mind is that if agroforests become widespread this will create migration back to the land and mass increase in wildlife..

   - Money and currencies – and the use of money versus exchange, timebanks and sharing etc

   - Finance and investment etc – could be incorporated above into “money and currencies’ but extends into areas such as crowd funding, resilient mortgages and loans, banks and banking systems etc

   - Community ownership – discussions around asset transfer, meanwhile leases, community forests, community energy and food companies. 10’s of ownership models.. this ingredient overlaps with “business society integration” but this is one of the most vibrant areas of the new economy and needs to be developed into a full ingredient.

   - Access rather than ownership – overlaps with the “community ownership” but goes deeper into the decentralizing of power (i.e. localized energy generation, food production, media (e.g. film making, news writing, music making etc), the development of pear to pear networks and things like sharing a car rather than owning one. The open source revolution in code and programming

   - Education for resilient economies – we don’t have much on this yet but it’s aspect that should be an ingredient in a new economy

   - Technology – again we don’t have much on this but would be an interesting ingredient to develop and bring in strands from other ingredients

   - Capitalism, socialism & communism – slightly prickly ground but if this was to be covered it could have an ingredient presenting a new way that doesn’t have to be based on all dominant “–ism…”. Not sure we can well define this and perhaps it could be covered in part in other ingredients. I lover this permaculture article here http://bit.ly/wXtwuS and Paul Hawkin’s presentation here http://fora.tv/2007/06/08/Paul_Hawken_New_Great_Transformation

   I also think that the titles “Natural capital” and “steady state economy” both of these titles reflect the initial transitional stage away from our existing unsustainable economy but not the deeper ingredient that reflects the actual new economy that we hope to see i.e. the end game. As such I’d be interested in seeing these changed to something like; “enterprises and economics that value nature” and “redefining progress”. Steady state economics is one element of the new economic paradigm which is embedded within a new understanding of progress. Natural capital.. i.e. putting an economic value on natures services is for me hugely thorny ground but i do see it as an important stepping stone which will lead to a people inherently valuing nature more be it financially or emotionally etc.

   Would love to see the resource limits section have discussions around peak oil and peak everything.

   In the main features post there’s a section on “how to use knowledge base to lead the transition”. This could perhaps be a separate post.

   These are some thoughts… I’m hopefully we can change, develop and mature these ideas over the coming months?

2. 

   shane hughes

   July 17, 2012 at 7:50 am · Reply

   other features that i’d like to see;

   the shift from “i” to “we” and the collaboration economy most notable in the opensource movement which is now infaltrating the real world.

   the sharing economy and the many enterprises and libraries etc that fit the sharing model

   the gift economy which is becoming more popular among transitioners and love to see working examples

   you can’t have a new economy without new banks and banking. new banking coule be seen as a feature of the new economy and an enabler of the new economy. we can already see traces of the new banks through the new finance models (crowdsourcing, peer to peer finance) and new exchange mecanisms like WIR and bartercard…

   my vision of a new economy is centred around agriculture and new agriculture like agroforestry, aquaponics, vertical growing, harvesting biochar etc, these will not only reshape our economy they will reshape our urban and rural landscapes

   The DIY economic revolution is an important feature of the new economy. the shift from being to consumers to being producer consumers

   we clearly have a lot of work to do on this section and if we can crowd source the content here that would be great.

3. 

   Joanne Poyourow

   August 24, 2012 at 4:49 pm · Reply

   A similar exploration (US-centric) is at http://www.ResilientEconomy.net It is a summary I have been creating of all that we are learning in our studies at Transition Los Angeles. And it includes many of the features that Shane Hughes yearned for.

   “Steady State Economy” is misleading. When coupled with energy descent (Holmgren’s Earth Stewardship line here http://ingienous.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/pic-permaculture-energy-newswire_heij_holmgren_1.jpg ) because of peak everything, we realize we must be speaking instead of a **de-growth economy** — a consciously planned and designed way down off the mountain.

   Why not Holmgren’s Green Tech? see http://economicresilience.blogspot.com/2011/10/possible-ways-off-mountain.html for analysis of why this doesn’t work.

4. 

   Admin (Shane Hughes)

   August 24, 2012 at 5:52 pm · Reply

   Hi Joanne, thanks for your comments. Agreed that steady state doesn’t match up to the challenge and desires, for the reasons mentioned and not least if you add in all the sharing, gifting and bartering that we hope to be doing.

   I think there’s still a lot of work to be done on this thread…. would be good to collaborate.

   I’ve read a few of your posts on the gift economy and am aware of your ‘business in transition’ work… if you ever want to write anything for REconomy please let me know. perhaps a feature of the new economy?

   thanks
   Shane

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