New Currency Frontiers The New-Economy Movement The idea that we need a “new economy”—that the entire economic system must be radically restructured if critical social and environmental goals are to be met—runs directly counter to the American creed that capitalism as we know it is the best, and only possible, option. Over the past few decades, however, a deepening sense of the profound ecological challenges facing the planet and growing despair at the inability of traditional politics to address economic failings have fueled an extraordinary amount of experimentation by activists, economists and socially minded business leaders. Most of the projects, ideas and research efforts have gained traction slowly and with little notice. But in the wake of the financial crisis, they have proliferated and earned a surprising amount of support—and not only among the usual suspects on the left. Gar Alperovitz is a participant in various systemic-change efforts, including some of the new-economy projects described in this article. Gar Alperovitz
Art Brock / Prezis Thomas Fisher: The Next Economy and the 'Next Politics' To understand how the next economy differs from the one we have known, consider just one statistic: analysts following small businesses see the number of "contingent" workers -- the self-employed, free-lancers, or "accidental entrepreneurs" laid off from full-time positions -- growing to 40 to 45 percent of the workforce by 2020 and becoming a majority by 2030. That trend represents an enormous change in how people will live and work, in how businesses will operate, and in what services and support we will need from government. And apart from leaders like former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich, who has written insightfully about this, much of the political discussion in this country seems oblivious to this tectonic shift in our economy. The Obama administration's efforts to enhance manufacturing jobs, while very much needed, seem focused on a 20th century model of large-scale, "heavy" industry. This post-industrial, post-Guttenberg world is not a new idea.
Caught in Our Own Words System diagram of the vicious cycle of the Industrial Economy (red, top) and the virtuous cycle of the Natural Economy (green, bottom) Jeff Clearwater and Ferananda Ibarra* led a presentation on (Charles Eisenstein et al’s) Sacred Economics and Sharing Economies the other day while I was in Eugene OR (thanks to fellow communitarian and alternative economies enthusiast Tree Bressen twisting their arms to add Eugene to their current West Coast speaking tour). One of the ideas they presented that I found particularly inspiring was this: Much of what we believe, and much of what we are trying to change, is rooted in the terminology, the language we use to discuss it. If we want to change our own ideas , beliefs and worldviews, we need to stop using that terminology, because it leaves us anchored in the paradigm we are trying to escape. If you want to change your thinking, they say, you must first change the old-paradigm words and expressions you use. What is an “economy” anyway?
Jeff Heegaard on the next economy Photo by Bill Kelley Jeff Heegaard sat down with The Line to discuss entrepreneurship in the Twin Cities. Jeff Heegaard admits that his first job, at General Mills, wasn't a good fit. After leaving what he calls "the corporate castle," he launched a career of small-business startups and philanthropic activities, building a reputation as one of the Twin Cities' boldest and most forward-thinking businessmen. The Line: Jeff, what's happening at CoCo these days? Jeff Heegaard: I think the bigger question is, what's happening to create the need, the desire, for something like CoCo? The Line: What are some of those sparks? Jeff Heegaard: I think to answer that you have to move your focus upward to the greater economy. An Army of EntrepreneursI hear people call this the New Economy and say that it's all about service industries. I want to see an army of entrepreneurs produced in the next twenty years. In many ways I think we need to become like new immigrants in our own country.
Metacurrency: a wealth system After Sibos, Q4 is usually the period of the year when I try to re-boot, to refresh my sources, to be a sponge and take-in new knowledge. It’s when I start painting for the next year. When the themes and trends for next year start emerging. I wanted to get a much better feel for what this world of alternative and complementary currencies was all about, and decided to join a week-end “Collabathon” organized by Art Brock (@artbrock) and Eric Harris-Braun (@zippy314), the founders of The Metacurrency Project. In the slipstream of the Contact Summit, they wanted to gather the minds to work on NextNet ideas and tools. From their site: What is the NextNet? It was a small group of people – about 50 or so- gathering that Friday evening. Friday evening was intro-day. The weekend had something “sacred”. Some of you may remember that Art was one of our “igniters” for the New Economies session at Innotribe at Sibos Toronto, but there we only had a couple of minutes. Metacurrency comes in two parts:
Green Shoots of an Entrepreneurial Spring Daniel Isenberg and Leonard Schlesinger6/20/11 [Editor's note: Cross-posted from The Economist, 6/16/11] As the G8 last month pledged $10 billion to aid the Arab Spring to support the building of economic and political institutions, the May 24th NASDAQ debut of Russia’s $10 billion Yandex was but one of many green shoots of an equally significant Entrepreneurial Spring blossoming out from Chile to China, and Israel to India. Led by two brilliant entrepreneurs who knew how to take native search engine technology and implant it in the emerging Russian marketplace, for over a decade, Yandex, a Moscow-based Internet venture, had been growing inside of its language-walled garden. Finally, after a planned 2008 IPO was foiled by the economic crisis, this ambitious venture burst onto a global stage with the largest NASDAQ Internet offering in recent history. Fortunately, there are also green shoots of such enlightened leadership. For those countries not yet blooming with new ventures, get ready.
The New Industrial Revolution We like to think that the value of an idea is unlimited. From Watt’s steam engine to Darwin’s natural selection to Einstein’s relativity, ideas have changed the world. But that’s not the whole story. Watt, Darwin and even, to a certain extent, Einstein came from a privileged class and that matters. Most ideas go unnoticed because they require investment capital and distribution to make their way into the physical world. That’s beginning to change. While your ability to start a successful business still depends greatly on the place and situation of your birth (if you live in sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, you’re probably out of luck), many of the barriers to getting ideas to market are disappearing. The Industrial Economy The chart above tells the story of what happened next. It was, above all, an economy of atoms. The Information Economy In the old economy of atoms, value was determined by energy, time and scarcity. The information economy is quite the opposite. The Maker Economy
Cleveland artisans craft their own economic force: Eric Wobser View full sizeThomas Ondrey/The Plain DealerSam McNulty relaxes at his Bier Market on April 14. He also owns Bar Cento and Speakeasy and will open Market Garden later this spring. By Eric Wobser President Barack Obama's February summit on small business demonstrated Cleveland's wise long-term investments in health care and technology. These entrepreneurs are part of what Portland State University professor Charles Heying describes as the "artisan economy," a movement capitalizing on growing consumer demand for local and unique products -- demand couched in part as a rejection of national chains and globalization. While Heying describes how artisans have created thousands of jobs in Portland, Ore., a closer look at one small area of Cleveland tells a compelling story of artisans driving economic development locally: • When Great Lakes Brewing Co. opened in Ohio City in 1988, industry consolidation had left no locally-owned breweries in Ohio.
Social Solidarity Economy: Toward Convergence across Continental Divides | News & Views This is part of a series of think pieces by scholars and practitioners working on a broad range of issues within the field of Social and Solidarity Economy. The series is being published in tconjunction with the UNRISD conference “Potential and Limits of Social and Solidarity Economy”. The conference took place on 6-8 May 2013 in collaboration with the International Labour Organization and the UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service. The Social Solidarity Economy (SSE) is a relatively new framework and as such there is still a wide variation in concepts and definitions between, and even within, different regions. The Réseau intercontinental de promotion de l’économie sociale solidaire (RIPESS)1 is engaged in a process of exploring divergences and convergences surrounding concepts, visions and definitions of SSE across continents. This think piece will draw on insights and documents being developed in the ongoing RIPESS process, as well as those of my colleagues on the RIPESS board. 1. 2.
How to Build the Next Economy - Bruce Katz - Business The phrase "the next economy" has become common currency in the public debate about economics and public policy. The term itself has been used before--Paul Hawken's book, "The Next Economy," was published in 1983--but the term has evolved as the global situation has changed. So when we talk about a "next economy" in 2011, what do we mean, and how will it be different from what existed before? My candidate for the next economy: one that is driven by exports, powered by low-carbon, fueled by innovation, and rich with opportunity. Why exports? Why low carbon? Why innovation? Why opportunity? An economy with these characteristics will have one additional feature: it will be led by metropolitan areas. In an ideal world, the federal government would set a strong platform for national and metropolitan growth: embracing trade, pricing carbon, investing in advanced R&D, transforming infrastructure and overhauling immigration. But the U.S. circa 2011 is not an ideal world.