Edgework

As you may have noticed, in my former essay I used Economics 101 and Economics 202 as “handles” to depict capitalism as it was envisioned by Adam Smith in 1776 and how it has been corrupted in subsequent centuries. I am using the term, Economics 303, to represent what a more positive, future economy might look like.

In the aftermath of the Davos Economic Forum a few weeks ago, Steve LeVine published an article entitled, “At Davos, A Reckoning for Capitalism as Practiced” (January 26, 2019). In many respects it bolsters the argument I made in my last essay that capitalism has been corrupted. LeVine states, “If a single theme ran through this week, it was acceptance that the capitalist system, of which the attending elites are masters, is broken.”

Throughout the forum many reflected on what has brought about this recent awareness: “Three-quarters of people living in developed countries feel they are not getting a fair shake…Real pay for all but the richest people has been almost flat for at least three decades…Home prices in U.S. and European cities are often unaffordable, again for almost anyone but the wealthiest.”

Levine reported that participants at the Davos forum contended that the main flaw with capitalism “…is that nowhere is it practiced as it is meant to be: capitalism is supposed to be hellishly competitive; and, in addition to featuring an invisible hand, it’s supposed to have a heart…The way capitalism has been practiced has been corrosive to some of the conditions that made it an attractive system. The practice has undermined some of the cultural supports that made it successful…Large segments of society are excluded from the fruits of economic growth and the corporate world is deeply worried about legitimacy.”

To anyone who remains unconvinced of the nasty, manipulative corporate skullduggery that has blanketed much of the world in the name of Neo-Liberal Capitalism, I suggest reading the book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, by John Perkins (2006). “Economic hit men,” Perkins writes, “are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play the game as old as Empire but one that has taken on terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.”

All this to strengthen the case, which I made in my last essay, for the catastrophe that is Economics 202. But inevitably, the discussion must turn to what economics in the future will look like – in other words, what will be the heart of Economics 303.

Three days after his first post on Davos, Levine published another article in which he declared, “The Old Era is Dead. Now We’re Grappling with the New One.” In it he claims forum participants were told that, “…the political and economic order would continue to unravel, and a new, as-yet unknown age continue to gestate and take shape.”

Indeed there are many voices calling for more than tinkering with a system that has gone so horribly wrong. In Days of Destruction; Days of Revolt (2012), Chris Hedges and Joe Sacco paint “…a heart-felt, harrowing picture of post-capitalist America.” “Hedges writes with an undeniable sense of urgency…A gripping and thoroughly researched polemic about the devastation wreaked by unfettered greed, but also ends on a hopeful note.” In many of his books, Hedges suggests that unless some major changes are made to the present form of capitalism devastating America’s underbelly, we should not be surprised if outright revolution wells up from those at the bottom of the pile.

In a recent post, Jim Rigby stated, “The ‘game’ is an economic and political system that is so rigged we can only win by demanding a new deck of cards, which means a revolution from a system of values based on property, to a system of values based on meeting human needs and aspirations. Our salvation will not come from begging the rich, but from living in solidarity with other human beings simply because they are human. Such a revolution in values cannot be reduced to labels, but it consists of breaking the trance that miscasts members of our human family as our competitors, and the sacred earth as our waste bin.”

Strident voices abound. But while some of them lean in the direction of democratic socialism, proposals to embrace socialism outright, are somewhat muted because history has shown that while promising ideals, socialism is also subject to greed and corruption, as we see in Venezuela today. Never-the-less, there is a groundswell of support for finding some kind of compromise that will at least diminish the gaping disparities between the wealthy few and the rest of society.

Amid all this turmoil, a movement known as Triple Bottom Line (TBL), coined by John Elkington in 1994 as such, has been gaining momentum. Sometimes it is referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or People, Planet, Profit (PPP). In Economics 202, the only bottom line that had any legitimacy was profit; shareholders in corporations demanded it, no matter what the human and environmental costs. Underlying the TBL movement is the realization that besides making profits, businesses have a responsibility to the people who make their profits and the environment that sustains them.

An increasing number of businesses are buying into this movement. It can be a challenge to those who are used to measuring success solely on the basis of profits. Discovering appropriate metrics to measure benefits to people and planet is not easy, but where there is a will there is a way.

Could it be that the way of our economic future is to embrace the Triple Bottom Line movement? I think it just might be. And the incentives for buying in are increasing steadily. Maybe Economics 303 will literally become “A Third Way” with a potential of salvaging the future our children and grandchildren will be living with.

I propose that all people of good will embrace it.