There’s great talk in the media about how after Covid19 nothing will be the same – that we will have the opportunity to rethink our world. This is of course absolute nonsense. The commercial rush to return to normality is already in progress. Airlines are running 40% of their normal schedule and encouraging everyone to go on overseas holidays as soon as possible. Tourism related businesses are eagerly awaiting the rush of tourists to hospitality businesses, pubs and restaurants etc. Cruise ships are announcing new schedules! I admit in the past I would never have stepped foot on a cruise ship even if you paid me, but now . . . give me a word stronger than never!

There’s an interesting model going the rounds – the Doughnut Economic Model. This is an interesting idea – providing a template for a new economic model that rejects the idea of GDP as the basis for financial planning and introduces ideas of a model that melds climate actions and social justice.  Evidently the city of Amsterdam is piloting the ideas. The problem with models of this sort are that they are impossible to implement. Idealistic concepts never survive the light of day in the real world in which vested interests, politics and powerful players have the real say in most countries.

It occurs to me that a working model needs to be practical, implementable and saleable to ordinary people. Forget the fancy diagrams, show me the benefits to me and my family or my business.

I suggest that what’s needed is a Transformational Model that is focused tightly on policies that underpin implementation and governance. Take a look at the following list:

– Employee Reps on Company Boards with majority power over director and management remuneration.

-Citizen’s Assemblies that (don’t just provide ideas but) have approval over legislative programme.

-Citizen’s Reps that provide governance over platform providers (Google, Facebook, Twitter etc)

-Mandatory contracts of Employment that eliminate gig economy.

-4 day week.

-Basic Living Wage.

-Unemployed people of all ages do mandatory community work (or Youth Corp, Civil Defense etc)

-Climate Metrics for companies determine their corporation tax rate.

-Climate Metrics for home owners determines their property tax rate.

-Measured outcomes of twinning of businesses or towns with developing world determines tax liability.

-Civil servants have mandatory job rotation with private sector.

-And so on . . . . .

You get the idea. This is just a starter for 10.

In the same way that turkeys never vote for Christmas, politicians would NEVER implement many policies like these. But if the populace saw here policies that would enable real change they would potentially become vote winners and have profound change over how the basic economic model works.   

Reference – Doughnut Economic Model