Download to read offline
Uploaded byPrabhu Guptara
The Economics of Justice presentation to the European Economic Summit 7sep2016
This document outlines Prabhu Guptara's remarks on the economics of justice. It calls on governments, policymakers, the church, entrepreneurs, and individuals to make changes to achieve a more just and equitable economic system. Specifically, it advocates for adopting new metrics of national progress beyond just GDP; reforming corporations and the banking/financial sectors; and living more generously and responsibly. It discusses the struggle for economic justice in terms of spirit, culture, practical issues and strategy. It provides principles for why nations don't achieve minimum prosperity and how to achieve and sustain prosperity through eliminating corruption and oppression and instilling the right culture and policies. It closes by highlighting Abraham Lincoln's example of struggling for justice with grace through forgiveness
More Related Content
Similar to The Economics of Justice presentation to the European Economic Summit 7sep2016
More from Prabhu Guptara
The Economics of Justice presentation to the European Economic Summit 7sep2016
- 1. The Economics ofJustice Prabhu Guptara
- 2. Outline of myremarks this evening • How much progress have we made since the last EES? • The Economics of Justice and the Economics of Injustice • Clarity about the struggle • Strategy • Struggling (and winning!) with grace
- 3. We call uponour governments and policy makers to … (1) a) Adopt new paradigms: • Reduce unemployment, underemployment and income inequality by enabling business to be transformational • Adopt new metrics of national progress that take into account human capital, social capital and natural capital, and not just GDP - – (and relational capital?!) • To address the refugee stream by combating poverty, countering systemic corruption, and fighting desertification by supporting initiatives which have been shown to be effective, eg. Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR).
- 4. We call uponour governments and policy makers to … (2 ) b) Reform the corporate sector: • Change company and financial law to encourage responsible behaviour: “No reward without responsibility, no investment without involvement, no profit without participation” • Stimulate the SME sector • Change corporate law where necessary to enable businesses to take into account their multiple stakeholders and not just shareholder profit
- 5. We call uponour governments and policy makers to … (3) c) Reform the banking and financial sectors: • Significantly and permanently reduce the level of personal, corporate and national debt using dialogue with the parties involved and national legislation where necessary • Discourage speculation and financial transactions divorced from the real economy by supporting financial transaction taxes and by legislating a minimum amount of time that shares need to be held before they can be sold • Dismantle the derivatives market.
- 6. We call uponthe Church in Europe to…. • Model what it means to be a relational community and to support the development of healthy relationships • Provide a moral compass for individual and collective decision- making in the complex tapestry of 21st century society by educating members on the meaning of the holistic gospel and its practical application in the different societal spheres • Fight the culture of greed by encouraging a culture of giving and generosity.
- 7. We call uponEntrepreneurs to…. • Personally model and implement structures that will support what it means to be relational in their businesses. • Redesign their business to build permanent value across the full spectrum of capital - financial, physical, individual, natural, spiritual and community level. • Apply their relationships, skills, experiences and other resources in their communities, and in developing nations, by providing training in business, by becoming mentors, by exploring investment opportunities and by pro-actively working with NGO’s and business groups which have a similar focus and holistic ethos. • Commit to conducting their businesses with integrity, transparency, professionalism and excellence.
- 8. We call uponall individuals to… • Prioritize character development • Treasure their families and other close relationships • Practice responsibility by avoiding accumulating (excessive) personal debt and paying it off as soon as possible where this has occurred. • Live within their means • Be generous • Invest time and money in something that benefits others and not just themselves.
- 9. Outline of myremarks this evening • How much progress have we made since the last EES? • The Economics of Injustice • Clarity about the struggle • Strategy • Struggling (and winning!) with grace
- 10. One indicator: • Between1949 and 1979, the share of income going to the top 0.1% of earners fell from 3.5% to 1.3%. Since then the trend has reversed. • Average FTSE 100 CEO pay rose from “only” 47 times more than the average employee in 1998, to 129 times by 2015 • Pay package: £5.48 million in 2015 (up from £4.96 million in 2014, and from £4.129 million in 2010) - annual survey released 8 August2016 by the High Pay Centre, U.K. • “There is an irrational, unhealthy and growing gap between what these companies pay their workers and what they pay their bosses” – Theresa May, 11 July 2016
- 12. Outline of myremarks this evening • How much progress have we made since the last EES? • The Economics of Injustice • Clarity about the struggle • Strategy • Struggling (and winning!) with grace
- 13. What is “just”is *not* commonsense •Should taxation be progressive or “equal”? •Should punishments be progressive or “equal”? •Is VAT/ Sales tax the modern equivalent of a tax on straw and grain which is denounced in chapter 5 of Amos? •What about a wealth tax? • Should there be equal payment for the same work done by men and by women (indeed should women be allowed to work at all?)
- 14. The Economics ofJustice (not Capitalism, nor Socialism; not Islamic, nor Vedantic or Humanist!) • Rule of Law, not Rule of the Elite • Entrepreneurship not merely Capital • Merit not merely Connections • Work rather than Handouts (except wherever there is real need) • Responsibility not Self-Indulgence
- 15. Practical consequences • Notallowing companies to get too big: non-accountability, ‘too big to fail’ etc. That would mean restraint on debt finance by changing current rules which advantage debt over equity. Recent examples include big UK banks, Amazon, Google etc not paying national taxes in the UK, etc • Constraints on national debt which otherwise creates gross injustice between generations (Paul Mills’s Cambridge Paper on ‘The Prodigal Steward’. • Requiring companies to measure and report on quality of stakeholder relationships. To do so, they would have to talk to employees and other stakeholders rather than only serve the interests of the shareholders. • A monetary system which does not allow the elite to print money without limitation, so as to increase their asset values at the expense of those seeking to get onto the housing ladder, pensioners, those on fixed incomes, etc • Ability of companies to promote products which are toxic to families (betting, liquor, consumer loans) without being required to pay for the costs of picking up the pieces, which is then left to the taxpayer…
- 16. The dimensions ofthe struggle •Spirit and Soul •Calling and Passion •Cultural and Intellectual challenges •Practical issues
- 17. Four General Principles 1.Every nation should arise at least to the Minimum Level of Prosperity – that is: the value of its physical resources divided by its population
- 18. Four General Principles 1.Every nation should arise at least to the Minimum Level of Prosperity 2. Most nations have never done so throughout history
- 19. Four General Principles 1.Every nation should arise at least to the Minimum Level of Prosperity 2. Most nations have never done so throughout history 3. A few nations have succeeded in far surpassing the Minimum Level of Prosperity
- 20. Four General Principles 1.Every nation should arise at least to the Minimum Level of Prosperity suggested by its physical resources divided by its population 2. Most nations have never done so throughout history 3. A few nations have succeeded in far surpassing the Minimum Level of Prosperity 4. When achieved, the question is : How sustainable is that achievement? Or, How can it be sustained?
- 21. Why nations donot achieve the Minimum Level of Prosperity •Looting/ Stealing/ Corruption... vs the Rule of Law
- 22. Why nations donot achieve the Minimum Level of Prosperity • Looting/ Stealing/ Corruption •Structures of oppression that create hopelessness, apathy, cynicism and paralysis
- 23. Why nations donot achieve the Minimum Level of Prosperity • Looting/ Stealing/ Corruption/ Murder • Structures of oppression that create hopelessness, apathy and paralysis •A belief-system that torpedoes the possibility of progress
- 24. Why nations donot achieve the Minimum Level of Prosperity • Looting/ Stealing/ Corruption/ Murder • Structures of oppression that create hopelessness, apathy and paralysis • A belief-system that torpedoes the possibility of progress •Ignorance or unwillingness to put best policies and best practices into place
- 25. In order toachieve/ surpass the Minimum Level of Prosperity: • Eliminate corruption/ looting/ stealing/ murder • Instill a culture that will lead to prosperity • Identify and weaken/ remove the structures of oppression • Struggle systematically against pride/ arrogance/ complacency/ apathy/ fatalism.
- 26. STRATEGY: Development, Implementation, Monitoring, Refining/Re-orienting WHAT IS THE “KEY ISSUE” AND HOW TO CAPTURE THAT? • Environmental scanning • Sector Analysis • Identification of Opponents & Allies • Identifying and reaching out to potential Co-Belligerents such as Restorative Economy, Bcorps, Circular Economy… (RTn) • Putting in place SMART goals, with requisite resources • Announcing and celebrating small and big victories.
- 27. One starting point(right now!) www.relational-analytics.com
- 28. Two starting points(from next month!) * The Relational Economic Plan for Europe
- 29. Outline of myremarks this evening •How much progress? •The Economics of Injustice •Clarity about the struggle •Strategy •Struggling (and winning!) with grace
- 30. Abraham Lincoln • Anexamination of his relationships: • William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, and Edward Bates • His rivals for the 1860 Republican presidential nomination Throughout Lincoln's first term, Chase plotted against him, criticized him behind his back, and sought to wrest the 1864 nomination away from him -while actually serving in his cabinet.!
- 31. Chase twice offeredhis resignation in an attempt to manipulate Lincoln, and yet Lincoln kept him in his cabinet right until 1864, until a dispute over the appointment of an assistant treasurer for New York finally persuaded Lincoln that Chase had to go. But just a few months later, when Lincoln had won, Lincoln forgave Chase's treachery and nominated him as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Goodwin reports that when Lincoln announced his intentions to a friend of Chase's, the friend replied: Mr. President, this is an exhibition of magnanimity and patriotism that could hardly be expected of any one. After what he has said against your administration, which has undoubtedly been reported to you, it was hardly to be expected that you would bestow the most important office within your gift on such a man. Lincoln admitted that he "would rather have swallowed his chair than to have nominated Chase." But he thought it was the right decision for the country and that Chase would serve well in that position.
- 32. Such things areonly possible in a culture which is committed to loving one’s enemies If we want to return to such things, we have to think: what actions and strategies will rebuild such a culture? Without such a culture, polarisation (political and economic) of the sort that we are seeing, is impossible to avoid. And polarisation, when taken to its inevitable conclusion, has consequences of which we are all aware – and are all rightly terrified – and therefore rightly reject.
Editor's Notes
- #11 By contrast, there’s been an equally unprecedented decline in average workers’ real wages, which have fallen 8-10% since 2008. Today the top 0.1% of earners take home as big a percentage as they did in the 1940s. If current trends are not checked, then they will take home 10% of the national income by 2030 – and we will have gone back to levels of inequality not seen since Victorian England.
- #18 Of course, there are questions such as: are the resources extractable, and is the market for those resources FAIR - but we leave those aside for the moment.
- #20 Think of Japan, think of Singapore, think of Switzerland…
- #22 What is the Rule of Law? Implies that every citizen has the protection of the law, and every citizen is subject to the law. It stands in contrast to the idea that the rulers or the elites are above the law, for example by sheer wealth, or access to power, or to some concept of divine right”. Trying to evade the rule of law is the reason why so many kings ascribe to themselves either divine descent, or divinity. There is a "thin" or formal definition, and a “thick” or substantive definition: - Thin or formal definitions of the rule of law do not make a judgment about the "justness" of law itself, but define specific procedures that a legal framework must have in order to be in compliance with the rule of law. Thick or substantive conceptions of the rule of law go beyond this, and include certain basic or fundamental rights. Of course, if your culture does not believe in God, as Red cultures do not, then you have the possibility only of a “thin” understanding of the Rule of Law. Identify any areas where the Rule of Law exists clearly and absolutely in your country? Identify one or two areas where the Rule of Law exists very little or not at all in your country?
- #23 What are such structures of oppression in your country? To what extent are you yourself part of such a “structure of oppression”?
- #24 Please identify specific beliefs in your culture which make it difficult to progress fear and greed, structures of oppression, beliefs, ignorance or unwillingness
- #25 In your country, identify one area in which there is ignorance of best policies and practices, and one area where global best practice is being implemented. Further, in your country, identify one important area where there is ignorance or unwillingness to implement best practices.
- #26 Singapore....Japan.... Korea... Put in place justice and the rule of law Jesus the Lord said that his teachings could certainly be debated but we’d find out if they really led to life fulfilment only if we practice them Someone put that message in his own words when he said: «BE the change that you want to see in the world»...