Monetary Policy Archives – Page 2 of 3 – Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

New Zealand Deprioritizes Growth to Improve Health and Wellbeing

May 12, 2020/2 Comments/in Consumption, Environment, Monetary Policy, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald /by Brian Czech

By James Magnus-Johnston

Last May, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern released a budget to improve the “wellbeing” of citizens rather than focusing on productivity and GDP growth. And, not so coincidentally, New Zealand has one of the best coronavirus outcomes of any democracy in the world. Perhaps this provides a global model to make economic health cohere with health for all life.

To improve wellbeing, Ardern emphasized goals that focus on care for people and the planet.

Social Solidarity Requires a Universal Basic Income

April 29, 2020/5 Comments/in Economic Growth, Environment, Monetary Policy, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

By James Magnus-Johnston

Going forward in these uncertain times, a universal basic income could be the best way to maintain social solidarity—whether referring to health, wellbeing, or public order. “Solidarity,” writes Eric Klinenberg, “motivates us to promote public health, not just our own personal security. It keeps us from hoarding medicine” and prompts us “to knock on our older neighbor’s door.” It is a structure and a mindset that breaks down the barriers of inequality and improves trust,

The Triangular Economy: Behind the Circular Flows

April 7, 2020/6 Comments/in Biodiversity, Brian Czech, Consumption, Economic Growth, Economic Policy, Energy, Environment, Monetary Policy, Steady State Economy, Steady State Herald, Sustainability /by Brian Czech

By Brian Czech

The “circular economy” is a response to the environmental problems and resource shortages that arise as the human economy expands. The focus of the circular economy literature is on efficiency which, in terms of economic production, means more output per unit of input. All else equal, increasing efficiency means higher profits, too. That’s real motivation for the corporation.

Efficiency connects to the human propensity to innovate, too. From childhood on,

Where Does Inflation Hide?

February 20, 2018/5 Comments/in Banking, Inflation, Monetary Policy, Money and Investments, The Daly News /by Brian Czech

By Herman Daly

The talking heads in the media explain the recent fall in the stock market as follows: A fall in unemployment leads to a tight labor market and the prospect of wage increases; wage increase leads to threat of inflation; which leads the Fed to likely raise interest rates; which would lead to less borrowing, and to less investment in stocks, and consequently to an expected fall in stock prices.

What is Wrong with a Zero Interest Rate?

September 16, 2015/6 Comments/in Corporate Reform, Economic Policy, Governance, Inflation, Monetary Policy, Money and Investments, The Daly News /by Brian Czech

by Herman Daly

The stock market took a dip, so the Fed will likely continue to keep the interest rate at zero, in conformity with its goal of supporting asset prices by quantitative easing. What is wrong with a zero interest rate? Doesn’t it boost investment, growth, and employment?

There are many things wrong with a zero interest rate. Remember that the interest rate is a price paid to savers by borrowing investors.

Use and Abuse of the “Natural Capital” Concept

November 13, 2014/7 Comments/in Consumption, Economic Policy, Environment, Monetary Policy, Money and Investments, Sustainability, The Daly News /by Brian Czech

Herman Daly explains how we can use prices now as tools for rationing a fixed predetermined flow of resources, rather than determining the volume of resources taken from nature, or the physical scale of the economic subsystem.