So here we have it, UK\u2019s much-praised Chancellor is urging us to \u201ceat out to help out\u201d.\u00a0 Recognition of the absurdity of this formula requires a certain naivety, we being so brainwashed into thinking economic orthodoxy to be a law of nature.\u00a0 We need to see the world more like the boy in Andersen\u2019s \u201cEmperor\u2019s New Clothes\u201d tale.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
To that end, here are some na\u00efve questions:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
1). At what point in the digestive process do I start helping out?\u00a0 At what point do the new riches emerge?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
2). If I\u2019m sick afterwards, will I have succeeded in helping out, or do I have to keep down the food for a longer period of time for this to work?\u00a0 How long before it\u2019s OK to poo?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
3). How many meals successfully consumed are needed to economically offset the costs of each additional Covid-19 case resulting from the initiative?\u00a0 Can it be measured in calories?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/p>\r\n
So what is the rationale?\u00a0 \u201cThis is a consumption-driven economy\u201d Sunak apparently told the Times newspaper.\u00a0 So the NHS will sort out the medical problem and we\u2019ll all eat our way to solving the economic one.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
I\u2019ll try again.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Imagine there\u2019s no money, just an agreement between friends that we all do stuff to help each other.\u00a0 Imagine our consumption patterns under this arrangement were the same as before the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Then the pandemic hits.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
So we ask some people to stop working if their work is nonessential.\u00a0 Tell me why anyone needs to starve or to abandon for good the enterprises they were previously employed in?\u00a0 Why would anyone lose their home?\u00a0 Why must we lose more than just the nonessential work?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/p>\r\n
So my real (non-flippant) questions are:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
1). Isn\u2019t being a consumption-driven economy something we might want to change rather than encourage?\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
2). Given that we consume more than is ecologically sustainable in many sectors and that the consequences of this consumption endangers our future, why is there so little thought given to making nonessential consumption unessential to the economy?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Asset Based Taxation (ABT) is, at least, a thought in this direction.\u00a0 Please take the time to read the Seven Roads document if you haven\u2019t already and give me your feedback.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n
Seven Roads to Asset Based Taxation<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n