A Economy for the Common Good

The national economy should be a benign system that functions in the interests of society as a whole. And it should be an honour system. Trust, respect and regard for those without power are the foundations of an economy operating for the common good.
It is one in which individuals, private companies, a re-energised and active public sector, charitable institutions and government have developed a shared vision of the good of the nation and its citizens, present and future and seek to operate with the common good in mind.
This need not exclude other interests including strictly personal benefit. No particular form of economic organisation is required although ruled out, amongst much else, would be extractive pseudo monopolies, consumption driven wastefulness, rank inefficiency, cartels, tax dodging, corrupt financing of political parties and gross economic imbalance.
The key to a better future is a shared vision and a 'citizenry of good intent'. This, and a perception of how decent values are imbued and sustained. Clearly, given the state we’re in, it will be no small task to bring this about - and the changes must start at the top. But one good sign is the realisation by ordinary people that contentment involves the rediscovery of older values.
An economy for the common good will ensure that the 'external effects' (aka collateral damage) of corporate decisions (such as factory closures and the impact on supply chains, the off-shoring of jobs, tax avoidance and the sending abroad of manufacturing equipment) weigh heavily. There is no more effective mechanism to ensure this than the moral principles of the decision makers involved.
An economy for the common good seeks self-sufficiency where this is possible. In this it recognises that the accountants' current 'bottom line' and the common good are rarely in accord. This is so since the common good will attach positive value to self respect, sustainability and the command of resources.
Presently, commercial sales and the extraction of ever more profit dominate all else. We have a greedy, debt laden and wasteful economy - and it should be no surprise that people are unhappy as a result.
Sales promotion is designed to create a mood of restless dissatisfaction with the material goods we’ve already got. We need a completely different vision of what constitutes ‘the good life’ where social values and consideration for other people rather than commodities are at the heart.
Never-ending geometric economic growth cannot be sustained - as we should have known. ‘Markets’ are not part of the natural order - they are an entirely human concept run in the interests of those who influence them.
An economy for the common good is one where individuals or groups such as companies, public bodies and charities act to give good answers to these questions:

What is the effect of corporate or governmental actions and policies (or the lack of them) on individuals as human beings rather than exploitable economic units?

What are the effects on those with little economic or political power?

What are the effects of policies and decisions on future generations?

What would be the effects, positive and negative, on community and country?

What are the effects of commercial decisions on the natural environment?

What is the effect on the quality of life and the common good of all citizens?

Organisations in an economy for the common good do not engage in excessive risk taking or usurious money lending. Rather, the emphasises is on balance, respect, fairness and sustainable futures. Self-reliance is encouraged both in terms of individuals, the things we depend on and productive sectors such as manufacturing, mining, agriculture and fishing.
An economy for the common good will have flat pay structures and an absence of privileged and outrageous executive payment schemes. Equality of opportunity amongst citizens and the benefits from this cannot be achieved where there are grotesque imbalances between resources available to individuals.
Thus for example, all employees of a profit making company should be paid according to the same scheme, including profit sharing and pensions, differing only in the scale of remuneration. In all of this, the value of co-operatives and not-for-profit enterprises should also be underlined.
The desired economy is one where the concept of the common good as well as that of the current driver of private gain (since the two are not always inconsistent) is embedded in economic activity.
An economy for the common good is one where there is a pervasive morality and where there is respect for individuals not just within organisations but also to those interacting from outside as customers and traders.
It is one that is not dependent on personal greed as the sole driver in economic behaviour. There is a fundamental distinction between self-interest and selfishness. Genuine self-interest is a much wider concept than the desire for money. It embraces respect for others, self respect and the benefits of living within the realm of the common good.
It is one where there is concern for the national interest in the longer term - for example by having industry, agriculture and meaningful jobs available at all levels and for all ages and where jobs and equipment are not shipped overseas.
An economy for the common good would assess public well being and proper employment rather than obsess about questionable measures such as GDP. There are absurdities in the measure of GDP. For example, flooding or mass illness increase GDP due to the activities undertaken to combat them. The common good should be evaluated rather than the transient glow of consumerism.
Measures of natural wealth would stand alongside financial measures. Natural capital and population well being would be emphasised. Failure to do this further impoverishes the poor and loses current and future benefits. The goal should be to bring about a joint understanding to secure the common good and the best interests of the nation as a whole.
National economic policy should reflect these objectives and take steps internationally to make sure that countries such as China observe basic rules of fairness in competition and respect for people, environment and law. Equally important is the necessity of private corporations ceasing to cash in by using China to further increase their own profits.
China’s exchange rates should be set on the same basis as for the countries from which they take work. There should be comparable anti-pollution requirements, similar work safety regulations, respect for copyright and international trade agreements and the withdrawal of export subsidies.
In material terms there is a case for supporting a genuine free and fair trade system – balanced and reciprocal free trade that is. This is something sharply distinguished from the current excesses of laissez-faire globalisation with its plundering of natural resources, human exploitation and extractive profiteering. An economy for the common good would not adopt the doctrine of free trade fundamentalism that has clearly not served the interests of the country or the common good.
'Markets', where nothing better can be devised, should operate as social markets. A capitalist model will only operate in the general interest if, as Keynes pointed out, it is governed by 'gentlemanly codes of behaviour' rather than the attitudes of the Greed and Gecko moral ghetto that some have recently sought to praise. Plutocratic richness should not be an end in itself. The end, as Keynes expressed it, is to live 'wisely, agreeably and well' - qualities which are consistent with the common good.
'The Market' must not be bowed down to. ‘Market forces’ are not sovereign unless governments choose to make them so. At best they reflect the transient, self-seeking and short-termist views of the untrammelled herd. More often, they are dysfunctional, manipulated and frequently an excuse for excess. Much of what are passed off as 'market forces' - for example in the attempted justification of grossly excessive executive pay and bonus awards - are nothing of the kind. The contexts involved are self-serving and nowhere near competitive. They bear more resemblance to an exclusive club than a human resources bazaar.
The restoration of trust is key. People need to be confident they are being served by the economic system rather than being under threat of exploitation or exclusion. An economy for the common good would ensure that all citizens have equal value if not equal incomes.
The commercial banks are a notorious example of a defective 'market'. Competition between the banks exists in financial casinos and to the extent of how much they can extract from ordinary people who, in the absence of public service alternatives, have no recourse but to make use of one or other such dodgy outfit.
This is because this so called 'industry', along with others such as fuel and power, acts as a 'cartel by convention' exploiting customers and ensuring that whatever penalties are meted out or whatever speculative losses are made, it will be ordinary people, the taxpayer and the junior employees who will pay the price.
Statutory regulation on its own has no chance of changing this ingrained anti-social behaviour. One possibility that would bring genuine and valuable change and offer real choice and security would be to create 'exemplar institutions' with public service values that would break the cartel and force changes in corporate behaviour.
One example would be the re-establishment of municipal banks. There were branches of the Birmingham Municipal Bank throughout the city and a culture of thrift was encouraged. Mottoes such as: 'Thrift radiates happiness' expressed the ethos this bank for the common good and its watchwords, 'Security with Interest' got the priorities right.
And there is wide scope for exemplar institutions outside the financial sector, for example in energy where exploitative abuse of consumers has also been unchecked, in rail transport (a prime candidate for nationalisation) and in housing.
All this, and much more, could and should be carried out until we have an economy that operates for the common good. Until then we will remain a land of lost content and a society of forsaken futures.