a collaborative network supporting alternative means of exchange

Posts tagged Economy

Participatory Budgeting Returns Power To The Taxpayers

Dec07
2011 Written by Beth Buczynski

Citizen Participation In Budgeting
 One of the chief grievances of those involved with the Occupy Wall Street movement is that they no longer have a say in how tax revenue is put to use in their own communities.

This was vividly demonstrated by the billions (and possibly trillions) paid to bail out the Big Banks that caused the credit and mortgage crisis in the first place. It is further demonstrated by the current suggestion to raise taxes on the middle and lower classes while subsequently cutting funding the the public programs they most rely on for survival.

There might not be much we can do to force changes to the federal tax code or spending cuts, but things are much more accessible at the local level. If you’re unhappy with budget cuts for schools and libraries, fire fighters and social services in your community, and think you could do a better job managing your town’s money, participatory budgeting might be the answer.

On the following pages are excerpts from an article about participatory budgeting by our friends at Shareable Magazine. Residents of over 1,000 cities are already using aspects of this process to re-involve citizens in creating and balancing municipal budgets. This article offers some initial tips for how you could start participatory budgeting in your city.

>>Up Next: What is Participatory Budgeting?


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TheDoGooder.com Offers 3 Ways To Help Communities Thrive

Nov11
2011 Written by Beth Buczynski

Money for Schools

The ongoing economic recession has caused funding for schools and small businesses (the backbones of our communities) to virtually evaporate. While the politicians stall almost every practical solution for creating jobs and supporting innovation in Congress, children, families, and local economies continue to suffer.

The recent passage of the McHenry Crowdfunding Bill in the House shows that our political leaders have more faith in the public’s ability to spot and fund worthy industries than their own. A new social network for sustainably-minded people called “TheDoGooder.com” takes this idea a step further by providing a fundraising platform that connects schools, small businesses, and the people who want to support them.

Learn more about how your school or business could get in on the action below!

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Can You Build A Better Budget Than Congress?

Oct21
2011 Written by Beth Buczynski

Participatory Budgeting

As Occupy Wall Street protests around the country continue to grow, it’s becoming obvious that a large percentage of Americans don’t support a corporately-influenced Government.

Despite a series of bandaids and promises, the budget crisis still looms large  in America, without a single politician willing to make the hard decisions that will keep our country afloat without stripping the struggling population of essential programs and services.

I’ve heard dozens of people say they could do a better job than Congress at decided where to put taxpayer money. So now, it’s time to put your (fictional) money where your mouth is.

The other day I stumbled across, BuildaBetterBudget.org: an online “game” that allows anyone to create a U.S. budget using real numbers in proposals from the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the current budget or House Republicans.

The tool is incredibly simple to use, which may come as a shock to those that have struggled to keep the different proposals straight through their multiple iterations.

Developed by Roots Action in partnership with The National Priorities Project and USAction, the game may be one of the finest examples of participatory budgeting yet. As you play, you may think of a better idea than any of those proposed in Congress. The game gives you an opportunity to suggest it at the end and the groups will deliver it to Congress this fall.

My first order of budgetary business is to end tax cuts for the 1% :) What’s yours?


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What Occupy Wall Street Can Learn From The Slow Money Movement

Oct18
2011 Written by Beth Buczynski

Slow Money and Occupy Wall Street The Occupy Wall Street movement turned one month old yesterday. Despite the exponential growth of this international protest, there are some who still say that the action is doomed because it doesn’t have a leader or a succinct list of demands.

Personally, I love the fact that #OWS has resisted pressure from the media and political critics, and allowed the movement to remain as inclusive as possible. What’s most important right now is that Occupy Wall Street participants continue spreading the word and the message of the 99% in all its forms. Over the weekend there were 1,500 protests in 82 countries, but the numbers need to be bigger–especially in the United States–if the Government and the 1% are going to start taking the movement seriously.

Assuming that protests continue growing both in size and number, there will come a time when they will take the movement seriously. And in that moment, Occupy Wall Street better be ready to clearly articulate what it wants–from the Man and from itself.

I don’t presume to know what’s best for the thousands of disenfranchised people now sleeping in parks and plazas all around the country (or the millions that wish they could join them), but in researching principles of the Slow Money Movement, I found ideas that definitely overlap.

Basically, the Slow Money Alliance is an organization for those who are tired of watching banks invest millions of tax-payer dollars into companies and politicians that work for profit rather than “We the People.” Sounds familiar, right?

Slow Money focuses a lot on investing money into sustainable food systems and communities, which has become a common rallying cry in the Occupy Wall Street rhetoric lately.

Here are some more Slow Money principles that I think might serve well as a framework for creating a workable, practical list of goals for Occupy Wall Street:

I. We must bring money back down to earth. 

II. There is such a thing as money that is too fast, companies that are too big, finance that is too complex. Therefore, we must slow our money down — not all of it, of course, but enough to matter. 

III. The 20th Century was the era of Buy Low/Sell High and Wealth Now/Philanthropy Later—what one venture capitalist called “the largest legal accumulation of wealth in history.” The 21st Century will be the era of nurture capital, built around principles of carrying capacity, care of the commons, sense of place and non-violence. 

V. Let us celebrate the new generation of entrepreneurs, consumers and investors who are showing the way from Making A Killing to Making a Living. 

Occupy Austin

The best thing about incorporating Slow Money principles into the Occupy Wall Street list of demands is that it provides a way for those with disposable income to get involved and catalyze change. Occupy Wall Street is more inclusive than you might think, but other than carrying a sign that says “Tax Me” and donating to progressive causes, it can be hard for the upper classes to see how they can get involved.

One of the main missions of Slow Money is connecting  slow food entrepreneurs and investors from across the country, as well as incubating intermediaries and investment products offer ways for investors to begin slowing their money down.

What do you think?

Do the principles of Slow Money and Occupy Wall Street align? How can these two movements work together to bring about food and financial systems that are people-centered?

Share your ideas in a comment!

 

 

Image Credit: Snail on Money via Shutterstock


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Labor Leaders Endorse ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Movement

Sep29
2011 Written by Beth Buczynski

Power to the People

Under attack from politicians who view their right to collective bargaining as a threat to the corporate system,  five major unions and worker groups — the American Postal Workers Union, National Association of Letter Carriers, National Postal Mailhandlers Union, the National Rural Letter Carriers Association and the National Association of Postal Supervisors — recently organized rallies in every congressional district to show their disapproval of proposed Republican cuts to the US Postal Service.

Challenging mainstream critics who say the action is nothing more than a gathering of freaks and anarchists, New Yorkers demonstrating with Occupy Wall Street joined the postal workers marching from Liberty Plaza to Varick St. to show their continued support for victims of the recession.

Today, unions began to return the favor.

This morning, OpEdNews reported that the Transit Workers Union, representing over 200,000 members in 22 states is now supporting Occupy Wall Street.

Jim Gannon spokesperson for the TWU says, “Yes, our Executive Board endorsed it, but we haven’t [made] any official statements on it, and only individual members have spent time there so far.”

Tweets and other messages from TWU members in NYC indicate that the union plans on joining the Closing Bell March at 4:00 on Friday, October 1st.

The Occupy Wall Street movement has also shown its support of 43 union art handlers, members of Teamsters Local 814, who were told by Sotheby’s that “all new hires have no collective bargaining rights, no health benefits, and no job security.” Sotheby’s made $690 million in gross profit last year, but is apparently opposed to the idea of paying art handlers a working wage.

Engaging disenfranchised workers is a key move for the Occupy Wall Street movement, which has now expanded to over 50 cities across the U.S. and multiple continents. The American Dream promised that we if we worked hard, dignity and comfort were ours to claim.

But the reality is that corporations have bought and sold the American Dream in exchange for outrageous profits and political amnesty for their acts of violence against society and the environment. You don’t have to be a socialist to be pissed off. And slowly but surely, middle class America is realizing that this is their revolution too.

Image Credit: Flickr – edenpictures

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9/11 And The U.S. Economy: Why Collaborative Consumption Is The Key To Recovery

Sep11
2011 Written by Beth Buczynski

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of one of the most unexpected events in American history: a series of four coordinated suicide attacks upon the United States in New York City and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001.

Regardless of who you believe was responsible for these attacks or the war they inspired, it’s certain that they forever altered the trajectory of this country.

This morning, DailyFinance.com published an article focused specifically on the way the economy changed since 9/11.

“The terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 were only one element of what shaped the last 10 years, but those traumatic events magnified and accelerated underlying trends already in motion in the U.S. economy, such as the shift from manufacturing to services, the move away from small businesses to big ones, and the opaque power of bubbles,” writes Catherine New.

These changes set the stage for the economic downturn that would spark the current recession. A recession that has caused the American people to reevaluate the transfers of power that happened behind the scenes while the country mourned 9/11 victims and retaliated against its perceived enemies.

It is this reevaluation and the sharing economy that it inspired that should give us hope as we look back over the past 10 years.

“In 2001, we had runaway wealth with house values expanding and 401(k)s growing, and we felt justified not saving as much, and we were still accumulating wealth. We were in an optimistic place and spending, and we were happy. But with the bubbles bursting, both the debt bubble and housing bubble, we are now having negative wealth effects. Americans are feeling poorer, and now that wealth has run away, we are not as optimistic.” said Eric Malm, professor of economics, at Cabrini College.

While I won’t deny that poverty now claims more Americans than ever, I disagree with Malm’s statement that the poor have done nothing but accept their gloomy fate.

Around the country, those who are cash poor are rediscovering what it means to be wealthy in other ways. People now know what it means to rely on their community when times are tough. Families are starting to realize that happiness isn’t decided by the car in the driveway or the lushness of their lawn. Instead, they’re opting to share their cars, or get rid of them altogether in favor of walking or biking. Lawns are being turned into gardens, with the harvest shared among all those who help to grow the food. Tool sharing libraries and online services that let us share clothes, money, and media are more popular now than ever.

A 2010 article on CNN.com reported that “research has shown that experiences bring people more happiness than material possessions. That’s because we become accustomed to objects – after a few weeks or months, that shiny new car is just a means of getting around – but remembering activities can give us pleasure indefinitely.”

The continued success of skillshares and travel sharing websites proves this point, allowing people to connect with perfect strangers while learning a new skill or exploring a new place.

What 9/11 ultimately taught us is that our fate doesn’t rise and fall with the stock market. We are stronger than Wall Street, and more resilient than the biggest bank. We are the country’s biggest asset, especially when we collaborate instead of compete.

We learned that even if the U.S. monetary system collapses, sharing what we have and what we know can save us. And at a time when most spend their lives scraping and bowing in front of the almighty dollar, that’s inspiring news indeed.

Top image credit: Flickr – Peter J Bellis

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Urban Agriculture Revives Struggling Communities

Sep04
2011 Written by Important Media Cross-Post



Top Image Credit: Flickr – starbucks88

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What can we learn from Japan

Jun05
2010 Written by Guillaume Lebleu

A friend of mine sent me this 2008 video of Richard Koo from Nomura Research Institute in which he presents his theory of “balance sheet recessions”. Mr Koo has been consistent with this message, with his presentation appearing in 2009 and 2010, and consistency is something I respect.

Summary

Mr Koo makes the case that in the type of crisis we are in – one in which the private sector is not willing to borrow and are actually paying down their debt – monetary policy is pretty much useless. The only effective tool are sustained public stimulus over a long period of time, not a series of small or big ones as we come out and come back in recession. He argues that there is no need to worry about inflation and higher interest rate, even with increasing fiscal spending, the reason being that banks will be happier to lend the money to the government and earn interest, than not lend money at all i.e. destroying money.

My opinion

I agree with Mr. Koo on his analysis of balance sheet recessions. But I think there are important cultural and political parameters for his solution to be viable in each geography (US, Europe, Asia):

  1. Debts must be repayable (including the government’s). If we are in a generalized Ponzi territory where we borrow to pay interest, hoping for assets to increase in value faster than debt, then it’s game over. Let’s assume they are.
  2. Economic agents must convincingly show they are doing their best to pay back their debt (and not hope that somehow they will be able to have someone pay for them). If they don’t, creditors will look for the exit and grab what they can before their promises become worthless.
  3. Savers must trust the public funds allocation process. This is probably the most important and challenging part and we must be creative about this. Good options to research IMHO to re-build trust that saved money lent to the Government will not be wasted: participatory budgeting or direct lending from Government to savers with specific projects people can invest in.

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