Logo degrowth

Blog

Five Proposals for the U.S. Economy

By: Giorgos Kallis

31.10.2016

We at Research & Degrowth are repeatedly being told that our framing won't work. That we are preaching to the choir by the way we frame our proposals, and that we will never convince the broader public. So, here are our policy proposals re-framed in the language of the U.S. elections.

Dedicated to all you framing aficionados out there.

 
  1. Oil-funded tax breaks

Abolish all income tax on incomes lower than $50,000 dollars per year. Finance this tax break by establishing a sovereign carbon fund financed by charges to the oil, coal and natural gas industry and by a carbon fee on trade imports.

  1. Jobs for all, fun for all

Make Friday a day off that we can dedicate to our families, friends and communities. Do not reduce salaries: same pay for four days of work. President Roosevelt did it during the Great Depression. This alone can create 10 million new jobs.

  1. Zero bank debt

No bank should lend more than its deposits. Banks cannot be allowed to create money out of thin air, while all the rest of us have to work hard just to get by.

  1. Freedom Income

Each and everyone should have the freedom to choose how to live their lives free from illness, hunger or fear. Establish a permanent freedom income of $800 per month, for every American. Pay for the income like Alaska did with a sovereign carbon fund. If this is not enough, finance it with a sovereign capital fund, funded by a progressive fee on excessive capital.

  1. Use it or lose it

Hard-working Americans should have the right to inhabit housing assets that are left unused for more than one year for the purpose of speculation.

For the original 10 degrowth proposals, see https://theleapblog.org/yes-we-can-prosper-without-growth-10-policy-proposals-for-the-new-left/

About the author

Giorgos Kallis

Giorgos Kallis is an ecological economist and political ecologist working on environmental justice and limits to growth. He has a Bachelors degree in chemistry and a Masters in environmental engineering from Imperial College, a PhD in environmental policy from the University of the Aegean, and a second Masters in economics from the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics. He is an ICREA professor since 2010. Before coming to Barcelona, Giorgos was a Marie Curie International Fellow at the Energy and Resources group at the University of California-Berkeley.

More from this author

Share on the corporate technosphere


Our republication policy

Support us

Blog

Save the Date: 04.- 08. Oktober 2017: Digitalisierung für eine sozial-ökologische Gesellschaft?

V%c3%96w

Vom 04.-08. Oktober 2017 organisieren die Zeitpioniere innerhalb der Vereinigung für ökologische Wirtschaftsforschung (VÖW) gemeinsam mit der Forschungsgruppe „Digitalisierung und sozial-ökologische Transformation" die VÖW-Herbstakademie „Digitalisierung im Grünen" auf der Insel Schwanenwerder bei Berlin. Chancen und Risiken der Digitalisierung für eine sozial-ökologische Gesellschaft Die z...

Blog

Capitalism and (De)Growth

By: Susan Paulson

What is capitalism? A kind of state? An institution? Some values? A power structure? Ideology? A Culture? What governs capitalism? Supply and demand Invisible hand Enclosure of land The drive to expand Market mechanism Class schism Racism The moral virtue of productivism. Innovation! Invest! Impress! Progress! Entrepreneurial quest for Technological success in Pursuit ...

Blog

Europas Schande: Der EU-Türkei-Pakt und die Abschottung Europas

Refugee camp 1

By: Fabian Scheidler

Endlich habe die EU wieder Stärke und Einigkeit gezeigt, endlich sei sie wieder in der Lage, ihre Außengrenzen zu sichern, so die offiziellen Verlautbarungen nach dem Deal mit dem türkischen Präsidenten Erdogan im März. Doch die „Schließung der Balkanroute“ und der Pakt mit der Türkei sind tatsächlich eine Schande für Europa. Es ist ein Triumph der Zyniker, ein Kniefall vor den Rassisten in der...