report of ECONOMY Module - Divergences by Ileana Apostol
1. August 29, 2014
Vis, Croatia
Ileana Apostol
2020 GREEN ACADEMY
ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY
ECONOMY WORK MODULE
2. Presentation Summary
• Working Process in the Economy Module
• Divergences on:
• Green Agricultural Policy
• Green Energy Policy
• Green Financial Policy
• Green Industrial Policy
• What is Next for Economic Policy and the Commons? ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY
3. Working Process
ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY
Devise green economy policies, inspired by instantiations of praxis within an understanding of the commons as process Two organizing principles of the content inquiry: – Economy as a tool for ecological transformation – Economic democracy as ultimate goal in operating the green economy The work was distributed within four topics and tackled through two debate groups for each topic, based on the above principles The group participants identified points of convergence and of divergence…
4. The Role of the State?
ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY
Should the strategic plan on agriculture be imposed by the state?
Is it possible to stimulate greening the finance through state intervention?
What would be the role of the state in structuring the industrial strategy?
5. Future(s) of large corporations? ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY How to transform the big agricultural corporations and large industrial companies? Shall the energy intensive industries (like aluminium, copper, steel using lots of subisidised energy) be shut down or left or re- oriented to different production?
7. Greening the Finance
ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY
How to control corruption through transparency? Should private information on citizens’ incomes and property be publicly disclosed?
What should be the ratio of minimum to maximum salary?
Should donations from companies to political parties be banned and established a cap on private citizens?
Should the "revolving doors" effect be banned? Should moratoriums for public servants becoming CEOs exist?
8. Alternative Financing ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY Are conventional banks viable alternatives in financing green initiatives? Is micro-crediting a good option for sustainable business?
10. Green Agriculture
ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY
What are the steps towards conversion to organic farming, how fast it should be?
What are the triggers for farmers to convert to organic farming?
Is it possible to make trade balance fairer under liberal market conditions?
How to balance the tension between the costs of organic farming (usually higher if externalities are not taken into account) and affordability of organic products to all consumers?
11. Democratization of Agriculture ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY Within a more democratic green agriculture, what should be the power structure, the rights to access, to organize and to own / held in common etc?
13. Greening the Energy
ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY
How to stimulate greening the energy and what would be an ideal energy mix in the Western Balkans?
14. Democratization of Energy ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY Whether privatisation of the big energy companies or liberalisation of the energy market is optimal for democratization? If energy production should be separated from distribution in terms of ownership?
16. Greening the Industry
ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY
Is the anti-capitalist agenda needed in structural changes within the ecological transformation? Is the green revolution incompatible with the capitalist agenda?
Are there solutions to internalize the environmental costs in the market based society?
Is privatization a solution for ecological transformation?
Is prosperity without growth possible?
Are the electric cars a solution?
17. Democratization of Industry ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY If an ecosystem is more suitable than only clustering the industrial cooperatives, is it to be adopted for an entire lifespan (i.e. from kindergarten to retreat) or exposure to a diverse system? Although controlled at the local level, what happens with the overseas environmental impact? What international regulation (e.g. labor, environment) would be needed?
18. What is Next?
The Sumerian Shekel (3000 BC) The Legal Code of Hammurabi (1728-1686 BC)
ECONOMY@GREEN ACADEMY
… Convergences