The working world is in a complete transformation. The processing factors are known. And the digital is a part of the problems : - digital technologies transform the nature of any jobs that humans still do : jobs use computer more often, they are more abstract, and more mobile. - Relationships and time are porous, and this porosity is all consuming. - and recent studies have shown that robotics and smart systems will continue to destroy creative, service-related and skilled occupations. Why are the transitions not easy ? This document presents 3 alternative models for work and employment organisation, work distribution and redistribution.

2. 19
WORK
We no longer need
cashiers, and soon
we will have no need
for truck drivers -
or most technicians,
engineers, etc.
What is in
the process of
happening, is the
disappearance
of employment.
Bernard Stiegler, from an
interview with Rue89.com
(27 | 06 | 201)
FIVE
POWERFUL
IDEAS
1
Digital technology carries
within it the potential to profoundly
­transform the way we work;
these transformations will shape
tomorrow's society.
2
The productive organisations of
tomorrow will be characterised by
their massive use of data and auto-
mation, project-based operations,
the permeability of professional
boundaries, and continual organisa-
tional reconfiguration.
3
Tomorrow’s educated, networked
individuals will expect their
professional experience to contri-
bute to their personal development
and their emancipation.
4
Openness and cooperation
will give rise to new types
of business organisation.
5
Digital technology, as a measure-
ment tool, will underpin new kinds
of activity and remuneration.

3. 20
IN EUROPE, THE DECLINE OF UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HAS
COME TO A GRINDING HALT. IN FRANCE – AND MANY
OTHER COUNTRIES – SENIOR CITIZENS ARE BEING FOR-
CED INTO EARLY RETIREMENT, WHILE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE
TAKING AN AVERAGE OF 5-10 YEARS TO FIND A "REAL"
JOB.
Research has shown that robotics and smart systems will continue to destroy creative,
service-related and skilled occupations, in addition to transforming the nature of any
jobs that humans still do.
These changes are only the beginning.We must radically revise our notions of work, employ-
ment and businesses for four key reasons:
1 Value is shifting from stocks to flows, and away from products toward services
and customer support, including toward intermediation platforms that reorganise
markets around themselves;
2 Mobility (of goods, ideas, tasks and people), porosity (of time and relationships),
and rupture (of value chains) have blurred the traditional boundaries separating
organisations, jobs, communities and States;
3 Automation, even Taylorism, may potentially expand into every arena of acti-
vity, including service and design; and
4 The tools of rationalisation, control and continuous availability have awarded
individuals and groups with new capacities for organisation, self-determination and
action.
The evolution of work is the evolution of society. For although work serves to struc-
ture our access to compensation and a set of social rights, it is also a factor influen-
cing socialization and personal fulfillment.And tomorrow? Will work remain a noble
undertaking, or simply serve to fill any temporary void left by machines? How, and
where, will we find the source of our emancipation and our place in society?

4. 21
4
1
3
2
SOCIETAL POLARISATION
AND FRACTURE
--> Mass unemployment
--> Tension surrounding
income distribution
--> Tension surrounding social
protection systems
INDIVIDUALISATION OF EMPLOYMENT
RELATIONSHIPS, AND WORKING
MODE FRAGMENTATION
--> Ubiquitous working environments,
porosity of private/public spheres
--> Clouding of the production/
consumption distinction
--> The call to self-entrepreneurship
MEASUREMENT AS THE DRIVING
FORCE BEHIND TRANSFORMATION
--> New work and activity metrics
--> Human capital measurement
--> New value and wealth indicators
NEW WORKING COLLECTIVES,
NEW PRODUCTION ENTITIES
--> Open, outward-facing businesses
--> Platform economies,
the contribution of the multitude
--> New types of collective producers
TRANSITIONAL TERRITORY

5. 22
MAJOR EMPLOYMENT TRENDS
Since the end of World War II, the prevailing
economic system in Europe has rested on
three pillars: employment, consumption and
growth.Yet for the past 20 years, every OECD
member country has experienced sluggish
growth and high unemployment, indirectly
crippling health care systems and pension
financing. Even if a full-time, salaried employ-
ment model retains its dominance, this is gra-
dually being eroded by "at-will" job offerings
(e.g., fixed-term contracts; part-time, intermit-
tent work; or freelance jobs). In France, these
represented 95% of jobs created in 2013. Our
social institutions, our public employment
services and our education systems were not
conceived with such conditions in mind.
a "return to growth" will no longer suffice:
institutions, companies and individuals
must invent new types of growth
THE PROFOUND TRANSFORMATION
OF WORK
Work is becoming increasingly intangible:tasks
and actions are now almost exclusively interfaced
with screens.This de-materialisation produces
conflicting effects.On the one hand,rationalisa-
tion and automation intensify work,and produce
more rigidity and control.On the other,they
free up time for more diverse and creative tasks.
The "creative classes" have taken full advantage
of the opportunities these technologies afford;
others,less so (for now?).Work is thus carried
out in the context of a novel relationship to time
and space.Extended enterprise also produces
“networked”work collectives that straddle the
internal and the external,pushing the boundaries
of organisations and organisational charts.
New working relationships: managers on
the front lines
POWERFUL EMERGENCES
Distributed innovative capabilities
Accessible design, modelling and prototyping
tools (including Fab Labs), sales and supply
chain management streamlined by digital
technology, global networks of innovators who
no longer hesitate to "disrupt" firmly esta-
blished organisations in every sector.
Relocation of industrial production?
Computer technology has made the globali-
zation of industrial production possible; will
digital technology relocate it? Fab Labs and
3D printing are generally concerned with de-
sign rather than production; however, robotics
(which limits the relative impact of labor costs)
and the search for short or "circular" supply
chains can facilitate a kind of relocation.
New productivity models
Contributory (“commons”, e.g.,Wikipedia),
collaborative (free and open source software,
open hardware), task-based (marketplaces,
crowdsourcing), Digital Labor (public plat-
forms generating massive amounts of content,
data, maps, etc.).
New kinds of value
Digital traceability quantifies our interactions,
relationships, and contributions.This visibility
opens up the possibility for new kinds of
symbolic (reputation, impact...) and economic
(contribution measurement, alternative cur-
rencies...) valuation.
« New movements are rooted in individuals’
personal expression, but they are in no way
individualistic in the neoliberal sense. These
movements aim to develop friendships, com-
munities of shared interests, and common
or local practices whose products are placed
under freely usable or shared common sta-
tutes (according to their nature).
Such communities can develop commercial
activities or monetary pooling practices as
one means, amongst others, to ensure their
sustainability. Individuals frequently belong
to several communities, and their involve-
ment takes the form of participation, rather
than membership or affiliation. »
Philippe Aigrain, « Les actions décentralisées des
citoyens peuvent-elles régénérer la démocratie ? »,
("Can the decentralised actions of citizens
rejuvenate democracy?") Internet Actu, 2014
Digital technologies extend and make
visible work that takes place outside
­corporate boundaries
WHY THE CURRENT SITUATION IS UNTENABLE

6. 23
“DISRUPTIONS”: SOURCES OF TRANSITION
INDIVIDUALISATION AND
THE FRAGMENTATION OF WORK
Ubiqitous working environments,
­porosity of public/private spheres
Teleworking, digital nomadism, interpenetra-
tion of professional and personal time, BYOD,
“cloud personnel”, social networks...
Clouding of the production/
consumption distinction
Pro-ams, micro-service providers (Taskrabbit),
entrepreneurship, open source, digital labor
that is free or almost free (post a video, make
a comment on an article, cultivate a social
network...).
The call to become an entrepreneur
of oneself
Pluri-activity (multiple part-time jobs,
collaborative economy, entrepreneurship),
portability of rights, personal responsibility for
“employability”, valorisation of extra-profes-
sional pursuits, professional communities, etc.
« It is often said that if you do not pay, you
are the product. It seems, rather, that if you
do not pay, then you are the worker, the
employee of the service. »
Antonio Casilli, Lift France conference, 2014
NEW WORKING COLLECTIVES,
NEW PRODUCTION ENTITIES
Businesses opening outward
Networked, open, agile, lean, extended enter-
prise;“ecosystems”, alliances, clusters...
Platform economies, contribution of the
multitude
User-generated content; platforms for sharing
and exchange; collaborative services (e.g.,
Waze traffic and navigation app);“subcontrac-
ting” from within company ecosystems (apps,
peripherals, etc.).
New kinds of productive collectives
Informal collectives (free and open source
software, mapping,Wikipedia, open hardware,
etc.), or project-oriented collectives (automo-
tive:Wikispeed; sensors: Sensori.ca); shared,
collaborative workspaces (Fab Labs, coworking
spaces, etc.).
« The main dimension of the digital ­revolution
is the power now at work outside organizations:
the power of educated, equipped, connected
people, the power of what we call the multitude.
Because it is exterior to organisations, this power
escapes them. Because organisations must learn
to harness this power, they will have to learn
to formulate new strategies, and face up to the
radical consequences that these produce. »
Nicoles Colin, Henri Verdier, L’âge de
la multitude, 2012
SOCIETAL POLARISATION AND
FRACTURE
Massive unemployment
Automation, robotising, productivity gains,
increased life expectancy, the end of growth,
worldwide competition created by low cost
labour, pressure created by digital labor and
crowdsourcing platforms.
Tension surrounding income
distribution
Mounting inequality of income and asset
disribution, tensions among workers about
status, location, etc.
Tension surrounding social welfare
­systems
The “scissor effect” occurring between increa-
sing expenditures and decreasing revenue,
benefit reductions, the “working poor”, the
myriad of special cases, competition between
private and solidarity-based contributions, etc.
« Capital domination strategy aims to pre-
vent the birth of other activities, and to lead
people to assume that paid work, work-as-
commodity, and work-as-employment are
essential to their careers and their personal
development. In reality, defending the work-
as-employment paradigm while there is
less and less to be had, while the concept
becomes more and more fractured, while jobs
become more and more precarious, and there
is more and more over-exploitation and less
safety...is a strategy of domination. »
André Gorz, from an interview on
France Culture radio, 2005

7. 24
With business entre-
preneurship as the
reference model, each
individual becomes
responsible for his or
her own professional
development and ca-
reer-building, contract
by contract, project by
project. The individual
becomes the source of
his or her own employ-
ment (always) and that
of others (sometimes).
In return, social sys-
tems support these
self-entrepreneurs
in times of risk and
failure, and promote
lifelong learning.
"We are going toward
becoming a freelance
nation," says Mr. Gane-
san. "The $40-an-hour
manufacturing job is not
going to come back," he
adds, "but the $25 local
services job" represents a
viable alternative. Venky
Ganesan, venture capitalist,
in the Wall Street Journal,
2015
MEASUREMENT AS THE DRIVING
FORCE BEHIND TRANSFORMATION
New performance and activity metrics
The Quantified Self, People Analytics, smart
bracelets that lower insurance premiums, peer
contribution measurement metrics (OpenValue
Network de Sensori.ca), etc.
« Important as these intangible assets are,
the official GDP ignores them. User-generated
content, for example, involves unmeasured
labor creating an unmeasured asset that
is consumed in unmeasured ways to create
unmeasured consumer surplus. »
Erik Brynjolfsson et Andrew McAfee,
The Second Machine Age, 2014
Human capital measurement
Value-enhancement from peers (LinkedIn
endorsements, Mozilla Open Badge), from
referral networks (Pay with a tweet), from
influence and reputation (Klout), etc.
New value indicators, new distributions
of wealth
Negative externalitiy measurement (pollution,
etc.) and positive externality measurement
(pollination); the Human Development Index
(HDI); complementary currencies quan-
tify exchanges according to various criteria;
monetary or non-monetary recognition for
acts of solidarity or contributory activities.
« The Internet consists of a multitude
of platforms that each of us pollinates.
By exchanging and producing all kinds
of information, we have created a massive
"continent of externalities". The result: inter-
personal interaction has assumed gargan-
tuan proportions (...). We are going to enter
an era of metadata, and discover the
richness of our interactions.. »
Yann Moulier Boutang, from an interview
for Usbek and Rica, 2014
INDIVIDUALS ENTREPRENEURS;
(NEW) SOLIDARITY SYSTEMS
EVERYONE AN
ENTREPRENEUR

8. 25
These "models" exist today as a matter of public
debate, and are supported by actors who suggest
they are desirable, or conversely, submit them as
anti-models best avoided.
SEVERAL “READY-
MADE” MODELS
Faced with short
term-minded financial
capitalism, companies
have opted for employee
and/or user sharehol-
ding. Power is exercised
democratically: one per-
son, one vote. Profits are
reinvested. Work organi-
zation favors dialogue,
equity and employee
empowerment.
Such a model could
attract businesses or
start-ups, that seek
employee engagement
and new forms of value-
creation.
The French "intermit-
tent artist" benefits
scheme facilitates
artists’ rapid alterna-
tion between periods
of employment and
unemployment by
subsidising free time
when a minimum quo-
ta of hours has been
reached. Its extension
beyond the enter-
tainment industry
could simultaneously
streamline the labor
market, fund further
training and creative
development during
downtime, change per-
ceptions of "job secu-
rity", validate a wider
variety of professional
activities, etc.
Basic Income intends
to fight against poverty
and inequality by allo-
cating income uncondi-
tionally to all citizens,
from birth to death,
without means test or
assessment. It makes
income, rather than
work, the essential
ingredient to leading a
"dignified life". Accor-
ding to a variety of
sources and countries,
this income - combined
with any other - can
range from EUR450 to
EUR2500 per month.
Several cities in Alaska,
Namibia and Canada
have already experi-
mented with it.
The Cheque Dejeuner
Group in numbers:
51% employee-owned
#3 worldwide in prepaid
check and cards market
present in 15 countries
1 to 8 wage gap
training budget
4.3 times the legal
requirement
35 hour work-week, in
effect since 1986
2.4% absenteeism rate
Source : Les Échos, 2012
"Whatever the wealth
of our country, we will
not end misery as long
as we have not mental-
ly dissociated the pro-
duction process (where
economic liberalism
excels at optimizing
work productivity) and
income distribution
processes (where mar-
ket dynamics naturally
lead to accumulation
for some and lack for
others)."
Marc de Basquiat in
Kaizen, 2013
"It is the mutual reco-
gnition of value, and a
reinvented public power
granted to what Amartya
Sen calls "capability"
which form the founda-
tion of a contributory
economy. In fact, it is a
scaling up of the enter-
tainment industry’s
benefits scheme for
artists, who cultivate
their know-how with this
intermittent income that
serves to enhance the
value of their produc-
tions, that runs the risk
of being destroyed at a
time when such an intel-
ligent attitude ought to
become the norm."
Bernard Stiegler, in an
interview for Rue89, 2014
THE STATE, SOCIAL
ORGANIZATIONS, PROJECT
RESEARCH SERVICES
EMPLOYEE-SHAREHOLDERS,
STAKEHOLDERS IN THEIR
BUSINESS STRATEGY
THE STATE,
SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
PRINCIPAL
ACTORS
EVERYONEACOOPERATIVE-UNIVERSALBASICINCOME
SHAREHOLDER
GUARANTEE
EVERYONEACOOPERATIVE-
SHAREHOLDER

9. 26
KEY ACTORS
--> the guilds that replace unions, recruitment agencies
and insurers.
--> the social networks that not only facilitate exchange
within a guild, but also serve to support the autonomy
and mobility of each member.
--> the State, which maintains equality among the guilds
and acts as their regulator.
SHIFT 1
Faced with the impossibility of landing
a job using conventional methods,
a group of "at-will" employees forms
a guild to share workloads and provide
mutual support. The initiative rapidly
gives rise to the emergence of similar
organisations.
SHIFT 2
Graphic designers forced into unbridled
competition by the marketplace create
a corporatist community, with the
intention of defending community rights
against platforms and clients, develo-
ping solidarity among professionals and
enhancing the value of their offering.
TRANSITION SCENARIO
THE ASSET GUILD
Work and employment manage-
ment are dissociated, and form two
separate, complimentary activities:
businesses become centres of purely
economic activity, while newly-
baptised “guilds” handle human
resources. Employee guilds are orga-
nised according to profession (some-
times internationally) or by territory
(especially the less qualified workers).
In addition to job placement, guilds
manage employee training, wages
and salaries, and social welfare. Even
though they must compete with
one another to land contracts, guilds
offer the distinct advantage of being
able to guarantee reasonable, stable
incomes, a safety net in case of hard
times, a framework for ongoing
professional development, and even a
sense of community.
The State acts as guild regulator and
re-insurer. It maintains equality (pro-
bably with some difficulty) between
the richer guilds and others, and en-
sures that no guild abuses its power
over companies (talent blackmail) or
individuals (racketeering).
Guild selection, internal develop-
ment and preserving a certain level
of autonomy from the guild become
important issues impacting the pro-
fessional development of every guild
member; social networking plays an
invaluable role in this regard.

10. THE ROLE PLAYED BY DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGIES
--> Online social media platforms are at the heart
of guild development.
--> Digital tech promotes multi-modal pluri-activity,
and contributes to the dissociation of human capital
development from employment.
--> It facilitates access to continuing education
and peer training.
CONTROVERSIES
--> The return of the corporation? Guilds stifle
innovation, professional development
and personal initiative.
--> The end of solidarity? Guilds protect their own,
and care very little about the success of other guilds.
--> Unmanageable businesses? Management finds
it difficult to organise teams composed of different
guilds, or of members not necessarily recruited
by them directly.
PHASE 1
Guilds are attacked by the organi­
zations they destabilize: employment
service providers, temporary employ-
ment agencies, training organisations,
social and mutual insurers...
The corporatist, mafia-style practices
of certain guilds are singled out.
PHASE 2
Professional corporations
and ­local guilds meet to define
working rules and best practices.
Guilds model their practices
after collaborative consumption
networks and social network
­operators, in order to profes­
sionalise their services.
BURGEONING
(OFFICIAL)
RECOGNITION
A region entrusts its
local guild with the task
of retraining employees
from an industrial area in
crisis. The guild assumes
a more professional
character, and directly
competes with local
unemployment offices
and some insurers.
An increasing number
of independent and
unemployed workers join
guilds. The more mature
among them wonder
about the need
to split along territorial
or ­professional lines.
DENOUEMENT
Guilds manage
to ­supplant unions,
­insurers and most
­employment services
(including public
ones).
The State ­recognizes
their importance, and
acts as their regulator,
in addition to ensuring
a minimum level of
solidarity among
them. It enforces guild
­compliance with a code
of conduct and their
use of service reposi­
tories, and compels
them to safeguard
their members’ right
to change guild (or
not join any of them).
However, it’s getting
harder and harder
to find work that
doesn’t come through
a guild...
27

11. 28
KEY ACTORS
--> Exchange platforms, alternative currencies, commons
creators and administrators, etc.
--> The non-profit sector, the social and solidarity economy.
--> Personal and urban services providers, who will need
to update their business models to include contributive
­practices.
SHIFT 1
Social systems fail to cope with
needs, and reduce benefits.
Those most fragile (the disad-
vantaged, unemployed persons
and pensioners) increasingly
resort to ­systems of solidarity and
exchange that they work out on
the spot (a.k.a. "System D").
ONE ECONOMY,
OR TWO?
The expansion of this
"non-market" economy
appears menacing.
­Economists express
concerns related to the
GDP and the survival of
social welfare systems.
Unions denounce the
movement as an attack on
the wage model. Distribu-
tion companies, personal
services providers, etc. see
it as unfair competition.
But do we really have the
means to do otherwise?
SHIFT 2
The "commons" movement extends beyond
the digital to include habitats, energy
provision, etc. The social and solidarity
economy embraces it, in addition to adop-
ting "collaborative consumption" practices
(e.g., sharing of goods and tools, horizontal
exchange). Intrinsically collaborative plat-
forms gain traction: alternative currencies,
online marketplaces, etc.
TRANSITION SCENARIO
A CONTRIBUTIVE SOCIETY
Between the market sector on
the one hand and the lifeless public
sector on the other lies an increasin-
gly large space occupied by a "third
sector", called the "economy of
contribution".
This economy is composed of two
highly complementary attributes:
1 Horizontal sharing and exchange
of unused goods, services or (human)
resources (time, space, tools, vehicles)
monetised using a variety of accoun-
ting units, including alternative
currencies.
2 Production and maintenance of
“commons” that can be immaterial
(databases, scientific research findings,
software, maps...) or material (shared
energies, resources and spaces).
Contributive activities become
natural and recognised components
in the professional lives of the majo-
rity of individuals.The contributive
economy is entrusted with facilities
and utilities management responsi­
bilities to varying degrees, depending
on the territory.

12. THE ROLE PLAYED BY DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGIES
--> Digital technology enables a flexible,
­decentralised coordination of individual initiatives
and interventions; and the confluence of needs
with proposals, and projects with energies.
--> It plays a major role in increasing the visibility
of the such activities, and in their evaluation
and measurement.
--> It is the medium used for "commons"
production and collective management.
CONTROVERSIES
--> Sharing shortage? The model would have us
abandon any ambition or concrete objectives
of growth.
--> A society of amateurs? The reign of the collective
would also be the reign of mediocrity.
--> A closed society of networks and communities?
--> A mask for State disengagement and
­widespread, systematic privatisation?
THE STATE HOLDS IT
ALL TOGETHER
State and local authorities
­support non-market activities,
and organize their relation-
ship with the market economy.
The authorities ensure that
alternative currency conversion
standards are met, set aside
"cooperative" spaces in malls
and vice versa, and oversee
accreditation of collaborative
activities.
Social and solidarity organi-
sations play a bridging role
between the two economies.
THE GIANTS
REVOLT
Faced with increasingly
influential local and
community platforms,
global giants ramp up
their persuasive argu-
ments: free ­services,
global reach, an ever
widening range of
­proposals for activity
and employment...
The market segments.
Those who consi-
der their career to
be an international
adventure prefer the
big ­platforms. The
rest decide to become
­members of local
platforms. Alliances
between global giants
and local collectives
become more and
more frequent.
OUT OF CRISIS, GROWTH
Aware of the stakes, communities
devise ways for the non-profit nature
of their activities to peacefully coexist
with the concrete ability to measure
their indirect contributions to the eco-
nomy, the environment and the fabric
of social cohesion.
Local authorities, financial institutions
and social rating agencies adopt contri-
butive practices. Non-market activity
is recognised as a requisite, qualifying
component of work experience
29

13. 30
KEY ACTORS
--> Financial establishments who assist clients’ allocation
management.
--> Training and continuing education providers, who train
"self-capitalists" and follow career trajectories.
--> Project financing platforms, which become the cornerstones
of the economy.
THE SHIF
The next global financial crisis
looms as a result of aggressive
lending to students. Governments
prevent it: this time, they no
longer save the banks. A Chinese
bank takes the lead: rather than
lend to students, it opts to invest
in their lifetime value.
Other banks follow suit, all over
the world.
LOANS ONLY FOR
THE FUTURE RICH?
The market for student loans dries up,
despite the rising cost of higher educa-
tion throughout the world. Only the best
students are awarded "student invest-
ments" that are often underwritten by
a pool of large companies. The students
are concerned: should they commit
to working for these companies?
TRANSITION SCENARIO
PERSONAL CAPITAL
Upon reaching the legal age of
­adulthood, every individual receives
an identical initial endowment -
a "basic income" - to be freely uti-
lised during his or her working years.
It can be spent on training and
continuing education, used as an
investment in a business or cultural
project, or even allocated to oneself
monthly, as a stipend. Discreet
­monitoring and incentive mecha-
nisms discourage speculative use
of capital, and ensure that it is not
squandered early on.
At the same time, the estate tax
is strongly revalued: the endowment
is intended to redistribute power,
­allowing people to develop their
own future and work as they wish.
People literally become “entrepre-
neurs of the self”: they personally
and actively determine their way of
life, and the kinds of skills and pro-
jects they want to invest (themselves)
in. Education and continuing educa-
tion include learning about personal
capital management.
Access to this windfall plays
a significant role in entrepreneurial,
associative, scientific and cultural
project creation.The goal becomes
to convince "investors" not only to
join and fund collaborative efforts,
but also to dedicate themselves
­personally to the accomplishment
of their chosen endeavour(s).

14. THE ROLE PLAYED BY DIGITAL
TECHNOLOGIES
Digital technologies are involved with:
--> basic income and career path management,
individually and collectively, throughout a person’s
life; and
--> project platform construction and management.
CONTROVERSIES
--> Economic carnage? Universal capital is certainly
the ultimate stage of commodification for some; for
others it is merely an invitation to idleness.
--> False equality? The ability to manage oneself
is very unevenly distributed; the older generations,
who do not benefit from the system, feel that they
have been sacrificed.
--> The end of solidarity? Does the system elicit
selfish drives, or, conversely, individual investment
in collective action?
BANKRUPTCIES
Many of the first "student
investments" end in bankruptcy
as funds are wiped out within
a few months.
The first beneficiaries come up
with a set of rules, which are
adopted quickly, including pro-
visions for regular coaching and
mandatory financial ­instruction,
and mechanisms for modera-
tion and regulation, etc.
DENOUEMENT(S)
Two models coexist
globally. In Asia,
North America and
most (financially)
liberal countries,
the allocation of
"universal ­capital" –
co-managed by the
State and the banks
– becomes wides-
pread, and replaces
most existing forms of
education financing
and unemployment
insurance. In Europe,
receiving the payment
is optional, is managed
by public authorities,
and coexists with more
traditional forms of
public funding. Its use
is more controlled, but
in return, safety nets in
times of hardship
are more robust.
THE TIPPING POINT
California takes the lead: in collabora-
tion with its banks, it devises a "univer-
sal capital" payment, to replace scho-
larships and loans for public university
study or continuing education. At first,
receiving the payment is optional, and
used exclusively to cover higher educa-
tion fees. Then, little by little, it is made
available to most young professionals.
The question arises: are we investing
in our youth to maximize a "return",
or helping them to invest in their own
future?
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