The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy

The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy by Nick Romeo

I read this after reading a book analyzing the root cause of "Trumpies" and can't help but feel this author has missed something important. He proposes to build a just economy. He identifies the faults with the current system and provides examples of alternatives that incorporate "true cost" and allow for better income distribution. However, he misses the challenge of true scalability and individual needs. He also is keen on some of the current "big" solutions to areas that should not require them. (What is the purpose of a union in a worker-owned cooperative? Now you have a third party to negotiate a contract between the workers and ... the workers.)

There are many great ideas. Guaranteed jobs provide a much greater sense of purpose than unemployment checks. However, how do you make sure these are good jobs? "make-work" could also be disheartening. The other has an example of a publicly-run gig-work program. This sounds like a nice way to reduce the fees from the platform provider. However, the only reason we are talking about this is because companies like Uber saw the opportunity and rammed themselves into the market. Without the venture capitalists and the innovative rule breakers there would be no need for the other system. The greed is a motivating factor for the innovations. Though the question remains - is it worth it?

Cost of living is high today. We also have many amenities. The book covers many "living wage" calculators and talks about companies paying workers fair wages. How much could this extend? It is nice that house cleaners can be well paid. However, one needs to be wealthy to afford the well paid house cleaner. Is this an economy that could be supported in an egalitarian society? Are there other underlying problems in society that need to be resolved? Do people need and want too much? Why do we spend so much in transportation costs? Why do we have so much entertainment?

Is concentration the big problem? We have companies with trillion dollar valuations that have concentrated great wealth and power. Billionaires have vast fortunes. Unions have millions of members. A few large countries have centralized power over hundreds of millions. Moving power from any of these centralized sources to another is merely shuffling around. They all leave personal autonomy far down in the system.

Do we want a just system with fair wages paid towards all? We may complain that a sports star earns millions while a teacher barely scrapes by, but would we be willing to pay the same for three hours of class that we would for a football game?