“Ethical Markets is happy to post a link to “Capping Capitalism“ by our esteemed Advisory Board member Mitchell J. Rabin on www.ethicalmarkets.com. We agree with all these points!
~Hazel Henderson, Editor“
Simplicity in economy can and should be a strong point
Trading is probably as old as man himself. One had freshly-good vegetable and his neighbor had good straw for a roof. You don’t want to eat straw nor do you want to have a roof made of cucumbers.
One could reasonably assume that the exchange was perceived by the two as fair by whatever measure they would employ that would satisfy both parties.
Speculative as it is, I know of no evidence that would suggest that the exchange would have been anything other than perceived as equitable. If it were, one party would hesitate, squawk, complain and the transaction would probably not be realized.
If it were to be consummated because one caved in to unreasonable terms due, say, to one of the parties’ extreme need, word would get out that one party was being unreasonable and unfair. Villages are small places, everyone knows each other, and the unreasonable party would be made known and in some way or another held to account.
This simple illustration of a kind of transaction that likely took place between hunters and gatherers, later during Biblical times and in early agrarian societies, while speculative, is likely true, because any other kind of transaction—unfair, inequitable—would not have been tolerated by the leaders or elders of a village, the families or by anyone, at least because it was not sustainable. The Old Testament devotes a good amount of time to weights and measures largely as a means of fair trade and ‘keeping the peace’. What was also being weighed and measured was the integrity, if not the very soul of the vendor.
This example also illustrates that simplicity in economy can and should be a strong point, yet tends to be minimized if not altogether overlooked. Unsavory characters gain advantage by creating complications and complexity in transactions. There is a beauty in simplicity in all areas of life, and even an elegance. There is a clarity and transparency. Look at what has happened in our world of complex transactions and the amount of deceit and fraud that takes place as a result.
Keep the economy simple! Keep it human-sized!
Another aspect of economy about which I’ve been speaking for decades is the concept of “moderate profit”. Instead of “making a killing” in business, from which people can actually die and do, earning a moderate profit should be plenty sufficient for reasonable sustenance and removes much of the stress correlated with financial tension. Continue reading