Sustainability Principles Online Dialogue

Michael,

The underlying premise is good, but I feel that the term "accounting framework" is quite vauge. I'm not sure if you that is a short hand for absolutely all of the metrics used in the economy (including its monetary system), or if you that is meant to reflect standard accounting principles, i.e. the current form companies report their books with balance sheets etc.

If the former, well then I agree, but it's too vauge, if the latter, then I think the underlying principle is not sufficiently defined.

In my opinion, it will never be possible to attain sustainability without a fundamental change in the monetary system that underlies our economy. Our current money system doesn't have the requsite variety necessary to control the system which is the economy. A simple and obvious example of this is that the Fed raises and lowers interest rates to try and match the money supply for the overall economy depending on how "hot" or "slow" it is, but these actions often hurt local regions whose economies are not in sync with the national economy. Jane Jacobs explains this dynamic quite clearly in her book, the Cities and The Wealth of Nations.

Michael,

I think the premise for the economic domain is basically correct. I also think that the concept of 'closed loop sytems', although mentioned in the material domain, needs to be woven back into the economic domain both in the premise and the operational implications.

The premise could mention that the earth is a closed system and that our current economic perspective operates as if we have unlimited resources despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

The operational implications could identify the need to transition from living off our savings account ( fossil fuels and ancient aquafers etc.) to living off our income account.

do you think the premise is correct? does it make sense to you?