Talks
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Money, Markets and Climate Change
Where: Seventh Australian Society of Heterodox Economist Conference, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, Society of Heterodox Economists (SHE) Dates: 8th December 2008 - 9th December 2008 When: 8th December, 12pm - 1pm
Refereed paper
Climate change has been identified as "The biggest market failure the World has ever seen", (Stern 2006). This paper identifies the cost of finance as an influential element of this market failure and how it can be removed. One approach would be to use a renewable energy backed currency to build a complementary more efficient, stable and resilient financial system. The equivalent investment cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of generating electrical power from renewable sources is typically a number of times greater than that from burning carbon. This makes the financing cost of renewable electricity generation a number of times greater. However, the operating costs of most renewable electricity sources are significantly less, as the cost of fuel is eliminated and labour costs reduced. The incentive for markets to allocate resources to burning carbon rather than to invest in renewable power would be reduced if the cost of finance for renewable electricity generation was eliminated. Two approaches are considered: (i) Selective monetary policies to introduce interest free Islamic Banking and/or (ii) The introduction of kWh vouchers to pay for renewable electricity that could be used to create an alternative decentralised global currency. The resulting renewable "Energy Dollars" would create a unit of value independent of any increases in the costs of coal, oil, gas or taxes on their consumption.
LikeOptions for rebuilding the economy and the financial system
Where: Seminar presentation, Australian Working Group on Financialization (AWGF) When: 16th October 2009, 2pm - 3pm
Previously presented to the 18th Annual Meeting of the European Financial Management Association, Milan, June 24-27, 2009, 11th Conference of the Association for Heterodox Economics, Kingston University, London July 9-12th 2009, and the 21st Annual conference of The Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, Science Po, Paris, July 16-18th, 2009
Four non-exclusive options are considered for rebuilding the economy with a more efficient, equitable and resilient financial system. A common feature of three options is the introduction of cost bearing money as supported by Fisher (1933) and Keynes (1936) to help stabilise prices. Cost bearing or “Free-Money” increases the efficiency of allocating resources and can result in the generation of electricity from renewable sources becoming cheaper than burning coal. One option for issuing Free-Money is for governments to adopt a Bill like that presented to the US Congress in 1933. A second option is the private issue of “stamped scrip” that circulated in the US during the Great Depression. A third option is the issue of Free-Money redeemable into a commodity as used in Europe 1928-33. A fourth option is to reform the existing financial architecture to reduce the: (i) cost of seigniorage, (ii) interest on government debt; (iii) size of organisations considered to big to fail; (iv) tax incentives to use debt rather than equity (v) different types of risks accepted by financial institutions and (vi) ability of banks and “shadow” banks to create credit to finance derivatives many times greater than the GDP of the global economy.
Policies for worker ownership and control through the financial crisis or operations
Where: Triennial conference of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Brisbane Convention Centre, Australian Employee Ownership Association (AEOA) presentation When: 1st June 2009, 5pm - 6pm
Where: La Trobe University and the University of Tasmania, Australian Research Council workshop held at the State Library of Victoria, Melbourne When: 25th February 2009, 10am - 4pm
One of eight workshop presenters
Topic 2: What matters most in determining ethical conduct? Organisational structure or organisational culture? To what extent can audit practice address both?
Presentation contained 25 power points
How to make new towns or large urban renewal projects self-financing
Where: The Community Land Bank Model: Making communities self-financing for affordable housing, Hosted in the House of Parliament UK by Compass in conjunction with the New Economics Foundation Dates: 14th January 2009 - 14th January 2009 When: 14th January 2009, 6pm - 7pm
Co-presented with Pat Conaty "Letchworth: An example of a self-financing town" and David Rodgers "Relevancy of Community Land Banks for making eco-towns self-financing"
Community Land Banks, unlike Community Land Trusts, can allow urban development to become self-financing to eliminate not only the cost of land from housing but also the problem of government expenditure and private investment increasing the price of land for housing.
Dr. Shann Turnbull will outline how mutual land ownership in new towns, suburbs and large urban renewal projects can remove the cost of land for pioneer home owners and commercial investors. Could the Olympic site be used to show the world how public expenditure can be used to create self-financing locally governed communities with sustainable affordable housing? Dr. Turnbull’s paper on the topic is posted at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=1027864.
The new economics of ecological capitalism
Where: New Economics Foundation brown bag lunch 3 Jonathan Street, London, SE11 5NH Dates: 14th January - 14th January 2009 When: 14th January 2009, 1pm - 2pm
The economics of capitalism are determined by the rules for owning land, buildings, corporations and money and how they are controlled. The current rules are inconsistent with markets allocating resources on an efficient, equitable or sustainable basis. Instead of the present rules that allow unlimited ownership on an exclusive and static basis ecological capitalism would adopt rules that change ownerships rights over time, were inclusive and had limited life like all living things. Exploitation would be reduced as individuals would lose over time assets they did not use or contribute to their value. Efficiency and equity would be increased as the overpayment of:
(a) Corporate ownership would be distributed to stakeholders by Ownership Transfer Corporations that could be introduced with tax incentives;
(b) Property investors with the introduction of Cooperative Land Banks that capture and democratically distribute development values to community residents and;
(c) Banks and financiers who would no longer obtain profits from creating credit because ecological money would have what is in effect a negative interest rate.
To democratise control of widely shared asset ownership, an ecological form of governance is required based on networks control with a division of powers. Network governance would change the role of government to overseeing the efficacy of stakeholder regulation of the public, for profit and non profit sectors. Democracy would be enriched with a reduction in the size and cost of governments and the development of “For Benefit” organisations to create a “Fourth Sector”.
New Dimensions in Risk Management
Where: British Bankers' Association Enterprises (BBAE), 105-108 Old Broad Street, Pinners Hall. London, Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP), Academic Lecture Series Dates: 7th October 2008 - 7th October 2008 When: 7th October 2008, 6pm - 7pm
Rather than being managers of risks corporate directors can be source of risk. Managing the risks created by impetuous and strong willed CEO’s monitored by compliant and/or poorly informed directors can be the source of the most personally challenging and dangerous operating risks for conscientious directors or executives. An indirect and systemic risk management strategy is required to overcome the operating and personal risks. One such approach not commonly considered is best introduced through changes in the corporate constitution that introduces checks and balances while providing superior source of business intelligence to create operating and competitive advantages. The advantages provide a compelling incentive for shareholders to vote for changes in the corporate constitution that in addition would reduce the risk of shareholder’s interests being oppressed. The strategy is based on separating executive powers of the board from its governance powers while engagement stakeholders as co-regulators in identifying and controlling risks. These arrangements protect the reputations and personal liabilities of directors by removing perceptions of unethical conflicts of interests inherent in all UK boards while providing directors with creditable evidence that they can carry out their fiduciary duties with due care and diligence to monitor and manage business risks.
TV broadcast on reforming the theory and practice of capitalism
Where: 'Conversation’ with Harold Hudson Channer, TV Broadcast on the Manhattan Neighbourhood Network and Cable TV, When: 1st October 2008, 10am - 11am
Taped in NYC on Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The financial crisis and climate change creates the opportunity and need to rethink the relevancy and integrity of capitalism’s foundations. The rules for owning and controlling land, buildings, corporations and money define how capitalism operates.
The current rules are inefficient and inequitable in allocating resources and are inconsistent for sustaining the environment. While all intellectual property rights have limited life, those for owning land, buildings, corporations and money have no limit. This not only creates an unlevel playing field for investors but allows investors to get overpaid.
New rules of ownership are required based on ecological principles of limited life, constant change and inclusiveness to replace the current rules based on static exclusivity with unlimited life. Ownership would become dynamic so what was not used would be lost overtime to those who contributed a use value. Instead of earning interest paper money would need to be serviced with a fee to keep its value. Thousands of communities created this type of “stamped scrip” money in the Great Depression to reinvigorate their economies. A two cent stamp was required to be affixed on each one dollar note each week. The notes were given away and were redeemed after 52 weeks from the revenue raised by selling stamps. The cost was much less than paying a credit card company 2% or more per transaction.
Sustainable ecological capitalism requires the introduction of ecological money, ecological corporations and ecological ownership of realty. Ecological corporations described as Ownership Transfer Corporations and ecological ownership of realty described as Community Land Banks are described in my 1975 book Democratising the Wealth of Nations posted at http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=1146062.
Limitations in orthodox economic analysis of urban realty
Where: Association For Heterodox Economics , 10th Anniversary Conference, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, Panel E: Urban Economics Dates: 4th July 2008 - 6th July 2008 When: 4th July 2008, 9am - 10am
Orthodox economic analysis cannot identify how to provide affordable housing on a sustainable basis because it: (i) Considers the nature of property rights as a given rather than as a policy variable; (ii) Focuses its analysis on the production and exchange of goods and services to neglect values that arise from the ownership and control of assets and liabilities; (iii) Does not identify Surplus Profits; (iv) Neglects how government investment in urban infrastructure creates private profits for land owners and so also neglects; (v) How windfall gains and surplus profits can be used to cross subsidize housing and commercial investors. Duplex property rights are described that separate the value of buildings from the values created in their land by neighboring infrastructure investment. This allows uplift in land values created by infrastructure expenditure to be used to make all neighborhood sites self-financing to halve the cost of urban housing and eliminate the cost of land for commercial developments. The resulting increase in economic efficiency improves equity by providing eight ways to distribute wealth to citizens without government taxes or welfare. The paper recommends that approval for public infrastructure expenditure and/or development be made conditional upon adopting duplex ownership of urban realty.
Capturing competitive advantages from Employee Ownership
Where: Annual Convention of AHRI, Sydney Convention Center, Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) Dates: 3rd June 2007 - 6th June 2007 When: 5th June 2007
Presented as Vice President of Australian Employee Ownership Association
Sustaining employee ownership through network governance
Where: AWD plc, 4th Floor, London Stock Exchange Building, 10 Paternoster Square, London, , Equity Incentives Limited and Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, Lawyers organised by Graham Nuttal Dates: 6th July 2005 - 7th July 2005 When: 6th July 2005, 5pm - 7pm
Economics and the Laws of Nature.
Where: Green Economics: visions for a conserver society, Hallstrom Theatre, Australian Museum, Sydney, Australia, Australian Conservation Foundation When: 29th October 1991, 7pm - 8pm
Later published in 'The Other Economy: Economics Nature Can Live With', Alan Marston, Ed., LBD Publishers, pp. 81–138, Auckland, 1992
To create an ecological economy, the design of our social institutions needs to be based on the laws of nature. The adoption of ecological institutions would create a radically different economic system. A system which would sustain both the environment and bio-diversity while at the same time increase economic efficiency, social justice, and the economic independence of all bio-regions. In this way it would also so promote grass roots democracy and self-reliance.
The present economic system is so sick that it is beyond the ability experts to prescribe a cure. An ecological economy, by definition, would be self-regulating like all healthy living things. Rather than frustrate or threaten business activities it would provide a healthy environment for them, as well as nature. The two must go together. To live lightly on the planet, we need a far more efficient economy and this can only be achieved by increasing the efficiency and well being of all business activities. A green economy would not be anti-business.
However, to create an ecological economy, we need to change the way the economy works. Specifically, we need to change the rules for owning and controlling land, enterprises, banking and money, so that the rules would follow ecological principles. The existing rules are inconsistent with the self-regulating mechanisms found in all living things. This is why the current economic system is so damaging to itself and to nature. The lack of self-regulation has arisen because the currently accepted rules were developed to centralise power and authority rather than to further economic efficiency, democracy, social justice or the interests of the environment.
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