Next Economy Thoughts 07/2024

This contains some initial thoughts about how to combine the various efforts at production and distribution, pieces of the puzzle that different groups are working on. This is specifically triggered by the upcoming CoFi retreat where Matthew Slater, Stephanie Rearick, and Will Ruddick will be meeting.

The production pieces tend to be process flows, with inputs and outputs. When all or part of an output of one process is used as an input to another process, they are connected. When multiple processes done by different agents are connected according to a collaborative plan, there is a supply chain/network. These can involve a way to distribute income (not necessarily currency) as fairly as possible, both between and within the nodes in the network.

The distribution pieces tend to be transfer flows, usually with reciprocity between sets of transfers. There are lots of experiments, including mutual credit, commitment pools, marketplaces, timebanks, traditional rotating labor associations (ROLAs), lending libraries, and others. These can involve some kind of formula to make the exchange as fair as possible.

It's all value flows.

Here's an attempt to start to visualize this:

• Groups organize themselves into supply chain networks. Goods and services are created.
• Groups organize themselves into distribution or exchange networks. Goods and services are distributed among the group.
• Existing goods are also re-distributed within the group.
• Individual people can also produce goods and services, although it is unusual for there not to be other inputs.
• When practical, exchange networks can exchange with each other.
• With some thought, this can start to form circular economies. Perhaps another outer circle for the natural ecosystem?

Planning

The above is "doing", coordinating the actual economic activity of the community. You can also step back and up, to do planning, by time period and/or by sector if they have different cycles. Stepping back as in planning ahead of time, stepping up as in planning roughly with less detail.

The data pattern is basically the same, resource flows. You can also model potential flows, and see where there are flow gaps that can be filled by existing resource creation, or resource creation gaps.

Sometimes it helps to do demand-driven planning, i.e. what does the community need for its consumption. Sometimes it helps to do supply-driven planning, i.e. we can create thiese resources given our situation, does that fit with the needs.