What if we could define what the world would look like if it worked? What would it look like for you, for your family, your community, your bioregion, your state, your country, and the world? And how can we then begin to work back from there? More to come...
I've recently gotten interested in Behavioral Economics, and picked up a new book at the library by Richard Thaler, Misbehaving, in which he recounts the history of the field (which is basically that of the rediscovery of common sense, in the face of enormous resistance from conventional economists). Essentially, Behavioral Economics is about observing people's actual economic behavior, and basing economic models and policy recommendations on evidence. His main conclusions: If you [Read more...]
We're talking about a transformed New Jersey, where all of us begin to recognize that we are the ones creating the state in which we live. Imagine a state that's increasingly prosperous, increasingly sustainable, socially more just, and still affordable. What it takes, first of all, is being willing to create and give voice to a new possibility — a possibility that is designed to work for all — and is the canvas for a new New Jersey, a New Jersey that is "environmentally sustainable, socially [Read more...]
It's possible to see our Possible Jersey challenge as a game, using Commons Credits and JerseyBucks™ as tokens. These tokens may eventually be able to be exchanged for conventional currency, or for goods and services within the communities that accept them, or may be donated or invested. Of course, it is more than a game. It's a game that's played in the real world, with other people (including people who may fail to recognize it as a game), and with other living beings on the planet [Read more...]
JerseyBucks™ are a form of local currency, expanded to the level of a state. The purpose of a local currency is to increase the recirculation of the money spent within the community; when members accept the currency, the same money is typically used more than four times before leaving the community, whereas using conventional currency the local circulation is only about one-and-a-half times. JerseyBucks™ are essentially credits, which we think of as Commons Credits, roughly equivalent to a [Read more...]