New economic paradigms

What is common wealth? And how might we use it to build a more local, equitable and sustainable economy? Peter Barnes imagines an economy in which everyone benefits from a variety of co-inherited and co-created assets.

In this thinkpiece for The Next System Project, David Korten sets out his 'natural case for sharing'. No-one has a right to own or control, for his or her exclusive private benefit, a share of assets essential to living far beyond any conceivable personal need, if this results in depriving others of a means to life, he argues. Redistribution to achieve a semblance of economic democracy is not only just, it is an imperative of a viable human future.

It’s time for a rational conversation on the norms, rights and duties of every citizen for global common goods: the shared resources that must be negotiated and organized by the world’s people themselves, writes James B. Quilligan.

At the close of UNCTAD's 14th session, a coalition of civil society organisations call for a new development model that is inclusive and socially just, in which governments uphold their obligations to provide social services and guarantee Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.