What economic freedom is missing today - at least in the U.S.? Without a doubt, it would be the ability to rebuild and pursue lifestyle options on a wide scale of possibility. In other words, the kinds of normal everyday steps on the game board which could still count as real gains, were we willing to recognize them as such. Everyone needs more substantial participation, than the tightly defined leaps which are now required for economic access.
Sometimes it's possible for individuals to advance successfully, on what can be high stakes for long term investments. But all too often, the process benefits finance and special interests, more than it does anyone else - especially in a world in transition regarding resource utilization. Nations could overcome the slow growth trajectory of the present, by encouraging their citizens to generate broader pathways for success. With new growth options in services and innovative construction, the output gap of the Great Recession could be gradually overcome.
Inertia as to diminished growth capacity, needs to be revisited for what it actually consists of at a very basic level of societal expectation. This is especially true in two dimensions which affect much of our lives. First, limits on vital aspects of healthcare participation, currently exist as though they were carved in stone and brought down from a mountaintop. Because healthcare is something every person needs, the compensated time value of many other skills sets by comparison, is degraded as a result - in aggregate.
That lock in skills value has generated a substantial core deficit in time use which needs addressing, before other factors can even be taken into account. It is too easy to forget that monetary policy - in order to remain stable and representative of entire populations - needs to accurately reflect aggregate time use on economic terms. The fact this is presently not happening, has considerable effects on the negative real interest rates scenario of the present.
Second, too much of life takes place in environments which remain impervious to widespread innovation, recent technology and the actual gains of international trade. As a result, time use and innovation gridlock factors have made it difficult for many to find work life balance. Why does society generate economic expectations which lie out of reach for so many? A recent post from Farnam Street provides some clues. Alan Watts in The Wisdom of Insecurity wrote that modern civilization in almost every respect is a vicious circle. Because the brain is more concerned about the future than the present, much about life is structured for future expectations.
Even though future orientations have their place, they have been given undue importance. As a result, individuals often discount what they are already able to achieve in the present. Yet in many instances, this devalued skills capacity could assist both in one's needs and the needs of others. Oddly enough, future thinking generates excessive focus on stock, rather than the economic flow which is the true capacity of the GDP measure. What's more, a once bright future seems as though somehow "forfeited" in stock which already exists. Because of this unfortunate result, some seek to further tax previous wealth, as if it were the answer to any wealth that could be generated in the future.
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By allowing our time use to become a point of arbitrage, it would once again be possible to measure the flow that economic systems rely upon most. Any time that stock is emphasized over flow, it becomes difficult to visualize what anchors wealth, because the physical manifestation of wealth is not the lifeblood of wealth itself.
With the measure of time use (to allow the recording of knowledge use in real time), the flow of economic activity would be easy to capture and build upon. And the best part is that the process could take place incrementally. Incremental gains would give us the chance to catch our breath, and feel good about what has already transpired. Just the act of giving ourselves permission for realistic gains, would make it far easier to feel positive about the present. Especially given the fact, that the present is what's real.
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