Category: Politics & Economy

The age of the copycat economy

When Kickstarter first came online I was thrilled. What a great way to get funding for an innovative idea! Soon others followed. Nothing wrong with a bit of diversity and some competition in order to increase quality of service and cater to different target groups. But these days there are so many crowdfunding platforms out...

Universal Basic Income? Why?

A lot has been said about basic income. Let us for now put aside the question of how it can be paid for or whether or not it will destroy social security systems. Let’s ask a more existential question: should we give people an income for basically doing nothing apart from being alive? In our current...

A job created is a job well done?

A major rhetoric when you listen to politicians these days is: we will create more jobs! It was one of the main propaganda points for Trump, it played a role in Brexit and we hear it quite a lot during elections around the Western world. The message is clear: a job created is a job well...

Towards an Economy of Flow

A while ago I read an article in the Guardian which states that in order to combat climate change we don’t just need to switch to renewable energy, we need to create a new economic system. I have been doing some research of monetary systems and the economic eco systems they create for a while and...

Basic income for all, a solution to poverty or a right wing ploy to destroy the welfare state?

Basic income seems to be on the radar these days. Proponents and opponents can be found in the entire range of the political spectrum. The reasons why they are for or against differ though. On the right the proponents see it as a solution to cut red tape, simplify the welfare mechanism and thereby reduce government...

The missing link in our sustainibility story

On the 25th of June 2016 I participated in the first civic council of Antwerp (in Dutch) and on the agenda was a fund for sustainability projects. I think it’s a great idea to have a fund for that! Very happy that Antwerp is investing in sustainability! But what is meant by sustainability? It’s one of those terms...

Fixing the economy, eradicating poverty and making taxes obsolete

Yes, it is possible! It can be done with a new kind of currency. It’s an idea that has been brooding in my mind for about a year now and recently the final puzzle piece fell into place. I’ll start with a short introduction to our current state of affairs and then I’ll lay out the goals to be...

Our insane addiction to jobs

When you hear any political candidate today, job creation will always be mentioned somewhere in their rhetoric. It does not matter in which side of the political spectrum they reside. The voting public also demands jobs, jobs, jobs. Up to the point where job creation seems to become the highest achievable good. It has become such...

Why the discoveries in the Panama papers are a symptom and not the real problem

Why the discoveries in the Panama papers are a symptom and not the real problem Ever since the news about the Panama papers came out the media has been buzzing. It brought Iceland’s prime minister’s political career to an end, banks that are involved are under fire and around the world there is a general...

Democracy, can we actually vote for it?

The Western world claims to be a democracy. With lobbyists and big money having so much influence that statement might be up for debate. But we still have a vote to get the right people to power, don’t we? It depends on how you look at it. What is the influence of our voting system...