The Economy for the Common Good

Source: ecogood.org

The economy of the common good is a raising theory that promotes an alternative economic system based on human relationships, setting ethical indicators above the financial ones that currently prevail in our economic model.

“In a real ‘economy’, money is only a means to an end. If we were to measure economic success according to that end, human creativity would generate an increase in the common good. Economy and value would then be in harmony.” (Felber, 2015). The Economy for the Common Good, created by Christian Felber, can be defined as an economic model based on the values that all people recognize as universal: solidarity, human dignity, social justice, ecological sustainability, transparency, and democratic participation. It is a holistic model that aims to integrate the economy into the social, cultural, and ecological context of society.

For this purpose, five fundamental values are set, that form the basis of the ECG model:

• human dignity,
• cooperation and solidarity,
• ecological sustainability,
• social justice
• democratic co-determination and transparency

The central proposal of the model of the Economy for the Common Good is, therefore, that the economy should be at the service of people, that is, of the common good, assuming that money and capital are important as instruments of exchange and investment, but they never constitute an end in themselves.