Transcript Let‘s Rock the Economy Thinking differently about the economy

Let‘s Rock the Economy
Thinking differently about the economy
Elisabeth Klatzer
Ecumenical Forum of European Christian
Women - Vienna, September 18 – 22, 2013
What will I talk about?
I.
What is „the economy“?
 Let‘s rock the conception of economic activity
II. What is happening at the moment? Where are we
going?
 Let‘s take the veil off
III. Who is making economic policy decisions?
 Democratize
IV. Let‘s rock the economy
I. What is considered as economic
activities?
• Who is economically active?
• Who is productive?
What is „the economy“?
Source: Luise Gubitzer, The 5-sector model of the economy
Our economic activities …
What are you doing?
• Which activities are taking a lot of your time?
• How do you contribute with this to the economy?
The economy – that‘s all of us
• Unpaid work and all care work is crucial for the
functioning of the economic system
• Let‘s not leave economic policy to „experts“
• We are experts
II. What is currently happening?
Back to normal?
• We are in the middle of a broad range of crises
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•
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Financial crisis
Economic crisis
Ecological crisis
Employment crisis
Social crisis
…
• Basically, a crisis of the current economic system
What‘s currently happening ?
Who is bearing the costs?
• Impacts of crises and crisis policies very unequally
distributed
• Bailout of banks and bond-holders
• Heavy social impacts of crisis and crisis policies
• Impacts on gender equality
© Jolly et al (2013)
Lost generation …
62.5%
56%
23%
Source: theatlantic.com
What‘s currently happening?
Changing the system - for whom?
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•
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„Silent revolution“ at the EU level
Reconfiguration of power structures
Dismantling of welfare state
Weakening of labour rights and wage cuts
Democracy at the retreat
What‘s currently happening?
• Competitiveness as the (new) dogma
Who buys our goods and services?
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
Extra-EU-Exp.
Intra-EU Exp.
inländ. N.
20%
10%
0%
Mostly we: blue
and red show the
share of what is
bought within the
EU: 80 – 90%
So it is important
to keep wages up!
Flaws of current economic system
• Private financial sector to dominate over
production and reproduction
• Exploitation of natural resources
• People as mere productive factors that need to be
provided at low cost
• Savety nets of last resort relocated to the
„private“ sphere of unpaid work
• …
III. Who is behind these economic policies?
• „Wallstreet is nervous …“
• „We need to calm financial markets …“
Power shifts in economic policy making
• Power over budgets is shifted away from
Parliaments …
• Power over economic policy priorities is shifted
away from Parliaments …
… to European bureaucracy / Commission
… to Council of Finance Ministers
Top Jobs in European Economic and Financial Policies
Source: Sven Giegold, MEP, 2012
Source: Jolly and
others (2013)
IV. There are alternatives
• Building a caring economy based on gender
equality and good life for all
• Decent work for all
• Reducing extreme inequalities
• Transforming the public sector into a genuinely
participatory space
• Putting banks and financial services at the service
of a caring economy
• Using collective wisdom: Democratization of all
spheres of live
Let‘s rock
• Be outraged!
• There are alternatives!
• Building networks and working together for an
economy centered on the well-being of all
women and men
• We need to make our voices heard!
• Reclaim our democratic rights in shaping
economic policies and priorities!