Green Party
POLICY
I don’t see what Green politics has to do with economics. Shouldn’t you leave all that to the experts? Economics affects our everyday lives – what we buy, where it comes from, how we travel. We cannot protect the environment or have a fairer society without changing the economy. As for the ‘experts’ – conventional economists support current practices which pollute the planet, waste resources, and which have allowed 400 billionaires to acquire assets equal to the wealth of 45% of the world’s population! But aren’t we all much better off than we used to be? Not all of us. Technology has brought benefits for humanity, but these have not been shared fairly. Many of the poorest countries are getting even poorer. But isn’t that the fault of their own governments? Much of the wealth in countries such as ours has come from exploiting cheap labour and resources elsewhere. Many countries owe massive debts to Western banks which they will never be able to repay. Meanwhile, the international system of ‘free trade’, which some claim will help the poorer countries to ‘catch up’ with us, simply leaves them to the mercy of companies which are richer and more powerful than entire nations.
Haven’t we got enough problems of our own to deal with? Yes, and they also stem from our economic system. Our society is one of the world’s richest, yet we still have poverty and homelessness. Even those who have well-paid jobs suffer increasing levels of stress and ill-health. And then there’s pollution. So what can be done? We should start by ensuring everyone’s basic needs are met unconditionally through a Citizen’s Income (see our separate policy leaflet). Then we should encourage local production for local needs. This would reduce our dependence on goods travelling long distances, or on large companies which drain money away from local communities and into the pockets of rich directors and distant shareholders. The Government should also be protecting the environment by using taxation measures. But surely nobody wants more taxation That depends on what it provides – good public services need money. But taxation doesn’t just raise money – taxes on pollution or the use of resources would encourage more sustainable ways of producing goods. If these taxes replaced VAT then prices would not rise overall. As people changed their spending patterns in response to these taxes they would pay less.
Economics
Sustainable policies for a fairer world
Our economic system does not work. It fails to provide the basic necessities of a civilised life for everyone, and yet it is consuming vast amounts of resources which can never be replaced. We cannot go on like this.
A GREEN ECONOMY WOULD: Introduce a Citizen’s Income for all, sufficient to cover basic needs, and redistribute wealth from those who have plenty to those who don’t. Only a society which shares the benefits of the economy fairly and provides for the needs of all its members can ever be sustainable. Ensure that taxation and regulation discourage pollution and the wasteful use or over-use of finite resources, and encourage ecological sustainability. Encourage local production for local use, by promoting small-scale local businesses with appropriate subsidies and with import tariffs and controls. Reduce the powers of transnational companies, create a network of publicly-owned community banks, and stay out of the European Single Currency. Curb speculation in land – the most fundamental of precious resources, which should be ‘a common treasury for all’. Measure economic success in terms of the quality of all peoples’ lives, rather than the quantities of money spent or resources consumed.
Conventional economic thinking is flawed. Other political parties strive for ‘economic growth’, which may sound impressive, but what does it mean? It is simply a measure of how much money changes hands, but it cannot show whether that activity makes things better or worse for most of us, or the damage it does to the environment. Nor does it take account of the vast amounts of unpaid ‘work’ which take place and on which our society depends. In a world of finite resources, it cannot make sense to depend on economic growth. Yet only the Green Party seeks an economic system which recognises the limits of the natural systems of the planet: an economic system which must at the same time support the needs of all people.
To join the Green Party or obtain copies of our manifestos or other policy leaflets please contact us at Green Party, 1a Waterlow Road, London. N19 5NJ. Telephone: 020 7272 4474 or visit our website at www.greenparty.org.uk
Published by Geoff Forse, 1a Waterlow Road, London. N19 5NJ. Printed by and on behalf of the Green Party, 1a Waterlow Road, London. N19 5NJ.