Create Money!
Money is a human construct, it is a human creation. And because of this it can be modified or changed.
A metric economy alters the nature of money and its social dynamic. One re-creates money in these senses:
MONEY PLUS METRICS
First, when buying a good or service we are not simply looking at monetary price as we used to. Now we are looking at a set of metrics that lie beside the price. We are familiar today with ratings, the metric system takes these ratings into new territory, makes a system of them, and follows them to their logical conclusion.
If we buy a laptop, we would looking at the price of the device of course. And then a set of measures of its qualities. These might include:
-Issues of quality and life of the product
-Customer service ratings
-Environmental concerns in manufacturing
-Ethics of the company in treatment of surrounding communities
-Diversity in workforce
-And so on.
These metrics may be presented in a various formats, these can be very simple (a 1 to 5 system) or can get very detailed and complex with equations. You can even have a total metric that sums up all of these concerns into one number, if you like.
When you buy a product you will be looking at the price plus these other issues. You will make a sort of interpolation between the monetary and the measures to make your decision. Price will be important but so will be the external issues.
This is a kind of personal equation you are using. This would be a "paratactic’ formula, meaning “setting beside”. We already do this in life, but now in a metric economy we would approach this more scientifically.
Leagues and a MBX stock exchange would develop these metric performance goals and rate firms and their products. (see article, “Will there a recovery from Capitalism”)
When using a paratactic formula you have changed money; or you could say you have created another kind of “money”. You are no longer valuing something in the narrow old terms of a specific price, a process that extends back into ancient times.
Now you have created a set of new values, you could say a “new money” has been generated. And remember that money is a human invention, it is not an immutable thing created by the universe or Nature or Platonic forms etc. And thus old money can be replaced by human invention and creativity.
Money is really only a supply and demand metric. It really measures a relationship between buyer and seller, it gives the specific price of something. It is only one metric among many metrics to consider in an advanced economy. Present money has nothing to do with actual value (just look at the prices of houses in housing market today...)
MONEY AND METRICS MERGED INTO ONE THING
A second thing can happen to money, one may want to create a single number that merges the money aspect of value and the other metric quantities.
For example, we have a company that begins with low metrics. It climbs up over three years to a new level of quality in its behaviors.
Its initial value of say $10 million can now be adjusted. Someone from a MBX or League could appraise the new value of this firm. After making a metric analysis we may find a great leap in performance standards.
A factor then can be used to raise the price of the firm. It may be worth $15 million now. In this case the metrics have impacted the monetary value, and raised it significantly.
So a metric assay and public presentation of this assessment has a direct effect upon a company. Metrics impact price, that is, supply and demand dynamics -- that is, the demand for this firm. (Of course we are assuming the company exists in a culture where high standards are valued -- which is actually a first condition for a metric economy, otherwise a metric economy would never take off and leave the ground.)
This is a second way that metrics alters money and changes everything.
Metric stocks and bonds can be issued. These would be in classes. A company gets rated according to a set of metrics and then stocks are sold based upon that rating. In this way the funding of firms has changed, they are now being financed by monetary worth and metric worth.
Banks can loan money based also upon metric performance.
There is a forbidden though in all of this.
One cannot have a company repay a loan in metrics. That makes no sense. Nor can we have a loan being given in metrics, for that would make no sense, if a company gets higher metrics without having actually achieved them.
In a metric economy, metrics cannot be made commodities, they cannot be traded, stored or sold. If this were to happen then metrics would behave just like old money, and we would be back to the old problems. The whole idea of metrics appending money is to break out of the old dynamic and set standards that free us of the cycle of profit and greed.
If metrics are used like money, then we get metrics without earning them, we hoard them and buy firms with them, we create a bizarre metric financials market and so on.
This makes metrics like money and thus defeats the purpose of the metrics. Anyone who advocates this is an opportunist trying to get wealth and power, and undermine a diverse economy.
GROSS METRIC PRODUCT AND NATIONAL ACCOUNTING
Gross Metric Product, GMP, is a replacement for the current GDP idea of summing national revenues.
In a GMP we would tally up the metrics of the entire economy trying to arrive at a total picture of quality and standards.
We arrive at an overview which is much more than revenues or assets and stocks of materials and inventories, which are very important. We have snapshot of environmental performance, customer service, community relations and etc.
On a national level we then can put a monetary value with the GMP for a complete grasp of what is happening in our economy.
With a GMP summary we can then identify problems in the economy and work toward a plan to solve these problems of low metrics. We now know where to focus nationally.
This is another way to modify money on a national, collective level.
THE VALUE OF A NATIONAL CURRENCY
On an international level, organizations can actually rate national currencies according to their metric performance.
If a dollar is poor, this would mean its metrics are weak. If a dollar is strong, this would mean that its metrics are ideal.
This would happen in a world where people actually cared about metric standards. If you do not, then old exchange measures would continue.
A country with high metrics would have currency that nations and corporations would prefer to hold. Naturally, this currency is based on goods and behaviors that are of higher value. The very metrics would alter the value of the currency sending it up or down.
This concept would compete with the current notion of a ‘reserve currency’. A premium metric currency would be preferred for holding and in pricing transactions and investments.
On this level, metrics has modified our notion of money of currency exchange, we have re-created money on the international level.
Cage Innoye
Axxiad News