This is an Action Project for my core class Economics. In this unit, our main focus was on the book Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth. In this book, Raworth takes the ideas and past economist's theories and goes into why they aren't working in todays society or how they could be more effective. For this assignment, we were tasked with writing another chapter for Doughnut Economics. Our chapter is meant to create and idea for our economy and why something should change. For my chapter I decided to talk about how someone who has enough power can change the economy and how that is something that needs to change. We were also tasked with creating an image to go along with our chapter. This image is meant to show our economic idea clearly. My image is meant to show the impact someone can have on the economy. Now, please enjoy my Action Project.
This chapter is all about the downsides of the economy. The chapter tries to answer the question, “What if one person has enough power to control the economy?” It mostly talks about the amount of control one person is able to have over the economy. If one person was able to gain enough power from society, they can basically change and control everyone’s decisions and arguably shape the economy how you see fit. This chapter argues that being in control of the economy in turn affects the economy in a negative way. If one person were to have enough power to change the economy, they would use that power to take for themselves. Obviously I can’t bring everyone into this theory as some people who have enough power try to use it in a good way. If one person were to influence people to do what they want, it would in turn shape the economy to that person in power’s liking. Statistics from Pew Research Center show that 70% of Americans believe that the U.S. economic system unfairly favors the powerful. Americans refer to the economy as “rigged” and “unfair” due to the favoritism pointed at the people with the most influence or money.
Right now, the economy is shaped to the liking of anyone who wants to change it. If someone could potentially gain enough power, they would be able to influence the people who look up to them/believe in their beliefs. An example of this is when Taylor Swift became popular enough that when the 2011 presidential campaign came along, she told people from her hometown (Texas) to vote. Next thing you know, there were many more people that voted. The chapter also uses the example of Elon Musk and his influence. Musk enjoys sending out tweets on Twitter, and along with the many millions of followers he has due to his company, makes him one of the most influential people on Twitter. Musk tweeted that Tesla has “no contract” with Hertz and it results in Tesla’s stock falling 4%. Though it may not seem like a lot, this made Tesla lose about 42 billion dollars in market value. This just shows the amount of influence one person can have in an economy that favors the powerful.“It’s so simple, that it goes right in the back of the head of every economist so quietly that you don't even realize that it’s there. But it's there. And that’s the problem. This diagram is fundamentally flawed.” Kate Raworth TEDx presentation. In this quote, she talks about the economic diagram. I agree that it is flawed and needs to change.
Works Cited:
Goal 8, "Decent Work and Economic Growth" United Nations, United Nations, https://sdgs.un.org/goals
Igielnik, Ruth. “70% Of Americans Say U.S. Economic System Unfairly Favors the Powerful.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 28 July 2020, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/01/09/70-of-americans-say-u-s-economic-system-unfairly-favors-the-powerful/.
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