Economics

The principles as outlined in the No Regrets Charter are based on careful definitions of each of the domains of social life: ecology, economics, politics and culture (elaborated on this page).

The practical propositions developed in the No Regrets Charter are based on a systematic elaboration of the meaning of those domains, with each domain understood in terms of seven subdomains or perspectives (mapped on this page for the domain of economics).

A Definition of Economics

The economic is defined as a social domain that emphasizes the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the production, use, and management of resources.

Here the concept of ‘resources’ is used in the broadest sense of that word, including in settings where resources were/are not instrumentalized or reduced to a means to other ends, including accruing exchange value. Although the domain of economics was only abstracted as a named area of social life and self-consciously practiced as a separate domain in the modern period, this definition allows the concept to be used across different places and times. Questions of power are ever-present in the economic domain in relation to contested outcomes over the use of resources.

Perspectives and Aspects of Economics

The seven principles in the economic domain of the No Regrets Charter are organized around the following seven perspectives (and the seven aspects that in turn sit beneath each of those variables):

1. Production and Resourcing
   1. Prosperity and Resilience
   2. Manufacture and Fabrication
   3. Extraction and Harvesting
   4. Art and Craft
   5. Design and Innovation
   6. Human and Physical Resources
   7. Monitoring and Reflection
2. Exchange and Transfer
   1. Reciprocity and Mutuality
   2. Goods and Services
   3. Finance and Taxes
   4. Trade and Tourism
   5. Aid and Remittances
   6. Debt and Liability
   7. Monitoring and Reflection
3. Accounting and Regulation
   1. Transparency and Fairness
   2. Finance and Money
   3. Goods and Services
   4. Land and Property
   5. Labour and Employment
   6. Taxes and Levies
   7. Monitoring and Reflection
4. Consumption and Use
   1. Appropriate Use and Re-use
   2. Food and Drink
   3. Goods and Services
   4. Water and Electricity
   5. Petroleum and Metals
   6. Promotion and Dissemination
   7. Monitoring and Reflection
5. Labour and Welfare
   1. Livelihoods and Work
   2. Connection and Vocation
   3. Participation and Equity
   4. Capacity and Productivity
   5. Health and Safety
   6. Care and Support
   7. Monitoring and Reflection
6. Technology and Infrastructure
   1. Appropriateness and Robustness
   2. Communications and Information
   3. Transport and Movement
   4. Construction and Building
   5. Education and Training
   6. Medicine and Health Treatment
   7. Monitoring and Reflection
7. Wealth and Distribution
   1. Accumulation and Mobilization
   2. Social Wealth and Heritage
   3. Wages and Income
   4. Housing and Subsistence
   5. Equity and Inclusion
   6. Re-distribution and Apportionment
   7. Monitoring and Reflection