How could such a reduction in output be undertaken deliberately and, as much as possible, peacefully? We need a mechanism for GDP reduction, and for the encouragement of the shift to renewable energy, that falls primarily on the wealthy. A price for carbon, as championed by Neoclassical economists like William Nordhaus, will afflict the poor disproportionately compared to the rich. The riots with which the Gilles Jaunes movement began in France in response to carbon pricing less than 2 years ago should make it obvious that the burden of adjustment must fall on the rich rather than the poor—both within nations and between them.
One system that could work is a dual-price mechanism based on carbon rationing, as proposed by Total Carbon Rationing. Currently, for other reasons, many Central Banks are exploring the concept of “Central Bank Digital Currencies” (CBDCs), which would give every resident in a country an account at the Central Bank. Rather than being a means to create and store the national currency, these accounts could be used to provide a “Universal Carbon Credit” (UCC) to every resident of a country on an equal per capita basis per recipient—so that billionaires would receive the same annual UCC as paupers. To buy any commodity, a consumer would need to pay both its money price, as now, and its CO2 content as well, using UCCs.
Steve Keen - The Macroeconomics of Degrowth: Can Planned Economic Contraction be Stable? | Brave New Europehttps://braveneweurope.com/steve-keen-the-macroeconomics-of-degrowth-can-planned-economic-contraction-be-stable