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![]() ![]() Anticipate ConsequencesGovernment officials, considering new legislation
or policies, frequently adjust, increase or cut taxes or debt (borrowing),
or bring new groups into or out of a specific tax or
security regime, or change the rules governing such regimes. The considerations are financial and money-based, the stuff
that economists can deal with.
The "Innovation" programs arose from a different model of
innovation. The basic idea behind developing these innovations
has been to use a systemic approach to (1) find a conflict of interest that
so far has been treated as normal and acceptable by the political system
and (2) identify those benefiting from the conflict of interest, including
those people and organizations that prosper by supporting and working
for those who benefit directly. Many,
if not all, of these players are deeply entrenched in the status quo and
reluctant to change. An
innovation concept must be developed that shows how to undo the conflict
of interest in such a way that all affected parties do better after
implementation (or at least as well), taking into account both their
before and after motivations. The full range of motivations is much broader than
motives based on profit or on an entirely financial consideration.
Examples: Regardless
of profitability or economic gain, people in general are greatly
gratified (1) and enjoy working with all kinds of others within a system
that is fair, equitable and much more efficient at producing valuable
public and private goods, services, or information for everybody or for
large underserved groups or (2) by being free, that is having a fair
measure of control over the forces that otherwise constrain them.
These ideas are anathemas to economists who cannot admit or
consider any motivation other than economic self-interest.
If they did do so, and a few do, they would show by
example that the methods that economists use are preventing the world
from working in a better way. We
discussed this in Skirt Traps to avoid the traps that thwart social
innovation. Of course it is possible that a particular social innovation misses the proper formulation of motivation in some circumstances and could produce a failure. That is why enormous attention is paid in our social innovation process toward analyzing and testing the motivations of all those affected. The process is long and slow as described in "Skirt Traps," because it requires obtaining the support, almost one by one, of millions of people who slowly see the light. Economists have no place in the social innovation game unless they disown the relevance of the lynch-pin of economic theory -- that money is the only motivation that matters to people. |