The mention of the phenomenology of increasing productivity being accompanied by stagnant wages going back to the 90s reminds me of Thomas Piketty's findings. Put simply, a wealth of economic data suggests that the issue of increased productivity resulting in centralized wealth extraction from communities to consolidated investment centers runs alongside aggregate rates of return on capital outpacing aggregate growth rates of an economy. This principle ALSO plays out on somewhat local levels (provinces, municipalities), meaning that a vibrant community generating wealth requires two things:
- open source and commons-managed productive capacity, for unfettered productive growth
- limitations on investment capital, which can come in the form of limitations on possible returns
The question then becomes... How do we shove enough capital into the commons to do wondrous things, without subjecting ourselves to the same fiduciary responsibility traps that have destroyed like-minded well-meaning endeavors?
Open source chains are a great start, but they do not themselves solve the capital problem. Thoughts?