Value Capitalism A Pragmatic Concept For A Better World? Interview with Herteux

The present is characterized by many changes and uncertainties Social split geopolitical competition economic and ecological development Covid19 the future is full of challenges But how to face them Andreas Herteux philosopher and director of the Erich von Werner Society has an idea how we could succeedMr Herteux what is value capitalism and why do we need itValue Capitalism is an economic system in which values become a factor of production We need it for two reasons On the one hand out of idealism but also out of pragmatism Out of idealism because we should strive for the best possible world for all people Out of pragmatism because we are in the midst of an era of change a change of times that is currently reordering the global balance of power and the Western world could become the loser of the future if appropriate countermeasures are not designed and implemented One such concept is Value VapitalismIf you see Europe as the loser who will be the winnerAs long as the path taken is maintained Asia will be the future demanding and receiving more political influence as its economic power grows China is already a world powerSo Europe will fall behind China Not only Europe but also the USA In the end the old continent may even be left with only fourth place behind a strengthened India which could unleash parts of its potential in the coming decadesWill the Corona crisis not change this trendNo the pandemic will rather accelerate the development and mercilessly expose the deficits of the respective systemsIsnt it precisely capitalist competition in which the West can no longer competeFirst of all its not about a confrontation with the rising regions but about the best possible economic system for all And yes a constellation may arise in which value capitalism must become a bulwark of freedom and democracy against authority but what would be the alternative in such a case That Chinesestyle capitalism dominates the world If the West wants to keep up at this point a corresponding counterforce is necessaryBut how are you going to get the economy to act in a valuedriven wayAs a rule values by which we understand standards such as working conditions codetermination rights or environmental protection tend to be a hindrance to companies when it comes to maximizing profits It goes without saying that they would never be communicated in this way of course They are as bad as it may sound ballast This is precisely where Value Capitalism comes in Values must be established as a factor of production without which profit maximization becomes much more difficult Put simply value capitalism relies on the greed of free enterprise and manipulates it It creates an economy in which success is maximized when defined standards are met Its a winwin conceptWhat would that look like in practical termsPractically speaking technology is the key to the future Therefore it makes sense for democratic free nations to set up a common value fund a Value Guardian that invests specifically in it and builds up corresponding market powerWhat would happen thenTechnological standards emerge from this development which must be licensed by those who wish to use them Through this licensing values can now become a production factor by making compliance with them an integral part of the contract No company is forced to do this It is a free entrepreneurial decision but the desire to maximize profits will ultimately lead to such clauses being acceptedWhat would happen to the profits of the Value GuardianOn the one hand they would be invested and on the other they would be distributed to the donor states For example it would be possible to finance social systems or infrastructure However the use of the funds would ultimately have to be decided by the participating states and their citizensBut wouldnt such a construct be too powerfulNo because the guardian of values would be indirectly democratically legitimized would have to act transparently and be accountable Possibly the supervisory body a kind of supervisory board could be elected directly by the participating peoples We therefore have a different constellation than for example in the case of large corporations or authoritarian statesI see but how can market power be built up so quicklyCorporations like Google Tencent or Alibaba all the big behavioral capitalists were founded in the late 90s with little capital Their market power today one can almost speak of oligopolies is probably undisputed Dont you think that a value guardian that would start with gigantic capital and large backing wouldnt also manage this if not even betterThat presupposes appropriate international cooperation Wont that be difficultWe have for example a NATO a UN or an EU Obviously such international cooperation is possible The EU has just launched a 750 billion euro fund to mitigate the economic consequences of the Corona pandemic In the US its 16 trillion euros Wouldnt it be wiser to use these funds to invest in a value guardian which will pay off many times over than to plug makeshift holesMany people will not like the fact that you present capitalism of all things as the solutionI understand the basic distrust but in that case the people in question would have misunderstood Value Capitalism Value capitalism is the tamer of capitalism It tames it and transforms it to maximally serve the public If capitalism is the raging torrent that takes everything with it then value capitalism is the force that pacifies the river and steers it along calmer courses From the stormy flood calm useful as well as beneficial water becomes In essence Value Capitalism is everything that the anticapitalists always wanted but never really found in practiceThank you for the interviewAndreas Herteux is an economist publicist philosopher and founder and director of the Erich von Werner Society an independent institution for contemporary issues His focus is on social political technological as well as economic change For this purpose he develops interdisciplinary theories and models that tie in with existing research and close open gaps A short summary of the theory of value capitalism can be found in the work Value Capitalism Wertekapitalismus English Deutsch Franccedilais Espantildeol Portuguecircs Italiano Erich von Werner Verlag 19042021 ISBN13 9783948621285 DOI 105281zenodo4707282