Outgrowing Capitalism: A book review by Bob Morris

Outgrowing Capitalism: Rethinking Money to Reshape Society and Pursue Purpose
Marco Dondi
Fast Company Press (October 2021)

How and why monetism is “a practical recipe for harvesting the moneytree”

Marco Dondi poses two separate but related questions in the Introduction to this book: “Has traditional capitalism given us a new surprise, leading us past the need for it as it has existed? Could it be that — in this new world — capitalism is imposing unaffordable societal costs and threatening the very economy it built?”  He then offers substantial evidence that the answer to both questions is “yes.”

The material is organized within five parts.

1. Dondi examines personal well-being that, for most people, has been eliminated by economic insecurity. He discusses the feasibility of a “revolutionary proposal”: universal basic income (UBI).

2. He discusses money: where it comes from and why we don’t have enough of it to afford UBI and other components of a social infrastructure.

3. Then he shifts his attention to capitalism — “how it emerged, evolved, and became a success in the past, but how it now is the biggest roadblock for a new wave of progress.”

4. In this fourth part, he presents his case for monetism, “a practical recipe for harvesting the moneytree.” He views it as “a new way of managing money that can overcome the threats and realize the opportunities that capitalism [in its present state] has brought to us but is now unable to deliver on.”

5. In the last part, Dondi provides a”roadmap” for implementing this new system at a national level, but also at the local and global level.”

These are among the passages of greatest interest and value to me, also listed to suggest the scope of Dondi’s coverage:

o Introduction (Pages 1-13)
o Differences That Money Makes in Work, and, in Marriage (19-25)
o What “the overall picture” seems to be (28-31)
o “Money and Religion” (31-32)
o “The Financial Crisis of 2008” (89)

o “Permanent vs. Banks’ Money”(123-124)
o “MMT [Modern Monetary Theory] vs. Traditional Economics” (134-135)
o “Revisiting Stagflation and Why It’s Relevant for Africa” (149-150)
o Five trends feeding low demand and recession (180-181)

o Four main forces that make capitalism growth-dependent (195-198)
o Four proposed strategic directions (208-212)
o Pilar #1: UBI (universal basic income) (217-220)
o Creating the Economy to Manage Inflation is Bad 21st-Century Economics (243-244)
o Pilar #2: Taming the inflation with Taxes (245-246)

o Exhibit 11: Societal impact of capitalism vs. monetism on selected events (284)
o Exhibit 12: Benefits of monetism vs. capitalism (300)
o Government Risks (307-32)(
o Technical Risks (312-315)
o Human-Related Risks (315-317)

Dondi’s vision is based on what Jim Collins characterizes as a BHAG, a “Big Hairy Audacious Goal.” However, keep in mind  that the current VUCA business world has outgrown the current (latest) form of capitalism. It remains to be seen to what extent (if any) this book nourishes the “revolution” to which Marco Dondi frequently refers. I hope those who read it realize that the material he provides is more, far more than a briefing. It is a call to action while there is still time. Meanwhile, tick tock…tick tock…tick tock….

* * *

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Shoshana Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, published by Public Affairs (January 2019). Her book is about “the darkening of the digital dream and its rapid mutation into a voracious and utterly novel commercial project that I call surveillance capitalism…At its core, surveillance capitalism is parasitic and self-referential. It revives Karl Marx’s image of capitalism as a vampire that feeds on labor, but with an unexpected turn. Instead of labor, surveillance capitalism feeds on every aspect of every human experience.”

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