Agenda For a New Economy

David Korten's Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth discusses the nature of wealth. Korten refers to the current measure of wealth as "phantom wealth," in which he lays out a case for its replacement with "real wealth." The book is very timely as the US Federal government is plying Wall Street with billions to prop up or stabilize the US financial system. The need is real but there is an unsettling feeling that Wall Street needs some fundamental changes. Korten articulates some of those feelings into concrete recommendations.

Korten's recommendations:

• Full-cost market pricing (includes subsidies, pollution, injuries),
• assessing fees and prohibitions to make Wall Street theft and gambling less profitable (eg. outlaw selling, insuring, borrowing against assets one doesn't own, taxing trades),
• tax hedge fund earnings as ordinary income (not capital gains),
• rebuild the economy for greater self-reliance,
• make the U.S. wealth distribution more equitable,
• and require the Treasury Dept. to take over failed banks - not just loan them money.

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