INTRODUCTION Several years ago, I began developing an idea that would eventually lead to me writing a short essay on the idea of a Bifurcated Economy. At the time, the core argument was straightforward…modern societies are headed toward a two-circuit economic structure. One circuit is driven by markets and profit, while the other is driven by civic participation and public goods. The first is measured and optimized by GDP, wages, capital flows, etc. The second is unpriced, invisible, and is c...

INTRODUCTION Several years ago, I began developing an idea that would eventually lead to me writing a short essay on the idea of a Bifurcated Economy. At the time, the core argument was straightforward…modern societies are headed toward a two-circuit economic structure. One circuit is driven by markets and profit, while the other is driven by civic participation and public goods. The first is measured and optimized by GDP, wages, capital flows, etc. The second is unpriced, invisible, and is c...

Chapter 2: Revealing Civic-Labor / If wage labor is unraveling and UBI is insufficient, my hypothesis is that the next market of value rests in the domain economists call the informal economy, and within that, a more specific subset of it around civic-labor. Civic-labor includes all the forms of work that keep communities functional but are not priced by markets or integrated into formal employment systems. Economists have long known that GD...

Chapter 2: Revealing Civic-Labor / If wage labor is unraveling and UBI is insufficient, my hypothesis is that the next market of value rests in the domain economists call the informal economy, and within that, a more specific subset of it around civic-labor. Civic-labor includes all the forms of work that keep communities functional but are not priced by markets or integrated into formal employment systems. Economists have long known that GD...

Chapter 3 - The Structure of a Public-Sector CurrencyThe dialogue around a public-sector currency is often met with confusion, as it doesn’t follow the traditional backing of value for currency in the market-circuit. Historically, the value backing for money within the market-circuit has come from either the convertibility of commodities or the actions of state-authority. Each providing some attribute that...

Chapter 3 - The Structure of a Public-Sector CurrencyThe dialogue around a public-sector currency is often met with confusion, as it doesn’t follow the traditional backing of value for currency in the market-circuit. Historically, the value backing for money within the market-circuit has come from either the convertibility of commodities or the actions of state-authority. Each providing some attribute that...