Ahead the Budget announcement, ResPublica publishes seven guiding principles

In the lead up to the Budget announcement, ResPublica’s Patricia Kaszynska sets out seven principles which should underscore the Chancellor’s objectives in his 2012 budget.

From explaining why we should tax wealth not income, to how we can democratise finance, this list suggests budget proposals that would address economic inequality and bolster social cohesion. By changing the culture of borrowing, championing hybrid business models and enabling local communities to play a greater role in our economy, the Government could unlock untapped economic potential and generate fiscal vibrancy. These ideas draw on our past and forthcoming work and encapsulate ResPublica’s founding objectives to relocalise our economy, remoralise our markets and recapitalise the poorest members of our society.

This work forms part of our New Economies, Innovative Markets workstream which explores the structures and processes which shape and define day-to-day economic life. From the local to the national scale, we will examine how communities can best access the macro advantages that globalisation brings. Encouraging new market entry, ensuring supply chain resilience through more localised control, promoting greater diversity of business models and wider asset distribution are all prerequisite to building a more stable and healthy economy that is grounded in human and social relationships.

Models of the past have led to unbalanced economic growth and barriers to market entry and competition. Our work within New Economies, Innovative Markets therefore seeks to provide practical policy solutions for a moral capitalism which transforms the terms of economic and social wealth. Our objectives in 2012 include re-defining economic competition, diversifying the market for SMEs and social enterprise, innovating solutions to enterprise and infrastructure financing, and exploring the benefits of business clusters and localised growth, in order to achieve an economy based on trust and reciprocity.

If you would like further information, or to discuss partnership opportunities, please contact Dr Patricia Kaszynska, Senior Researcher at patricia.kaszynska@respublica.org.uk.