Keywords

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1 A Personal Perspective and Practical Approach to the World of Economics

To be invited to contribute to the KM II is a great honour to me as a practical economist. I am very glad to share my experience-based, creative and strategic economic theory and market ideology in this context. The market ideology and this economic language of relevant value spheres and holistic market spheres is a tool for co-creation of future values as base for future holistic, transparent and sustainable markets.

We now need to work actively for an understanding where the key goal of growth in the historic consume and growth economy, is replaced with sustainable value evolvement over time. And it is understood that the markets plural, augmented and synergetic value chains is in a constant state of systemic, cultural and natural change.

We must radically alter our values towards sustainability because then the market itself will evolve in to a new and natural state. And we must make a new economic language to better describe the holistic values and the augmented value chains that are indescribable in today's narrow economical languages.

As a person that has experience in value-creation in both the Nordics of where I origin, as a Norwegian citizen, Japan of where my second home is and the base of the biggest part of my companies and in several projects in Eu and the US, I personally believe and support the stand of KM II fully. We must combine Eastern philosophy with the Western economic methodology of the modern market. And I suggest also looking to the unique Nordic practice as an added dimension.

We must expand the values we account for in our economically described world. A description of what values that will be important in a future aware, holistic and sustainability-oriented market. And we must regard time as our only linear value and constant, and everything else as circular, regenerative or evolving value that just changes in a sustainable way over time, as the only constant over time is change, or evolvement, as in nature itself.

For me Natural state´s spheric evolving economic language represents a strategic tool for systemic description and as such, understanding of all the values in the world. And a way to describe this and thus speak economically about them in a universal way.

It is developed as a strategic and creative economic language for collaboration across borders, across cultures, between rural and urban areas and between private and public economic spheres especially, of where there is often radically different value perspectives, and often hard to obtain mutual agreement and balance in the state of evolvement, as also between the humans and nature itself today.

Through speaking the same economic language, agreeing on what values that matter for our collective future value creation and which spheres that must be in a natural balance, we can change the core of any relevant market sphere.

Maybe this is a small piece in the collective undertaking of changing the worlds markets as well, as KM II sets out to do.

2 A New Market Ideal, a New Market Idealism A New Market Ideology

We need to define sustainability over time as the new market ideology, and this must replace growth as ideal, and as the only indicator of prosperity in any economic description of any market.

This can be a collective, neutral and natural stand to evolve values from, values that then evolve in the right direction of sustainable development. We can move from an unaware market, to a aware market and then in the future to a conscious market through always focusing on the holistic totality and effect of any value-creation process.

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3 Collaboration Ability Will Replace Competition Force as Driver

Meaningless growth of one, can be the de-growth of another, and this in itself is a destructive path from the past. Co-evolvement is a better goal for any value of the future. And the key quality of sustainability must replace scalability as key quality indicator of any solution. We seek meaningful evolvement of values in this new and aware market.

The last 200 years of idealism, of which the economic language of the global markets, and ideals of our societies was formed, has been 200 years of constant change. And now we are becoming aware of this, and we understand that the old theories of economics are dated. A new and digitally augmented awareness, and a new enlightenment of cause and effect is now changing everything faster than ever.

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The ways of the nineteenth century is simply not able to describe the world as we know it today. And new economic languages rapidly form. As and example, Circular Economy. The key to sustainability is Circularity, and the key to Circularity is Collaboration. 

4 We Need a Global Sustainability Culture and as Such the Worlds Sustainability Economies Will Form

The world population, all soon to be 8.000.000.000 of us, the natural being of humans, is the world market.

We are natural, emotional and individual beings with natural and emotional needs both for our body and mind. A value-chain in any market is started by one human cognitive factor, the choice we take. Both individually, or culturally in a society.

This is a fact of which we cannot escape, and as such we need to reorient towards the human perspective on nature and our collective societal structure and form a culture of taking the sustainable choice in the markets. Then it all changes.

To obtain this new state of a sustainability, we must also connect to the cultural aspect, and form sustainability cultures. Because the cultural context of your life, defines which qualities you value.

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Today culture change is a societal task. The only societal global entity of any integrity and trust today is the UN, and the UN SDG campaign is an important step for making a global market-culture for sustainability. We need to look at how each value-chain offsets in the SDG´s and adjust them towards synergetic value-creation for all relevant value sphere.

5 A New and Aware Market and New Economic Languages for the Plural Sustainable Economies in Dense and Transparent Market-Spheres

The market-sphere. Qualities of a market-sphere is indicated by the density, dynamics and durability of value chains and value transactions. Transparency, trust and synergies is also examples of quality indicators of a market, and not just growth potential and scalability. We need to look at regeneratively, innovation-value, sustainability-value, and resilience structures in plural, local and dense market structures as strengths and qualities of a market sphere.

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The plurality, complexity and density of the sustainability economics in any market sphere is very well illustrated by the HIVE ECONOMY model produced and presented by Doughnut economies and Kate Raworth organisation, in collaboration with Rethink Economics and Harvard Economics in May 2019.

This is brings a clear visualisation of the value perspectives present as well.

6 The Natural State Model and Market Ideology

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This is a simplified holistic frame for all the values you choose to describe. When you look at all transactions of all the values, the value picture becomes extremely complex and it becomes hard to describe and communicate efficient about it. This is why the Natural State model suggest making less accurate but then more meaningful descriptions of values as holistic value spheres. We describe the spheres as active dense spheres of value.

The key value-spheres of any market-sphere is the human, societal and natural sphere as all transactions involving us humans effects these spheres.

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7 Segmenting value-Spheres Within the Key Value-Spheres Layering Multiple Values in Any Market Sphere

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As an example of how this value-language works we can look at examples of multiple layers of value-spheres within the key value spheres. This is an economical formulated tool to start to ask questions about which values are present in any development of any value. The holistic market sphere consists of all the values of a place, and all the value chains forming value systems between all the value spheres. It is the dynamics of tranasactions that are the the interesting element to see and work with in any market sphere, of any place. From local to global context. The basic valuespheres in any market sphere can always be sortet in three elements, the natural sphere, the human sphere and the societal sphere with the market structure and systems of valuechains embedding all of the key factors of value transactions in the holistic market sphere of a place—the market functions and forms and the market context and culture.

Within the natural value-sphere we look at the natural sphere and effects on this. This is important in relation to the natural impact the chain of development has. Key value sphere for natural resources today is circularity value / circular economy principles. How we take out any natural resources needs to be evaluated in any value-development. Also, the environmental impact as climate accounting and co2 emissions needs to be addressed. This can be described as environmental value.

Within the societal value-sphere of any project of place in development you can ask the questions of how any value development also includes innovation for driving society and humans further, how one manages collaboration efforts in the value chain, and key societal value of any development is what the societal and collective learning is. The learning value of anything needs to be addressed and learning needs to be documented for all to learn from.

Within the human value-sphere the key value is the identity-value. How we identify ourselves as a human, is our personal key value. And it is also how we identify anything that gives value to anything. If we humans start to value sustainability as a key identity value and quality in any development of any value, we are moving things in the right way. How we identify anything is also an important factor of how we feel, or what emotional value one creates in any development. A good example of emotional value in the markets today, is the volatile emotion of trust. The key emotional value for future value development in the world and base for all investments done in the world finance markets.

8 The New Natural State of the Markets and Time as Constant

To obtain a new natural state of the market we must be seeking to find a new, natural and neutral approach to the market itself. And see the markets as neutral, transparent and a natural force and order of the world today. Where time is the only constant, and at the same time recognise that the only constant over time is change. And it is in the dynamics of change, with the transactions in the augmented and interconnected value chains you create the value of where we all relate and belong to.

In this simplified picture of the world order, it is important to maintain a human perspective, for us living today and in the foreseeable future there is four truths of today's markets and economics that need to be recognised.

  • The only actual global world order we have today is the market, in its natural and neutral form. With a plurality of segments, societal diversities and economic descriptions.

  • The only truly universal language we have today is economics. There is no other universal languages then the number languages of economics, physics, music and the digital bin-ear system.

  • Humans are a part of nature, not above nature. As humans are natural beings, there is no other force of nature effecting everything then nature itself. And the market is defined by humans emotional choices.

  • There is no global societal structure, order, state of sphere. The UN is as close as it gets, and global communication technology (Internet) is the closest thing to a global community there is.

Culture is key, to sustainability. And sustainability will be the key quality and have the highest identity-value in a future market in a natural neutral and balanced state. To make a humane and sustainable market, we need to reorient the market it selves.

In the historic perspective of trade and markets, humans have always been infinitely tied to nature. A natural market in its neutral and natural form or state is in its pure form simply a function of value or resource transactions, value-chains in nature of natural resources and biomass.

A sphere of value-chains where values described or recognised is completely up to the perspective of the observer. But the key value for any human is how we identify anything. Also, the market it selves. This is why we need to change the identity of the market. Or rename it. We need a market that relate to sustainability as idea, in a holistic matter. This type of market we can rename to a market-sphere. And as such we give an alternative way and an alternative name on the market. And if this is spread as we can start to rebrand the market it selves over time.

The function of a market-sphere is to become a market based on the holistic sustainability of long-term evolvement of values that generate positive impact on all the key value-spheres. A market-sphere is as such a rebranded, or a market with adjusted core ideal, a market, where key idea, identity and goal for evolved values is sustainability. If the market is a 2 dimensional platform, a market-sphere is 7 dimensional. We need to understand 7 dimensional value description to be able to interact with all the values in a holistic and sustainable market evolvement. And obtain sustainability as key quality, in any market.

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And like that, we change the ideal of the market.

Then we change the value and qualities of the market.

Then we change the market culture,

and then we change the market it selves. Going from short term, to long term, from linear to circular,  from quantity to quality, from meanigless growth, to sustainable dvelopment from and from un-aware to aware.  

Culture is key to sustainability. and sustainability is quality, for the future and aware market, in a new natural state. 

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Natural State

Einar K. Holthe

Market Ideolog and Strategist.

2020