Human-Centered Capitalism:

As we begin to adapt to this brave new world, Post-Pandemic, we have adopted to what we now refer to as new normals. We are accustomed to wearing masks in a public setting, bringing vaccination cards as proof of entry to various concert halls and sports arenas, and maintaining a proper distance between folks while waiting in line. Afterall, we're human and we are nothing if not adaptable. And while we have changed to accept these norms, our economy hasn't and I don't just mean since the Pandemic either. Our economy has embraced a Capitalistic model for hundreds of years. It worked for the U.S. for a while because for so long "there was a strong correlation between the incentives of Capitalists and the well-being and standard of living of their workers." But over time, that faded into an overlooked philosophy.

As time went on, most corporations began operating by a newer philosophy, known as capital efficiency, whereas a company's success is measured by how efficiently they generate profit using its capital. This aided in the rise of outsourcing to save money: outsourcing to foreign countries with lower labor costs and tax rates, as well as outsourcing to artificial intelligence. This became the catalyst in the dichotomy of job competition.

Capitalism was an ideal originally favored because it was believed to deliver a higher standard of living coupled with more economic freedom. However, this idea was based on the assumption that a human need to feel successful was material possession. Thus, a decentralized, self-interest market would provide more material prosperity than a centralized, coordinated model.

Unfortunately, this understanding is failing and drastically. It is no longer a form of Capitalism, but Corporatism, where "we no longer emphasize the importance of an economy's consumers, but instead emphasize the success of its corporations." The current macroeconomic metric to determine a successful economic formula is corporate profits, stock market returns, and US GDP growth. But while these numbers are increasing, so are depression, student loan debt, and financial insecurity, which only points to our current economic model as broken.

What we have right now are very few large corporations taking giant sized bites out of our economy which can only lead to inflation, limited resources, and low competitor morale. Instead, what we need is for free-market metrics to create a thriving market of available competition that helps lower general costs and inspire more innovative products and services, all the while keeping human well-being and fulfillment at the forefront. Thus, Human-Centered Capitalism was born.

Popularized by 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate, Andrew Yang, Human-Centered Capitalism stated simply is an economic model where "the primary goal of an economic system should be to better the lives of those within it." Based off a Nordic Economy Model, Human-Centered Capitalism is Capitalism where there is low market regulation combined with higher government protection - or safety nets (i.e. Universal Healthcare, free education, etc). The central tenets of Human-Centered Capitalism are as follows:

1. Humans are more important than money.
2. A unit of a Human-Centered Capitalism Economy is each person, not each dollar.
3. Markets exist to serve common goals and values.

It would mean that we would drastically change the way we value our macroeconomic metrics. Instead of US GDP growth or corporate profits, we would begin to draw value from things like standard of living, mental health, environmental quality, and public safety, putting basic human needs above all else.

How can we help swing the fences in this direction? Simply put, we must be conscious of how we consume. It is up to us to make our money matter and by actively researching and seeking out companies that are giving back to the community they are serving, we can change the way our economy operates. We can change the way business is done. We can bend history in the right direction!

https://usceconreview.com/2020/12/04/a-deep-dive-into-human-centered-capitalism/
https://www.brookings.edu/research/toward-human-centered-capitalism/
https://www.democraticunderground.com/128721041