John Maynard Keynes
I draw the conclusion that, assuming no important wars and no important
increase in population, the economic problem may be solved, or be at least
within sight of solution, within a hundred years. This means that the economic
problem is not-if we look into the future-the permanent problem of the human
race.Why, you may ask, is this so startling? It is startling because-if, instead of
looking into the future, we look into the past-we find that the economic
problem, the struggle for subsistence, always has been hitherto the primary,
most pressing problem of the human race-not only of the human race, but of
the whole of the biological kingdom from the beginnings of life in its most
primitive forms.“The day is not far off when the economic problem will take the back seat where it belongs, and the arena of the heart and the head will be occupied or reoccupied, by our real problems — the problems of life and of human relations, of creation and behavior and religion.”
“Thus for the first time since his creation man will be faced with his real, his permanent problem — how to use his freedom from pressing economic cares, how to occupy the leisure which science and compound interest will have won for him, to live wisely and agreeably and well.”
Economics was just a phase. Human flourishing is the endgame.
http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf
For over a century, economics has been built on two foundational assumptions:
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Resources are scarce
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Human demand is infinite.
But in the Intelligence Age, both are breaking down.
These two assumptions are deeply embedded in the logic, language, and models of modern (neoclassical) economics. Open the first page of any economics textbook, and you will read: “The study of how societies allocate scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants.”
However, now, many resources aren’t scarce — they’re made scarce through regulation, finance, or outdated models.
🔍 Scarcity was once a natural fact. Today, it’s often a choice.
This creates huge distortions in the following markets
For example:
- Housing
- University education
- Access to medicine
- Energy
At the same time, demand is not infinite.
After basic needs are met, people shift from material goods to experiences, self-actualization, or purpose. Rich societies show flattening consumption despite rising income.
Many desires (beauty, cars, jewelry, vacations) are culturally constructed.
For example:
- Food – there is definitely not an infinite desire of food. There is a finite demand. I don’t want anymore than 3000 calories per day. The total demand of UK is probably no more than 68 million x 3000 calories which is 205,050,000,000 calories. (2 hundred and 5 billion, and 50 million). I definitely don’t want 5 pizzas per day.
- I don’t need more than 2 smartphones. I don’t want more than 2-3 hours of movies per week. I don’t need to relearn endlessly. Yes, I still have demands, but up to a point, I am satisfied, and as we develop we move more to self-development I move more to self development.
Many of the things we think we want — more money, a bigger house, a better car, another achievement are not truly about those things. They’re stand-ins for deeper unmet needs.
They’re proxies — or substitutes — for underlying psychological or emotional needs.
These could include:
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Safety
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Belonging
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Recognition
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Freedom
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Love
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Control
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Peace
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Meaning
I propose that it doesn’t make sense that demand can be infinite, but resources can not.
We can alwyas find new solutions and make more
Modern economics wants to have it both ways:
| Assumption | Why it’s used |
|---|---|
| Resources are scarce | To justify prices, allocation |
| Demand is infinite | To justify growth, profit |
But if both are true, we’re in a perpetual deficit – we can never catch up.
And if neither are true, we’re in a false game – chasing things that don’t need chasing.
A system that assumes infinite demand must also assume infinite resources – or it collapses.
But if it assumes finite resources, it must also respect finite desire – or it becomes extractive and unstable.
This contradiction is at the heart of:
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Climate change
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Burnout
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Inequality
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Policy paralysis
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The GDP-growth trap
What happens if we reject both assumptions?
What if we design an economy around aligned desire and regenerative resources?
That’s the core of the Leverage Economy vision:
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Desire is not infinite, it can be shaped, satisfied, and simplified.
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Resources are not always scarce, they can be abundant, shared, or redesigned.
The Solution: Redesign the Foundations
We need to replace both flawed assumptions with more accurate, humane, and generative ones:
- Human desire is much more than we can currently satisfy, it can be shaped, and can be fulfilled.
- Resources are limited, but can can be regenerated, shared, and can be made abundant through design.
The assumptions don’t start with simplistic truths, but they acknowledge that they may currently look as if resources are finite, and demand is infinite, but as we develop, we can grow our resources, and we can satisfy the human needs.
We need to then place markets on these
Yes it makes the models that were based on these principles less valuable, because they were built on.
Yes, it adds complexity.
But it’s the truth.
We can generate more resources and grow our resources. We can satisfy every human.
We can complete the market so that it is a complete market and a complete system that works.
This is the force by which our economic system should operate.
We shift from allocation, to building a system that satisfies.
In this way, we may no longer need a market at all, in the form that we know it.
The past model was needed for that stage of development. It worked, and it helped, but now we are entering a later stage of development.
One where we can realise complete abundance. We can satisfy ourselves.
We don’t want more stuff, we want quality, we want more meaning.
This is not anti-growth – it’s post-extractive growth.
Exactly. Energy from the sun, knowledge via code, housing via prefab and zoning – all examples of regenerative abundance through design
Now we know that:
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Resources can be regenerated.
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Desire can be fulfilled.
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Systems can be designed to satisfy, not extract.
It’s not about endless growth.
It’s about completing the market – and transcending it.
Who are some of the leading economists of our current era to read and learn from
