By proposing to substitute for the concept of economy a new conception of production and the exchanges which it calls “ state -of -the -art », Pierre Calame pleads for a rule of global game which is capable of ensuring equity between societies, the safeguard of the environment and the rights of future generations.
In this essay, Pierre Calame proposes to substitute for the concept of economy, whose blind and presumptuous race leads us, of general confession, right in the wall, a new conception of production and the exchanges that he sides state -of -the -art », Returning to the Greek etymology of the word and its no less Hellenic measure:« The rules of the production and exchange game which can both ensure the development of human beings, equity between societies, the safeguarding of the biosphere and the rights of future generations. (P. 13) An economy with a human face, which takes into account that the resources are not unlimited and which lays the foundations for a new monetary and financial system.
The culmination of a work which, off the beaten track, leads an unclassifiable reflection on the State, governance and democracy in the world, this Essay on Economics is in line with the great utopians of XVIIIe and XIXe century, which dream of fully recondizing the functioning of society, in order to subject it to the requirements of justice, and whose constructions, for dreamy that they may seem, are nonetheless endowed with an undeniable power of inspiration. The system that Calame intends to refound from top to bottom is not only the economy, but still politics and finally morality.
But, if the work is resolutely useful, anchored in contemporary debates, the way is narrow, as evidenced by this profession of faith:
On the one hand, I am resolutely alterglobalist: I believe that another world and another economy are not only possible, but even essential, and quickly, because we go straight in the wall. But, on the other, I think that the criticisms of alterglobalists are often mistaken – whether international financial institutions or transnational companies – and that the alternatives put forward are nebulous. And, above all, that it is not enough to put end to end of the legitimate claims to achieve a credible alternative. (p. 59)
To start, Calame invites us to make a rigorous start between two often combined terms, “ globalization ” And “ globalization ». The first refers to the necessary interdependence of societies and their dependence on the biosphere and the ecosystem ; The second to a historical process which is not necessary and can very well be reversed, and even must since it takes no account of the ecosystem. For this, it is necessary and it is enough that we emancipate ourselves false necessities by replacing the history of our societies in long history, since the Middle Ages. Each era has its “ Pivot actors Who dominate economic development: those of tomorrow will not be those of today, any more than they are those of yesterday. Calame is not afraid to question the doxa about globalization, which some accuse of all evils. Better still: it has tackled the ideology that has founded the classical economy for two centuries, which has always awaited the refoundation that the natural sciences have known to the XXe century. What Calame disputes above all is the claim to establish the economy on abstract laws. In reality, it is based on concrete actors and their relationships. It is these actors who must be surveyed and if necessary, reformed.
The author is thus led to examine the political conditions of the new world order which he calls for his wishes. He establishes that, “ To be legitimate, power must be exercised effectively by competent and trustworthy leaders ». It is these leaders who will be able to replace “ the economy of accumulation “Today dominant, a” Happiness economy », Responsible and united, generous and not conflicting. How not to approve such a noble business ?